Tag: Blocks

May/June Donation Blocks

Brown Donation Block
Brown Donation Block

This is a block made partially from a kit that the BAMQG Charity Girls provided. I wasn’t that thrilled with the choices left when I went to look in the basket, but these postage stamp type blocks are very popular and the kits are arduous to make up. And beggars can’t be choosers, so I took the kit.

The other thing about taking kits is that I get to use fabrics that are out of my comfort zone. I know I have some browns and beiges that have languished for a long time. I have started to use them as quilting borders and other temporary parts of quiltmaking. While I don’t want to depress some poor child with a brown quilt, perhaps I could use some of the beiges and browns for donation blocks? We will see.

Green Donation Block
Green Donation Block

I made the brown block up before the May meeting and Angela took it to the meeting for me. I was mostly working on the Blue Donation Quilt, so I only made a few blocks. I have a lot of backgrounds cut and, as I mentioned, I want to work with pink, so I am cutting some pinks to use for pink donation blocks.

I am cutting 8″ squares so I can cut a bunch of 2.5″ squares all at once using the Accuquilt. That means that I don’t actually have any pink patches cut yet, but soon, hopefully.

In the meantime, when I ran out of Corner Store backgrounds (because I was making them using the leaders and enders technique), so I switched to making a blue donation block. I have plenty of backgrounds for those.

I had a few pieces of fabric waiting to be cut on the Accuquilt, so when Julie was over the other day, I cut those up using the pieces for the donation blocks as a demo. That means I have a few pieces ready to sew.

The sad part is that I am using leaders and enders to move forward in other projects, so I haven’t done nearly as many blocks for the charity girls as I would have liked. I am trying to rest on my laurels a bit, since I did make an entire quilt and back. I’ll get back in the saddle.

Block-a-Long #56: Two Rectangles

2 Rectangles in a Field of Squares #56
2 Rectangles in a Field of Squares #56

Yes, this has a lot of small squares, but you can do it.

Directions for 2 Rectangles in a Field of Squares #56 are posted.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Nota bene: The AQ Block-a-Long is ending. I am starting to repeat myself and run out of ideas and since this has not been very popular, I don’t feel bad about ending it. I am going to try and make it to #60 so you have an even number with which to work, but we will see.

Block-a-Long #55: Three Columns & a Square

3 Columns and a Square
3 Columns and a Square

This is related to last week’s block, Four Columns Squares.

This block is suited to 4 or 5 fabrics. I think that it would look best with multiple fabrics.

Directions for Three Columns & a Square are included.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Nota bene: The AQ Block-a-Long is ending. I am starting to repeat myself and run out of ideas and since this has not been very popular, I don’t feel bad about ending it. I am going to try and make it to #60 so you have an even number with which to work, but we will see.

Corner Store Progress

Corner Store - May Progress
Corner Store - May Progress

I know I am trying to finish the Flowering Snowball, but the hand piecing is slowing me down. Since th cut squares and triangles were sitting right by my machine, I just started sewing them together. I just needed to sew. In between sewing the Swoon, I made 20 of the Corner Store blocks.

These blocks are fairly easy to make if you have everything cut. As I have said, I like the variety of different sizes of triangles. I think it creates movement across the design field, but I think the viewer can see it better if the blocks are sewn together.

Lots of red in this group, but really awesome reds. I found another container of triangles with some more variety of color. The blocks will look different when I put them all up on the design wall and move them around.

I am not sure how many blocks I am going to need for a finished product, but I think the height of the piece will be 15 blocks down. If I make a piece that is 15 blocks x 15 blocks, I will need 225 blocks not counting the borders. I don’t have any idea of what type of border to add at this point. We’ll have to see.

 

Block-a-Long #54: Rail Fence

Rail Fence #54
Rail Fence #54

This isn’t one of my original block designs. It is a variation of a Rail Fence. I chose it because it is related to 4 Column Squares. You could use 5 or 8 fabrics. If you use 5 fabrics, you might want to use the same fabric in the middle pieces for a pinwheel effect.

Directions for Rail Fence are included.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Nota bene: The AQ Block-a-Long is ending. I am starting to repeat myself and run out of ideas and since this has not been very popular, I don’t feel bad about ending it. I am going to try and make it to #60 so you have an even number with which to work, but we will see.

Swoon #6

Swoon #6
Swoon #6

I told you I was going to finish the Swoon block. 😉 Here it is.

This is more of the look I was going for when I made Swoon #5. I love this block. It is one of my favorites. I love the combination of that bubble gum pink and that certain tint of turquoise/aqua. It is so cheerful.

I am thinking I will make 3 more and call it good, but we will see.

I thought I should cut out the next one so I could start sewing right away, but I didn’t have it in me.

Block-a-Long #53: Four Columns with Squares

4 Columns with Squares
4 Columns with Squares

This block is related to last week’s block, #52 as well as Corner Squares in that I am working with squares and tall rectangles. I can really see this one going well with 2.5″ squares in the center. If anyone is interested I will post a pattern for that size (about 8″) as well.

Directions for 4 Columns with Squares are included.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Block-a-Long #52: Four Columns Squares

4 Column Squares
4 Column Squares

This block is related to last week’s block, #51 as well as Corner Squares in that I am working with squares and tall rectangles. I can really see this one going well with 2.5″ squares in the center. If anyone is interested I will post a pattern for that size (about 8″) as well.

Directions for 4 Column Squares are included.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

More Donation Blocks

Blue Zipper Donation Block
Blue Zipper Donation Block

The Super Secret project is ready to go to the quilter, so I am back to my 26 Projects list. Before I start the Corner Store, I plan to put together the blue donation blocks into a baby quilt. I am going to put it together with sashing rather than just putting the blocks together. I think it will look nice. Hopefully, it won’t take long.

What do you think of the fish heads?

Scrappy B&W Donation Block
Scrappy B&W Donation Blocks

I hope that the black on white background fabrics will be considered fun and different rather than a poor choice. I don’t have much plain white, and I have plenty of the black on white.

One of the reasons I wanted to put this quilt top (not planning on quilting it, but you never know) together was so that people wouldn’t feel obligated to go out and buy fabric so they make blocks with the black on white designs to match mine.

I did put some of the earlier blocks in the donation basket at the last meeting.

Joel Dewberry Donation Block
Joel Dewberry Donation Block

I know it is silly to call this (3rd image from the top) block the Joel Dewberry block, but that one square of his print really stands out (2d row, 2d from the left). I like the graphic nature of that patch, so I always think of this block as the Joel Dewberry block.

The blocks I am showing today are all new. I already have enough blocks to make a small baby quilt top, so I guess these blocks will be for the next top!

Dot Donation Block
Dot Donation Block

I know the 4th image from the top is a bit of a repeat, but it is nice to see the blocks together. I was thinking of using black on white for the sashing, but looking at this image makes me wonder if I shouldn’t just sew the blocks together next to each other?

TFQ cut a lot of these squares as we were working on the Super Secret project. I really couldn’t have made all of these blocks without her.

Blue Donation Block
Blue Donation Block

I am also really like the Accuquilt Go!. I cut many of the background fabrics using the 2.5″ square die, which made cutting a breeze.

Look for a donation top from these blocks soon.

Block-a-Long #51: Two Columns Together

2 Columns Together
2 Columns Together

I took a week off from the Block-a-Long last week, trying to decide whether or not to continue. I have a few more ideas, so I decided I’ll post a few more blocks. Besides what would I post on Mondays?

This block is related to Two Square Columns and Corner Squares in that I am working with squares and tall rectangles. I can really see this one going well with 2.5″ squares in the center. If anyone is interested I will post a pattern for that size (about 8″) as well.

Directions for 2 Columns Together are included.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Block-a-Long #50: Large Table Squares

Large Table Squares #50
Large Table Squares #50

This block is related to two different previous blocks, #28 and #49.

Directions to this Large Table Squares #50 Directions.

If you have made blocks or a quilt from these patterns, please post a link in the comments section of the relevant block or on the AQ Block-a-Long Flickr group. I would love to see what you have made.

Donation Blocks Again

I made a few more donation blocks in between another project I am working on. I know I said this, but I enjoy making these blocks so much. I have only two more blue blocks to make until I have enough blocks to make a large enough Donation quilt.

Swoon #3

Swoon block #3
Swoon block #3

As I mentioned in my previous post on Swoon block, I am trying different ways of making these blocks. For this block, Swoon #3, I tried to make the yellow pieces one piece of fabric rather than cutting them into squares and half square triangles. I want to preserve the print as much as possible and not have those sections look choppy. I thought segments of the first Swoon block looked choppy.

I am very pleased with how this block turned out. The road was rocky, however, and I fiddled with it a lot. This block was on my design wall for a long time before I actually sewed it together.

First, I made the HSTs on the very outside of the block (pink dot and background) using my Triangle Technique.

Next, I cut 4.5″ squares for all the yellow pieces in the block (8 total).

Third, I cut 2.5″ squares out of the background fabric and the pink dot fabric. I sewed them on to the yellow, larger squares by drawing a line diagonally across the center of the smaller squares and sewing on that line. The goal was to fold the square back into a triangle.

Sewing the corners
Sewing the corners

After sewing the first one, I realized that sewing on the line was not the way to go. Folding back the square into a triangle did not cover the yellow 4.5″ square. I tried lining up the line on the small square with the inside edge of my 1/4″ foot, then I sewed just inside the line. That was just enough to make this technique work for me. I have tried to illustrate this part of the post with the photo of the piece (left) in the machine. Can you see how the foot is lined up with that drawn line?

There is a failure part of this blog post as well. In order to make sure the blocks would be large enough to cover the corners of the larger square, I cut the smaller (corner) squares larger than 2.5″ the first time around. I found, when I sewed them on that the idea was good, but didn’t work. The reason it didn’t work was because the squares were simply too big and went below the place they should have been. This meant that the quarter inch seam allowance was too large to produce good matching seams.

Once I had the correct size of squares down (thanks, TFQ!) and realized I needed to sew just inside the seam, the block flew together as much as an approximately 63 piece block can.

I am pleased with the look.

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First two Swoon blocks link