I love this block designed by Lynne Hagmeier. Not only is it quick and easy to put together, but the finished result is darling. You can read Lynne's post and get the directions for either her layered patchwork version or her traditional patchwork version HERE. I have not tried Lynne's layered patchwork but there are quite a few in the Facebook group who seem to enjoy it. This block was another one that allowed me to feature a little bee from the Garden Notes collection. While bees and I do not generally get along I embrace them as the meaning of my name, Debra, and delight to think about what it means to bring forth honey. To get started I made a change in the cutting directions. I cut my B and C squares 3 1/4" to give me some wiggle room to trim to the right size. I also cut one A square from a different fabric from the rest as it will be used for the center unlike the A squares that will be used in the corners of this block. Just like in Lynne's directions I start with the B and C squares. I have drawn a diagonal line on the back of each of the B squares. These will be joined right sides together sewing 1/4 inch from each side of the diagonal line. I cut along the diagonal line and press towards the dark side. The units get trimmed to 2 1/2" x 2 1/2". I do have to make sure that the diagonal line on my ruler follows the diagonal seam. I have drawn a diagonal line on the back of all of my D squares. I will use four of them on the units I just made. They need to be added as shown in the photo below. This time I sew right along the line I have drawn...not on top of it but just to the outside. I like to check and make sure that when I fold the triangle over it covers the square underneath completely. Satisfied that it does, I trim 1/4" from the seam line. Press towards the small triangle and check to make sure the block still measures 2 1/2". I am going to call the finished units, Unit 1. Next I will work on the center unit-a diamond in a square. For this I take the A square I want to us in the center and will add D squares to all four corners. This is where I will place the first two. Once again, I will sew just to the outside of my line. Occasionally when I fold my triangle over to see if it covers the square underneath I will find that it does not completely cover it. One trick is to trim away only the remaining top square and leave the underneath square alone. Now when I press the triangle over I will still have an accurate 2 1/2" square to work with rather than one that is just a touch off. I continue to add the D squares to the next two opposing sides of my unit. One last check to make sure it still measures 2 1/2" x 2 1/2". If you look closely at the bottom right you can see where the A square is peeking out just a wee bit under the yellow print on top. Now I add the A squares to the corners and all is ready to be sewn together. I sew with the center square on top every time as I want to make sure that my needle lands on the point-the intersection of the seams. I pressed the top and bottom rows towards the middle unit (unit 1) and the center row towards the outside units (unit 1). I placed pins where the seams join together and carefully sew a 1/4" seam. It helps to gp slowly over those bulky seams, and I will often lift my presser foot once or twice to keep things lined up nicely and laying flat. A cute finish! I am making good progress-just a few holes left to fill in with those blocks I have yet to do. I hope you are enjoying your own Moda Blockhead journey!
Until next time... Happy Quilting!! Betsy Chutchian designed Block 26 and I had a lot of fun making it this week as I continue to play catch-up. You can read about Betsy's block on her blog and get the pfd pattern HERE. I did change up the cutting directions a wee bit as I like to be able to trim the Half-square triangles (HST's) to size. A-(cut 3) 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" AB-(cut 3) 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" B-(cut 6) 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" and cut them in half on the diagonal ( / ) C and D same as directed in pattern I started with the A and AB squares. On the back of all of the A squares I drew a diagonal line. Place these right sides together with the AB squares. Stitch 1/4 inch from each side of the diagonal line. Cut on the line and press towards the dark side. These HST's need to be trimmed to 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" squares. Be sure to line up the diagonal line on the ruler with the seam line as you trim. Next I add the B triangles to each side of the HST's as shown. Laying one triangle on top with right sides together, matching the corner edges as shown. I chain piece all of these making sure that I am sewing on the correct side of the unit. Press towards the triangle. I like to trim off the little extra bit before adding the triangle to the other side. Just like before, I lay a triangle on top and chain piece the units. I pressed towards the triangle. These pieced triangle units should now be the same size as the C triangles. I trimmed off the little extra point that extended out before proceeding. When sewing these together I placed the pieced unit on top so that I could watch my needle to make sure it went over the "X" the previous stitching formed. The center of the X will hopefully fall on my 1/4" seam line each time. I pressed these towards the C triangle due to the bulky seams and then trimmed to 2 1/2" squares-making sure the diagonal line on my ruler lines up with the seam line on the unit. Adding the remaining D squares I lay out my squares the way I want them for this block. As I sew the rows together I am going to make sure once again that my needle lands on the "X." I pressed the top and bottom rows one direction and the center row in the opposite way. I am not totally happy with the bulkiness of some of those seams, but with a little convincing (if you have a rubber mallet you can hit them into submission if needed) they did eventually lay pretty flat. I placed a pin where the seams join together and slowly sewed the rows together. The finished block looks pretty good. I just might need to put all of my blocks up on my design wall to enjoy them as a whole next time. I hope you are enjoying your quilting journey as much as I am.
Until next time... Happy Quilting! Another star block! I love how many star variations we are seeing in this project. Lynne Hagmeier designed this week's block and you can read about it on her Blog and get the pattern for the block as well. Lynne's Blog can be found HERE. Seems I always start with a yellow when it comes to these star blocks and this one is no exception. I debated about how I wanted the light and dark fabrics to play out and decided I would go with a darker background this time. Overall I am pleased with how it came out. (notice even the doll is oohing over this one-lol.) You may already have figured out I was going to change the cutting directions on this one. Did you see those Flying Geese? Yes, I am going to use the quick no-waste method for these. I hope it is not too confusing to have more than one size for the A and B fabrics. A-(cut4) 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" squares A-(cut 4) 2 1/8" x 2 1/8"squares (Sky for the Flying Geese) B-(cut 4) 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangles B-(cut 1) 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" square (Geese for Flying Geese units) C-(cut 4) 2 1/8" x 2 1/8"squares (Sky for the Flying Geese) D-(cut 1) 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" square (Geese for Flying Geese units) E-(cut4) 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" squares F-(cut 1) 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" square Starting with the largest A squares and the largest B square I am going to make the Flying geese units first. For this method lay two A squares on the B square and draw a line down the middle. Since the C and D pieces are also used to make Flying Geese units I am going to make them at the same time. Once again I lay the smaller squares on the large square and draw a line through them. Next I will sew 1/4 inch from each side of the drawn line. Once they are sewn I cut apart on the drawn line and press towards the small triangles. On the back of the the remaining 2 1/8" squares I have drawn another diagonal line. These are placed as shown and stitched 1/4 inch from each side of the diagonal line. Once again I cut on the drawn line and press towards the small triangles. Now to trim the Flying Geese to 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" using my Bloc Loc Ruler. For directions on how to trim these accurately with a regular ruler see this previous post: www.tuning-my-heart.com/blog/moda-blockheads-block-15-t-block With the Flying Geese all trimmed to size I need to join them together-making sure the "geese" are pointing the same direction. To ensure sharp points I want to aim for the middle of the "X" where my previous stitches cross one another. This point should be right in line with my 1/4 inch seam. A little tip for sewing that particular point-it is a bulky seam and will want to move on you as you approach that angular seam. Go slow and even lift your presser foot once or twice to get that seam to stay nice and straight under your needle. I pressed all of these towards the units made with the C and D squares. It is the direction this unit wants to naturally lay the nicest. This next step seems like a piece of cake after all of that-just join the remaining A squares with the E squares. Lynne's directions call for us to press towards the A square. I am not really sure why. After putting the block together I would probably go ahead with the usual of pressing towards the dark side. Though it is not a big deal either way. At any rate, next I need to add those B rectangles. And this is where I would have preferred pressing towards the E squares. When I lay these together to be pieced that seam is pointing up-I much prefer not to see that when I am sewing. So I flipped my pieces around so that I would be sewing with that seam facing down-away from the needle as it approaches. When I have these sewn together I press towards the rectangle. I always get excited when it is time to put everything together as I finally get to see how my fabric selections are really going to look. As I stitched the rows together I pressed the top and bottom rows towards the outside corner units and the middle row towards the center square. Sewing the rows together I placed pins at all the seam intersections. Not every seam will lock into place as some of them are going the same direction, but a carefully placed pin will hold them together. I find that if the pin is on the stitching line when I look at both the front and the back there is a very good chance the seams will line up nicely when I sew. I am also going to be watching that point of the Flying goose in the middle to make sure my needle hits the spot I want it to. Double Delight Star was truly a delight to make! I hope you have fun with this one too.
Until next time... Happy Quilting!! |
Welcome to the site of Debra Davis-a woman who loves the Lord and loves to quilt.
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