Passing the Days: Days 58, 59 & 60

I love how the simple things can bring such joy.  Pinwheels are one of those things, even when choosing quilt blocks to make.  Block 58 is Double Pinwheel-so double the fun.  Orange and Golden Yellow just say happy to me so that is what I have chosen for this block.

It has been a while since we worked with these Split Quarter-square Triangles so let me walk you through my process again.  The specific instructions can be found in the General Instruction sheet available for download with all of the patterns in this series.  Now on to the block.  First we need to join the two smaller triangles.

I find it best to sew these starting with the tip of the triangle fed first to my needle.  It just keeps those tips lined up nicely.

After pressing those two triangles I lay the larger one on top.  The main thing I watch here is that the tips of all of the trinagles meet perfectly at the top.  I dont worry so much about lining up the sides-or even the bottom.  Sometimes it can be helpful to press a fold into the large one so that you can see that the middle of it lays right along the seam line of the two small triangles underneath. 

I use the large triangle on top as my guide since I know its size is perfect.

When it come to trimming these they usually do not need more than a touch-up. 
I do line up the diagonal line with that long seam and place the midpoint mark, which in this case is the 1 3/4" mark of my ruler at the point along that line where all three fabrics meet.  When I first experimented with these I admit to feeling a lot imtimidated by them, but now, I consider them friends in my quilting toolbox.

For block 59 I once again am thinking about childhood games.  Did anyone else play Old Maid?  I thought of it immediately upon seeing the name of the block. 

The name of this block is Old Maid's Puzzle so I took my inspiration from the color of the dress the Old Maid has on in the card game.

Since there are a lot of Half-square Triangles in this block I just want to remind you how important it is to line up the diagonal line on your ruler with the seamline  when you trim these to size.  This is one of the keys to achieving those sharp points.

Block 60 is a milestone of sorts.  This block fell on the first day of our county being allowed to enter phase one of reopening here in Oregon.  Hopefully that means we will be able to move on to phase 2 in 21 days.  So to celebrate this milestone and the ones still to come I will now only be doing a block every other day.  When we enter Phase 2 I will do a block every two days and then in Phase 3 a block every 3 days. Hopefully we will not have to go backwards in this process, but if so my blocks will follow the pattern I have now set.  This will be a good change as I have other commitments that will now start needing my time as well.  Not to mention my husbands summer break will begin in June and we do like to get outside and play together.

Stock photo by Creative Travel Projects

So block 60 is called End of Day.  I wanted something that indicated an ending, and this block fit the bill.  Taking photos of sunsets is one of my favorite things.  I love sunrises too.  But there is something about the fading light, when colors start to fade as darkness approaches...and then those wonderfully spectacular wows of color that can suddenly appear.  So I looked through my stash and came up with a couple of fabrics that are tonals-which simply means they have gray added to the main color to tone them down from their vibrant form.  

All of these blocks can be found by clicking on the link below:
Passing the Days pdf patterns

Wherever you are at in these days of uncertainty I hope you are well and I hope you are finding things to bring joy to your days.

​Happy Quilting!!