Cactus Basket

Uses collection # 2.
Block finishes at 6"

To see other versions of this block, click right here.

You will want to print the 1.5" HST used for this one, on your focus-fabric, rather than your background-fabric.

Fabric 1 (background-fabric)
3 x 5.5" (for layering with the printed 1.5" HST)
Two rectangles, 1.5 x 3" (cut 2 x 3.5)
1.5" square (cut 2")
4.5" square (for printing 2 HST, 3")

OR, since you will be using at least one more 3" HST in background-fabric (next week), print a total of 4, using a piece of fabric 4.5 x 8.75"

Fabric 2 (focus-fabric)
3 x 7.75" (to print 6 HST, 1.5")
4.5" square (to layer with the BF 3" HST)

From p. 66 of collection 2, pick the ink-colour that will work best with your (focus-) fabric.
Cut a 3 x 7.75" piece of (focus) fabric and same size of freezer-paper.
Iron freezer-paper to the front / right side of the fabric.
Print 6 HST that finish at 1.5"

From p. 78 of collection 2, pick the ink-colour that will work best with your (background-) fabric.
Cut the required size of fabric (see above), and same size freezer-paper.
Iron freezer-paper to the front / right side of the fabric.
Print the required number of 3" HST

Make 4 squares of 1.5" HST.
Make 1 square of 3" HST
Cut apart the remaining two 1.5" HST.
Lay out your block, making certain you have the right distribution of colours, and that your HST turn the right way.

Make two sets of 1.5" HST.
Join the 1.5" (2" cut size) to one of the two sets (again, make sure you have them positioned right in relation to each other.

Join the "loose" 1.5" HST to the rectangles.
Lay out your block again, making certain they are all positioned right in relation to each other.

Join the 2 HST-square set to one side of the 3" HST square, and press.
Join the other set, the one with the BF-square, to the side of that, and press.
Join the two rectangles to the side of the top of the basket, and press.
Add the final, bottom, 3"HSTriangle

Press

Finished.

If you know of other patterns or books that uses this block in this size, please let me know, and I'll make links to each of the ones I'm aware of. miz_pal (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Barbara Brackman's "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns" # 700

Bonus block - Dove at the window

I am posting this one outside of the normal order of things; that is because it will end up "wrong size" no matter what LeMoyne star collection you use.

If you use the free collection, it will end up at 6.36" square, if you use the 6" LeMoyne star collection, it will end up 8.5" square. Neither is possible to fit in with the general scheme for this sampler, of making blocks that are 6" or smaller (and thus can be made into 6" blocks), but I just think it is too, too lovely not to make and show.

You could "just" make it, and then use it (either size) to make one of Tilde's Tiny Totes, or make 4 (or 6) and make a doll-quilt, or hot-pads. I can always find a use for a loose block (or two), so I don't worry about what will happen with mine :-)

There are many blocks called Dove at the Window, but I think this one is my favourite :-)

If you look at the two blocks, you can see, that the colour-distribution on the diamonds differ. Choose which version you want to make before you start sewing.


The Free Collection (6.36" finished size)

Fabric 1 (background)
4.25" square (to print four 1.32" squares, page 16)
3.75 x 10" (to print twelve 1.86" QST, page 22)

Fabric 2 (focus A)
3.5 x 9.75" OR
5.25 x 6.5 (to print 8 diamonds, page 8)

Fabric 3 (focus B)
3.5 x 9.75" OR
5.25 x 6.5 (to print 8 diamonds, page 8)

Fabric 4 (focus C)
One 1.86" square (Cut 2 3/8", no printing available)


The 6" LeMoyne Star collection (8.5" finished size)

Fabric 1 (background)
5" square (to print four 1.75" squares, page 26
4.25 x 11.75" (to print twelve 2.5" QST, page 28)

Fabric 2 (focus A)
6.5 x 7.5" (landscape, to print 8 diamonds, page 18) OR
4 x 11.5" (portrait, page 18)

Fabric 3 (focus B)
6.5 x 7.5" (landscape, to print 8 diamonds, page 18) OR
4 x 11.5" (portrait, page 18)

Fabric 4 (focus C)
2.5" square (cut 3", no printing available)


Start by making 4 identical half LeMoyne Stars
Add two triangles and a square to the halves, making this shape.

Make the centre economy-patch.

Join a half LeMoyne star to each side of the economy patch centre. There is an almighty congestation of seam at the middle of each side of the centre patch. Make sure you do not sew into seam-allowances, because if you do, twirling of this intersection might be impossible, and you will have trouble pressing this meeting of many points flat.

Join the LeMoyne star halves to each other, sewing the last 4 seams.

Finished.

If you know of other patterns or books that uses this block in this size, please let me know, and I'll make links to each of the ones I'm aware of. miz_pal (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Barbara Brackman's "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns" # 2539

Churn Dash

Elly's block on the left, Martha's block on the right.
To see other interpretations of this block, look right here.

Using Collection # 2 for the HST and POTC for the rectangles.

UPDATE : Printing-table that refers to the downloadable collections (seeing that this post refers to a sold-out collection on CD)

Block finishes at 6".

Fabric 1 (background)
3.5 x 7" for printing HST
3.5 x 5.75" for printing rectangles

Fabric 2 (focus-fabric A)
One 2,5" square (for centre)
3.5 x 7" (for layering with the printed HST)

Fabric 3 (focus-fabric B)
3.5 x 5.75" for printing rectangles

From page 70 of Collection # 2, pick the ink-colour that will work best with your lightest fabric.
Cut a 3.5 x 7" piece of fabric and same size of freezer-paper.
Iron freezer-paper to the front / right side of the fabric.
Print 4 HST with a finished (square) side at 2"

From p. 68 of the Lucy Boston / POTC / Inklingo Lite collection # 4 (same thing), pick the ink-colour that will work best with your fabric.
Iron freezer-paper to the front / right side of the fabric.
Print 4 rectangles that finish at 1 x 2"
Do this both with Fabric 1 and Fabric 3.

Make 4 sets of HST

Make 4 sets of each 2 rectangles.

Lay out the pieces to form a Churn Dash block.

Join as you would a 9-patch

Finished !



This block, in this size, is used in the Shipshewana Blessings quilt.
If you know of other patterns or books that uses this block in this size, please let me know, and I'll make links to each of the ones I'm aware of. miz_pal (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Barbara Brackman's "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns" #1646a

Hexagon bonus block # 3

Uses Collection # 3 and finishes 3" to the side.

This one is called "Madison's Patch". I found the pattern in "The Romance of the Patchwork Quilt in America", and was fascinated, both with the hexagon shape, and the name.

In quilty circles, first lady Dolly Madison is quite well known, because she has her own star. What is less well known is, that her husband, president Madison, has a patchwork star too.

I am not aware of any other couple - presidential or otherwise - that have each their own quilt-block, so to celebrate the Madisons, here's the simplest of the two stars.

You can use any of the collections that holds both 60-degree diamonds and equilateral triangles; from 0.5" (where the star will finish with 1" sides), over the 1" size in collection 1, to collection 3, where you find the 0.75, the 1.50 and the 2.25" sizes.

I have chosen the 1.5" size from Collection 3, and it might be more economical to print for more than one of these blocks, since the minimum size that most printers can do, is quite a bit larger than what you need to print the measly few bits you need for this block. My printer's minimum size is 3.5 x 5", so I printed in excess for this block.

More versions of this block can be found here.

One block
Fabric 1 (background)
5.5 x 6.25" (6 diamonds)

Fabric 2 (focus A)
3.5 x 6" (3 diamonds)
4.5 x 5.5" (6 triangles)

Fabric 3 (focus B)
3.5 x 6" (3 diamonds)

Two blocks
Fabric 1 (background)
7.5 x 8" (12 diamonds)

Fabric 2 (focus A)
3.5 x 7.75" (4 diamonds)
4.25 x 7" (8 triangles)

Fabric 3 (focus B)
4 diamonds

On p. 122 of Collection 3, pick the colour that works best with your fabrics.
Iron freezer-paper to the right side of each of the 3 fabrics, and print your 3 different colours of diamonds.
On p. 144 of Collection 3, pick the colour that works best with your triangle fabric. Iron freezer-paper to the right side of the fabric, and print.





You can hand-piece this block, without breaking the thread at all !
First follow the green arrows, then the red arrows.
Remember : no sewing into seam-allowances. Stop and pivot at the cross-hairs on every corner.












And as an added bonus : here is Elly's way of doing this hexagon, entirely by machine.

Start by making the centre diamond, and two units each of diamond-triangle, and diamond-triangle-diamond.


Add the diamond-triangle unit to two opposite sides of the centre diamond.

Add the diamond-triangle-diamond unit to the remaining two sides.

Finished !

Week 7 - Pinwheels

Elly's block on the left.
Martha's block on the right

To see other interpretations of this block, click right here.

Uses Collection # 2
Block finishes at 6"

Large Pinwheel

Fabric 1 (background)
4.5 x 8.25" (for printing)

Fabric 2 (focus)
4.5 x 8.25" (for layering with the printed fabric)

From p. 78 in collection 2, pick the ink-colour that will work best with your lightest fabric.

Cut a piece of fabric, 4.5 x 8.25" and same size of freezer-paper.
Iron freezer-paper to the front / right side of the fabric.
Print 4 HST that finish at 3"

Layer the printed (background) fabric, and the unprinted (focus) fabric, right sides together.
Stitch on the diagonal, broken lines.
Cut ALL the unbroken lines

Press the seam on all 4 (now) squares to the dark.
Lay out your block, so that you are certain that the pinwheel pattern shows.
Join the HST in pairs.
Press the new seam in the same directions as the previous one (in this case, it will be press to the light).
Join the two pairs.
Twirl the centre, to reduce bulk, and press.

Finished !


Small Pinwheels (directions are for making four that finish at 3" each, and then join them to make a 6" block)

Fabric 1 (background)
5.5 x 10.5

Fabric 2 (focus A)
One 5.5" square (for layering with printed background fabric)

Fabric 3 (focus B)
One 5.5" square (for layering with printed background fabric)

From p. 66 of collection # 2 pick the ink-colour that will work best with your lightest fabric.
Cut a 5.5 x 10.5" piece of (background) fabric and same size of freezer-paper.
Iron freezer-paper to the front / right side of the fabric.
Print 16 HST that finish at 1.5"

Cut the printed background-fabric into two square-ish pieces.
See directions for the large pinwheel and follow them until you have 4 pinwheels that have a 3" finished size.

This block, in the 3" size, is used in the "Pinwheel" quilt in Mimi Dietrich's book "Quilts from the Smithsonian".

If you know of other patterns or books that uses this block in this size, please let me know, and I'll make links to each of the ones I'm aware of. miz_pal (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Barbara Brackman's "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns" # 1262a

Double 9-patch - with 3" 9-patches

Elly's block on the left, Martha's on the right.
To see more interpretations of this block, click right here.

This block uses Collection 1 or POTC for the 1" squares, and Drunkard's Path collection for the 3" squares (or just rotary-cutter and a ruler).

If you ever considered making Calico Garden, using Inklingo to make the 3" (finished size) 9-patches that alternate with the applique blocks is a good alternative to measuring and cutting.

Or, if you have a set of 5" charms, that you really don't know what to make from, you could make 9-patches. You can fit 9 small squares on to a 5" charm, IF you cut your freezer-paper at 5.5" and place your fabric approximately in the centre

If you are a member of the Inklingo group at Yahoo, you can see Linda's pictures of how to strip-piece squares with Inklingo, right here.


Charm 9-patches For 2 blocks you need 2 charms.

On page 58 in Collection # 1, or page 28 in the POTC collection, pick the ink-colour/s that will work the best with your charm/s



Cut the freezer-paper 5.5" square when printing charms, and place the charm on the middle of the paper. Iron gently in the middle, so the fabric and paper stick together, turn over, and finish ironing from the paper-side.

Print both charms.

Cut each charm into 3 strips, each with 3 squares.
Join a strip from charm 1 to a strip from charm 2
Repeat.

On one of the strips, join a third strip, so the strip-set has colours 1,2,1
On the other strips, join the remaining third strip, so the strip-set has colours 2,1,2
Press both strip-sets to the darkest fabric.
Cut each strip-set into 3 sections.

Lay out the two 9-patches, one will have light corners, the other will have dark corners.

Piece the strips together to form a 9-patch.
Press.
Finished !

You could also make a 6" finished block, using two 9-patches, with same distribution of lights and darks, and 2 squares, cut at 3.5"
(for a finished size of 3") :

Fabric 1 (Background)
2 squares, each cut 3.5" OR
4 x 7.75" for printing two 3" squares
3.5 x 6.75" for printing 8 1" squares

Fabric 2 (Focus)
3.5 x 8" for printing ten 1" squares

From p. 24 of the Drunkard's Path Collection, pick the ink-colour that will work best with your fabric.
Iron freezer-paper to the front / right side of the fabric.
Print 2 squares that finish at 3"

From p. 57 of Collection # 1 OR p. 28 of the Lucy Boston / POTC collection, pick the ink-colour that will work best with your fabric.
Iron freezer-paper to the front / right side of the fabric.
Print 10 squares of focus-fabric and 8 squares of background-fabric. These layouts enable you to strip-piece the 9-patches.

Cut the printed fabric into strips that are 1 x 2 (printed) squares


Join the strips in sets of 3



Cut each strip-set in half, and lay out as a 9-patch



Join the new strip-sets to form two 9-patches


Lay out the solid squares and the 9-patches so they form the pattern you want.

Join

Finished !

Hexagon bonus block # 2

The Hexagon Star or Starflower.
Finished side is 3"

- and again Linda has joined me, and have stitched this hexagon in a different colourway.

For still more ways to colour this block, you can see right here.

This block uses collection 3.

Fabric 1 (background)
5.5 x 6.25"

Fabric 2 (focus)
5.5 x 6.25"

This block uses the 1.5" diamond shape found on p. 122 in collection 3.

From this page, pick the ink-colours that work best with your fabrics.

Iron your fabric, to a piece of freezer-paper the same size.

Print.

This block is made like the LeMoyne star, only with 6 star-points rather than 8.

As with the LeMoyne star, to me, the simplest way to do this star, is by hybrid-piecing. I piece the star on the machine, and do all the inset seams by hand.

Machine-piecing :

Join two diamonds.
Press seam to one side.
Add a third diamond.
Press to the same side.

Repeat, making certain that you press the diamonds in the second set, the same way you pressed the diamonds in the first set.



Join the two star halves.
Press, and twirl the centre where 6 seams meet.


Hand-piecing

Join the outside diamonds in one, continuous seam, to the star-shape.

Press.

Finished.