Around the Block-Oregon

Welcome to my day for the Around the Block tour.  This is week 15 of our US Tour of quilt blocks.  I chose to design a block for Oregon because it is my home state.  I was born here and am delighted to be back again after several years away.  No matter where life took me Oregon has always been home.

Photo: Debra Davis-Crater Lake, Oregon

This is my Oregon.  I grew up surrounded by trees.  It is what I missed most while I sojourned in other states for a time. 

Photo: Debra Davis-Mt Thielsen, the Lightning Rod of the Cascades

 While there are many aspects to Oregon from oceans to deserts and all in between; it is the brilliant blue skies and the majestic old growth pines that capture my heart when I think of my state.  I am blessed to live in my favorite part of the state where these things are just right out my door.  So when I was narrowing down what my block for Oregon would be I had to go with the a majestic pine tree under a deep blue sky.  These photos by the way are natural, no manipulation.  They are as true to color as they can be.  I tried to capture those colors in my quit block. 

For my block I also added a few wildflowers to the base of the tree by fussy cutting some fabric in my stash.  Spring and summer on the mountains when the flowers are blooming is just incredible. 

One of my pattern testers did a different take on the block and went with a winter scene.

Susie's version

I have a few tips to share for putting this block together.  First, I use old scrabble tiles to label all of the pieces as I cut them out.

When I need to draw a line on the back of fabric I place the fabric on a sheet of very fine sandpaper.  This keeps the fabric from shifting while I mark it.  I keep my handy attached to a clipboard that I bring out when needed.

When joining the sky pieces to the tree pieces I have found it best to sew just to the outside of the drawn line. I also start and stop with my needle in the down position.  You can see I have lined up the next piece for sewing here.  My needle is next to that line not on top of it as I sew.  You will see why that is important in the next step.

I need to check to make sure that the sky piece completely covers the tree section underneath.  I just take a moment to flip the sky piece over to check and all looks good.

If I had sewn right on the drawn line I might end up with something like this.  The sky is not covering the fabric underneath.  I can work with that as long as it not greater than a 1/8" of an issue.

Instead of trimming away both excess pieces I will leave the tree fabric intact.  This will then act as the edge I need to align with the other sections, rather like a foundation.  My seam allowances will be fine and all will match up with this little trick.  I will be sewing through both layers of fabric, so it adds a bit more bulk for quilting, but it does solve the problem nicely.

Sometimes I will also leave that underneath fabric intact until after I have pressed the unit.  This way I can make sure that my piece remains square by flipping it over and trimming away any excess sky fabric that shows.  Then I will trim away the extra tree fabric before joining this unit to the others.  If you are having issues with getting an accurate size after adding the triangles to the ends of your tree this little trick can help.

Sewing the rest of the block together is pretty straightforward.  There are no seams to match so it all comes together pretty quickly at this point.

To get my pattern for the Oregon block, click on the link below.
Oregon pdf pattern

If you have been following along on our trip Around the Block we are now in week 15!  Below are the links for the previous weeks.

Week 1: Massachusetts with Kathryn LeBlanc
Week 2: Alaska with Carolyn Burgess
Week 3: Washington with Marlene Baerg Oddie
Week 4: California  with Carolina Moore
Week 5: Florida with Off the Wall Quilt
Week 6: Texas with Sarah Ruiz Sarah Ruiz Quilts
Week 7:Oklahoma with Ashli Lerman Montgomery
Week 8: Minnesota  with Cindy Staub
Week 9: Wisconsin with PhoebeMoon Designs
Week 10: Virginia with Blossom Quilt Design Studio LLC
Week 11: Georgia with Tamarinis
Week 12 Pennsylvania with Faith and Fabric

Week 13: Missouri (2 Designers)
                 -Missouri by Day by Denniele's/Louanna Mary Quilt Design
                 -Missouri by Night with Slice of Pi Quilts
Note: you will need both parts of Missouri to complete the block.

 week 14: Nebraska with Prairie Point Junction
Week 15: Oregon with Tuning My Heart Quilts -That's me!
And coming up:
Week 16: Idaho with Charisma Horton www.charismascorner.com
Week 17: North Dakota with KISSed Quilts www.kissedquilts.com
 
All of the information you need as well as links for all of the blocks in this project can be found at Kathryn LeBlanc's online home Dragonfly's Quilting Design Studio
Kathryn is responsible for getting us all together to make her idea a reality.  She has done an amazing job keeping us all organized throughout this process so give her a big thank you.

I have other things going on around here as well.  For the last few years I have been hosting Block of the Month programs and this year we are all about stars.  There is still time to get in on the fun and get copies of all the current blocks. We will be wrapping this one up in December so I will soon be introducing our 2021 Sew Along which will be a Row by Row quilt.  My pattern testers and I are excited about this one so I hope you will consider joining me.
Visit my Free Patterns page to get the current BOM blocks.

Now before I leave there is just one more item to cover.  Giveaways!  There are giveaways happening throughout the blog hop so be sure and enter often.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you have enjoyed your stop of the tour and I wish you...
Happy Quilting!!

Me and the Hubs on local canoe trail