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My Favorite Block Quilt Along BONUS Classic Four Patch Tutorial

Posted by PersimonDreams on May 11, 2013 in Featured, how to, My Favorite Block Quilt Along, tutorial | 0 comments

I’m sure at this point you are all frantically trying to piece your top for the ‘My Favorite Block Quilt Along’ Quilt and you may want some easy peasy 6.5” filler blocks that still look cool. Well – what’s cooler than the Classic Four Patch? Especially when you know the easiest-peasiest way to put it together!

Cutting Instructions (this will result in two four patch blocks)

Fabric 1 – 7.0” square

Fabric 2 – 7.0” square

Directions

Place your fabrics right sides together.

Sew a quarter inch seam on opposite sides of the fabric.

Cut the fabric at 3.5”

So you are left with two 6.5” x 7” pieces. Iron towards the darker of the two fabrics.

Place the two squares right sides together. Have fabric 1 facing fabric 2 in their respective halves.

Sew along the two opposite edges with a quarter-inch seam.

Cut the fabric again at 3.5” and iron open at the seams. You’re left with two easy-peasy four patches!

If you want to do a four patch in the 12.5” size just cut your initial squares at 13” and follow the same instructions.

My Favorite Block Quilt Along BONUS Big Geese Tutorial

Posted by PersimonDreams on Apr 8, 2013 in Featured, how to, My Favorite Block Quilt Along, tutorial | 0 comments

I personally want my final sampler to be a quilt that every time you look at it you see something different which I was happy to have happen with my Home Sweet Home Quilt. To do that – I need a lot of different elements that go into the quilt but still have some cohesion to it. This is why I’m giving you all other options for elements you can add to your ‘My Favorite Block Quilt Along’ Quilt. Today I’m going to show you some ‘Big Geese’ and how they can add to a block by simulating a tree or even clouds.

For each 6.5” Big Geese Block Cut

2 – 6.5” x 3.5” rectangles

4 – 3.5” squares

Piecing Instructions

On the back of each square using a disappearing ink pen draw a diagonal line from one corner to the other.

Line up your square on your rectangle like I show in the above picture. Sew along the line you drew.

Cute 1/4-inch above the line you just stitched.

OPTIONAL: Many folks sew another line a 1/2” from the drawn line. When you cut down the middle you have the start of your geese block and a Half Square Triangle (HST) block. You don’t need to do this but these HST for the Big Geese Block may be useful in future sashings or adding elements to other blocks.

Iron open towards the square block.

Line up your second square with the diagonal line going the opposite way of the first square – shown in the picture above. Sew along this line.

Trim and iron towards the square.

Repeat with the second rectangle and third and fourth squares. Sew together as shown above.

I decided to make three ‘Big Geese’ blocks and add them to my 6.5” School House Block. I feel like it will give this block the feeling of trees and maybe even clouds or smoke from the chimney…

You can add these ‘Big Geese’ to any of your 6.5” blocks to get them to the 12.5” size…or maybe you’ll want to use them in the border…I always love geese in the border.

Anyway – just another option.

The 15th block is coming tomorrow!

My Favorite Block Quilt Along BONUS–A Churn Dash Owl

Posted by PersimonDreams on Mar 13, 2013 in Featured, how to, My Favorite Block Quilt Along, tutorial | 2 comments

A Churn Dash Owl? What in the world am I talking about? I promised at the beginning of this Quilt Along that I would show you different ways to make your 6.5” blocks more fun or more interesting.

Well…I’m about to show you how I blended I’m A Ginger Monkey’s favorite block the Churn Dash with Bea Quilter’s Owl Block.

**You could add the churn dash using my revised dimensions given below to any 6.5” block you make for this Quilt Along to add more intrigue to it and make it a new 12.5” block.

Directions:

To create this block take

1 – 6.5” Owl Block that you made earlier (or any 6.5” block for that matter…you could even do a churn dash in a churn dash….)

CUT:

Fabric A (grey): 2 – 4” squares, 4 – 6.5” x 2” rectangles

Fabric B (orange): 2 – 4” squares, 4 – 6.5” x 2” rectangles

INSTRUCTIONS:

Follow along with ‘I’m a Ginger Monkey’s Tutorial except use the 6.5 owl block (or any 6.5” block you’ve made) as the center and use the dimensions for the outer pieces that I’ve given you here. You’ll trip your HST down to 3.5” squares.

Because of the fusible on the owl makes it thicker, I ironed towards the rectangular strips – less bulky.

And voila! You have a fun Churn Dash Owl block!

And here’s my churn dash owl next to the 12.5” churn dash I made!

My Favorite Block Quilt Along, Block 9 from Persimon Dreams

Posted by PersimonDreams on Mar 12, 2013 in Featured, how to, My Favorite Block Quilt Along, Quilt Along, tutorial | 1 comment

Happy Tuesday everyone! Are you excited to get another block in the ‘My Favorite Block Quilt Along’ Journey? I know I’m always excited. Today – the block comes from Yours Truly! Before we get to my block I’m going to answer the questions just like I make everyone else!

What is your favorite thing about Quilt Alongs?

Quilt Along’s have helped me improve my piecing skills DRASTICALLY. I love that you learn new techniques, different tips and tricks from a variety of quilters, and that it is spread out over a period of time. There’s very little pressure for me sew an entire quilt – just a block or two or four at a time.

When you look at your quilts – what color do you seem to use the most of?

I’m trying to figure out what color I don’t see…

When you look at your fabric stash – what color do you seem to have the most of?

blues and greens…I’m on a blue and green diet for a bit here now…

What other quilt alongs are you participating in in 2013?

#scrappytripalong, Craftsy BOM, Dancing Stars QAL, I hope to to catch up with the ‘Skill Builder’s’ one in April…pretty much any and all I can manage to fit in…you can see the right side of my blog for links of all the ones I’ve either done, am working on or intend to do.

Apples or oranges?

Apples of course!

Favorite Number:

Strippy Spool Block Tutorial for the My Favorite Block Quilt Along

Finished Block Size – 12” x 12” & 6” x 6”

It was hard to pick just ONE favorite block…but I finally had an epiphany and realized I just had to show you all how to make the Spool Block.

Not only did I have a fabulous ‘Wall of Thread’ in my house but I also love thread so much

I had a spool tattooed onto my wrist for my 30^th birthday last year! (and yes…it hurt)

I am putting a slight scrappy twist to the block just to add some fun for you all. Hope you enjoy!

Cutting Instructions

I used ‘darks’ for fabrics B, D and the strips of A* and then ‘lights’ for my fabrics E and C.

	Cut this many	6” block	12” block
A*	2	3.5” x 3.5”	6.5” x 6.5”
B	2	2.5” x 2.5”	4” x 4”
C	2	2.5” x 2.5”	4” x 4”
D	2	2” x 3.5”	3.5” x 6.5”
E	2	2” x 3.5”	3.5” x 6.5”

A* – Cut the square size out of a fabric you can use for a foundation. Then, cut wonky strips of fabric that coordinates with your D and B fabric in lengths of either 4” (for the 6” block) or 7” for the 12” block)

Directions

We’re going to start by making our center ‘strippy’ spool. I’m going to write the directions with the 12.5” blocks but I’ll put the sizes for the 6.5” blocks in (parenthesis).

Take your 6.5” (3.5”) foundation piece A. We’re going to foundation piece strips onto it to create a fun strippy looking spool of thread.

I decided I’m going to make a green ‘strippy’ spool.

Sew these onto your foundation piece. Start by laying one strip right side up on the foundation piece. Place a second strip right side down against the other strip. Sew all three layers together. Iron so that the right sides of the strips are both up. Now you can sew another strip to the raw edge of your first strip and a different strip to the raw edge of the second.

Here is a good photo tutorial of what I’m describing if you are lost. http://www.allthingsfrugal.com/strip.piecing.htm If you are still confused I can take photo’s of the process and post them.

The back side of your block should look like this.

And the front like this. It’s better to be a bit bigger than too small because you can always trim it down. Now just trim it down to a 6.5” (3.5”) square

You now have your ‘A’ fabric.

Now we’re going to make our 4 B/C squares.

Take your two 4” (2.5”) lighter colored C fabric and draw a line from one corner to the other.

With right sides together place your darker B fabric right sides together with your lighter fabric.

Now, stitch ¼” on each side of the lines you drew. 4” (2.5”)

Cut along the line you drew – you can use your rotary cutter but it doesn’t have to be precise so I just used a fabric scissors. Do this with both sets of squares so you end up with four half square triangle blocks.

Iron your half square triangles open with the seam towards the darker fabric.

Trim your blocks down to 3.5” (2”).

Now you can lay all the pieces of your block out to see how it’s going to look all pieced together.

I sewed the left blocks together first – ironing towards blocks D and E. Normally I always iron towards the darker fabric but our block A has a lot of seams…D and E are going to be easier.

Next I sewed the right side to the left side and again ironed toward the E and D pieces.

By ironing in this way it was very simple for me to match my seams as I sewed the three sections together.

And voila! You have a Strippy Spool Block!

Thanks for following along and I hope you enjoyed this block tutorial!

Print your own pdf copy of this block tutorial by clicking HERE.

Make sure you add your Favorite Block Blocks to the Flickr Group when they’re done! We want to see them!

Important Links

Twitter & Instagram hash tag #mfbqa

Share this Quilt Along by Grabbing My Button!

My Favorite Block Quilt Along, Block 4 from Pamela Quilts

Posted by PersimonDreams on Jan 31, 2013 in BOM, Featured, how to, My Favorite Block Quilt Along, tutorial | 0 comments

WOW! It’s Thursday ALREADY! This week has sure gon e by fast! Today we get to see what Pamela Boatright of Pamela Quilts picked for her ‘Favorite Block’ for the 4th in the ‘My Favorite Block’ Quilt Along Journey.

- What is your favorite thing about Quilt Alongs?

I love seeing how the same block can look so different just depending on the fabrics! A lot of time I get stuck in one way of seeing a block, and different fabric really changes how the block looks.

When you look at your quilts – what color do you seem to use the most of?

I tend to use a lot of blue, but I also see a lot of orange in my work lately.

When you look at your fabric stash – what color do you seem to have the most of?

Definitely blue! Probably on a ratio of about 3 times as much blue as any other color!

What other quilt alongs are you participating in in 2013?

None at the moment, but I’ve been resisting looking too much at the Scrappy Tripalong blocks that keep popping up on blogs….I’m really trying to go through my UFO’s this year.

Apples or oranges?

Oranges. The yummy mini ones!

Favorite Number:

See what Pamela is up to by following/liking her/hearting her online:

Alright – I’ll make you wait no longer… head over to Pamela Quilts Blog to find out how to make her favorite block –

Reflections

I’ll be posting mine soon – I had a sneak peek and made my blocks last night! Make sure you add your Favorite Block Blocks to the Flickr Group – I’ll be doing a ‘Progress Report’ next week and I’ll add your blocks to the mosaic if they’re up! Have fun!

Important Links

My Favorite Block Quilt Along
Block 1, Free Form Log Cabin from Diane Lapacek
Block 2, Road to Oklahoma from Amy’s Creative Side
Block 3, Churn Dash from I’m A Ginger Monkey
Flickr Group
Twitter & Instagram hash tag #mfbqa

My Favorite Block Quilt Along, Block 3 from I’m a Ginger Monkey

Posted by PersimonDreams on Jan 29, 2013 in Featured, how to, My Favorite Block Quilt Along, Quilt Along | 1 comment

I’m excited to be sharing the third block on our ‘My Favorite Block’ Quilt Along Journey. Have you finished your first two blocks yet? Be sure to check out the progress so many are making on their blocks in the Flickr Group.

The next designer for the ‘My Favorite Block Quilt Along’ is Katy Jones from I’m A Ginger Monkey! I love ready Katy’s blog and she has some pretty recent big news – she has a book coming out this May! She’s being very modest about the book saying, “It’s only a little book…” but I think it’s really exciting news! Okay – now let’s here more from Katy before we get to see her block.

What is your favorite thing about Quilt Alongs?

I like the community style support of quilt alongs, and the hand holding. I tend to get a little competitive though and try and finish fast. Which is probably a good thing, because otherwise they might not get finished!

When you look at your quilts – what color do you seem to use the most of?

I use a lot of quite a few colours because I tend to make very busy quilts with a lot of colour and different fabrics. If I had to narrow it down I would say I use a lot oranges and pinks. And probably red.

When you look at your fabric stash – what color do you seem to have the most of?

heaps and heaps of blue and green and not a lot of quilts that use it. I intend to use a LOT of it this year to try and get rid of some!

What other quilt alongs are you participating in in 2013?

Along with Brenda from www.PinkCastleFabrics.com and Megan from www.LucyandNorman.blogspot.com we are hosting a year long series of informal and low pressure quilt alongs on instagram and flickr. A new one every month. Our first one in January was the #scrappytripalong using Bonnie Hunter’s scrappy trips around the world tutorial. It’s been ridiculously popular – which has shocked all of us. We thought a few people would join in, but it seemed to blow up and we currently have over 3,500 photos hash tagged with #scrappytripalong on instagram and almost 900 members in the flickr group. Everyone is welcome, there are no official blog posts, no pressure to do anything, just make blocks as and when you want to, hash tag your pictures or upload them to the flickr group and enjoy yourself. The idea of the IG-alongs is to use up fabrics in your stash rather than having to go shopping for specific yardage, we are choosing tutorials that are free and block based, so if you want to make a few blocks or a few hundred you can end up with a great mini quilt or a great giant quilt! [I’m tripping along!]

February’s IG-along is the #xplusalong there’s already a flickr group for that http://www.flickr.com/groups/xandplusalong/ and currently almost 250 pictures on instagram hash tagged #xplusalong so I think that one will prove to be pretty popular too!

Apples or oranges?

apples – all the way

Favorite Number:

hmm. I’ve never thought about it, I don’t really have one. Let’ss ay 4 because that’s my family

Follow @ImaGingermonkey on twitter and instagram to keep up with all the fun she’s involved with!

Alright – I’ll make you wait no longer… head over to I’m A Ginger Monkey’s Blog to find out how to make Katy’s favorite block –