Old Maid's Puzzle 4

This block is 10.5" square. Much larger than the 6" that is the most common format on this blog, and it uses both the Drunkard's Path collection and Collection 2.
If you do not have Collection 2, most of the triangles can be made with the HST 00B collection, but you will need to make the large HST by hand.

Barbara Brackman : ”Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns” #2225
Jinny Beyer : ”The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns” p. 329-12 (sort-of)

Download Printing-table here.

Background fabric
28 HST, 1"
4 (unprinted) rectangles, each 1 x 2.25" finished size (cut size : 1.5 x 2.75")

Focus fabric 1 (dark)
4 HST, 4.25"
28 HST, 1"
1 Drunkard's Path centre-unit (shape C, from the Drunkard's Path collection)

Focus fabric 2 (medium)
4 quarter-circles (from the Drunkard's Path collection)

Making the block

Start by making the centre-square, joining the 4 quarter-circles to each side of the DP centre-shape.

Add the 4.25" HST to the sides.
IF you have printed the 4.25" HST from Collection 2, make sure that the centre matchpoints ... match.
Join a triangle to two opposite sides.
Press
Add a triangle to the remaining two sides.
Press
If you have printed the 4.25" HST (rather than hand-prepare them), your square will now be slightly larger than the block requires, so trim down your centre to 8.25".

Make the HST squares. If you are uncertain on how to, check out Linda Franz's Triangle tips.

Lay out the block, with the 1" HST around the centre.
Join the 1" HST into 4 strips of 3 units, and 4 strips of 4 units.

Make sure they are placed right in relation to each other and to the centre of the block. This is facilitated by your laying out the block as it should look in the end.

Join a 3-unit set to each side of two of the 1 x 2.5" rectangles
Join a 4-unit set to each side of the two remaining 1 x 2.5" rectangles

Join the two shorter strips to the centre.

Add the remaining, longer, strips to the centre.

Finished !

Old Maid's Puzzle 3

BB # 1913

Block finishes at 5.25"

Download printing-table here.

Background Fabric
24 HST, 0.75"

Focus Fabric 1 (medium-light)
4 rectangles, each 0.75 x 2.25" finished size

Focus Fabric 2 (dark-medium)
12 HST, 0.75"
1 square, 0.75"
4 HST, 2.25"


Making the block

Make 12 HST-squares, using BF and FF2

Add a Background-fabric HST to 8 of the squares (see picture, left). Take care to add it to the right side of the HST-squares.

Make 4 units, where you add another background-fabric HST to the other side of the square-with-triangle unit.

Make 4 units, where you add a HST-square to the top of a square-with-triangle unit.

Join the two units to make a new triangle, composed of a total of 6 background-fabric triangles and 3 focus-fabric triangles.

Join each of the pieced triangles to one of the focus-fabric, 2.25" HST, making 4 squares, each 2.25"

Lay out your block, with the rectangles and the centre square.

Add a pieced square to each side of two of the rectangles, and add a rectangle to each side of the small square of focus-fabric, making 3 "strips".

Join the strips.

Finished !

This block finishes at 5.25" square. If you want it to go with the 6" blocks, log-cabin it.
Cut 2 strips that are 1 x 5.75", and join them to two opposite sides of the block. (if you are a marvel at precision-piecing, the strips need only be 0.825" or 7/8" wide, but .... I'm not that confident, so I cut it bigger, and chop off what is not needed in the end)
Then cut two strips that are 1 x 6.75" and join to the remaining two sides.
Trim down to 6".

Old Maid's Puzzle 2

Barbara Brackmann # 1314a
Jinny Beyer # 73-10











Download printing-table here.

Background-fabric
4 squares, each 1.5"
4 HST, each 1.5"
2 HST, each 3"

Focus-fabric
4 HST, each 1.5"
2 HST, each 3"

Making the block :


Make 4 HST-squares, each 1.5"

Make 2 HST, each 3"

Make two identical 4-patches, using the 1.5" HST-squares and two 1.5" squares

Lay out the block as a 4-patch

Join the 4-patch, and you are finished !

Old Maid's Puzzle 1

There are many blocks with the name "Old Maid's Puzzle", and the next few blocks will be some of the blocks thus named.
This block is BB # 3220 and JB 75-12. It can be made with Inklingo, exactly as it is shown in both collections, however, for ease of making it, I have added a few seam-lines.

Print-table in pdf.format here.

Background-fabric
1 square (unprinted) 4.25"
2 QST, each 3"
4 HST, each 1.5"

Focus-fabric
12 HST, each 1.5"
2 QST, each 3"


Make 4 HST-squares, each 1.5"
Make the centre 3" QST square
Make 4 Flying Geese units, using the fast, no-waste method from Linda Franz's Inklingo homepage (here)

Lay out the block. It is a basic 9-patch once the units are joined, but make sure they turn the right way in relation to each other.

Make two units, each with a Flying Goose, and a 1.5" HST-square on either side of it.
Make one unit of the 3" QST-square, with a Flying Goose on each side of it.
Join the 3 strips
Finished

Wild Goose Chase

Barbara Brackmann # 2905a; Jinny Beyer 165-7

This is probably the block that most people associate with the name "Wild Goose Chase".
Uses either Collection 2 OR the downloadable HST 00B and QST 00B collections. If you do not have Collection 2, but "only" the downloadable collections, you need to make the large QST the old-fashioned way.
If you have the POTC / Inklingo Lite 4 collection, that comes in useful too.

Fabric-printing table here (click the link, and download a pdf-file)

IF you are iffy about downloading from box.net, download Monkey's Cheat Sheet from Linda Franz's page, and fill in the appropriate bits yourself.

Fabric 1 (background)
1 square, 1.41"
16 HST, 1"

Fabric 2 (focus 1, medium)
4 QST, 4"

Fabric 3 (focus 2, dark)
4 HST 1"
32 QST 1"

Since the Geese in this block finishes at 0.705 x 1.41", and are on the diagonal, you need to make them the old-fashioned way, rather than Linda's Fast method. The good thing is, that by using the HST and QST required, you will have straight-on-grain the right way, and you will not need to mess around with measurements like 0.705" :-)

Making the block

Make 16 Flying Geese the old-fashioned way, adding two dark, 1" QST to each of the background-fabric 1" HST.

Make 4 strips, each consisting of 4 Flying Geese.

Add a dark fabric, 1" HST to the background-fabric end of each of the strips.

Lay out the block.

Make two units, each consisting of one strip, flanked by two 4" QST, so the dark end of the strip forms the corner.

Make one unit with the square, flanked by two strips.

Join the 3 units.

Finished !

Northumberland Star

Barbara Brackmann # 2201 b : "Northumberland Star or Eight-pointed Star"

When blocks have Flying Geese on the diagonal, and you want them to finish at a certain size (e.g. the 6" that this blog aims towards), it isn't possible to make the geese the fast way that has been used in the previous blocks.
The Flying Geese in this block measure 1.06 x 2.12". This - happily - coincides with the diagonal measurments on the 1.5" HST (2.12" on the diagonal) and 1.5" QST (1.06" on the diagonal).


Fabric-requirements

Fabric 1 (Background / Light)
4 HST, 3"
5" square

4 squares. 1.5" - not printable
4" square (cut each square 2")

4 HST, 1.5"
3 x 5.25"

Fabric 2 (medium)
2.12" square
Either cut 2 5/8" (2.625") or use the diagonal of the 1.5" HST for "ruler"

Fabric 3 (dark)
16 HST, 1.5"
5.75" square

Making the block :
When making the component parts of this block, be careful. You have bias all over the place, but that is so you can have the grain the right way in most of the pieces of the block once it is finished.

Make 4 Flying Geese the old-fashioned way, using one 1.5" HST of background-fabric, with two 1.5" QST

Join two 1.5" QST to two adjacent sides of each of the four background-fabric squares.

Join a Flying Goose to each of the square-with-QSTriangles units

Lay out the block

Join a 3" QST to each side of two of the Flying Geese units.

Join a Flying Goose unit to two opposite sides of the fabric-2 square

Join the three units

Finished !

Chain and Bar

Barbara Brackmann # 1961

Uses Collection 2 or the downloadable Inklingo HST 00B collection

Fabric 1 (background)
4 HST, each 2.25"
3.75 x 6.75"

16 HST, each 0.75"
3.75 x 5.25"

Fabric 2 (focus)

3.75 x 6.75, to layer with same size Fabric 1

Two squares, each 2.75" to make a total of 8 Flying Geese

Two rectangles, each 2 x 2.75"



Make a total of 4 squares, using the printed 2.25" HST background-fabric, layered with the same size Focus-fabric.

Make a total of 8 Flying Geese, using Linda's method of making no-waste Flying Geese.

Make two strips of Flying Geese, each with 4 geese "flying" in the same direction.
Join the two strips, points meeting.
Make the two outside strips, each consisting of ; HST-square, rectangle, HST-square
Make sure that the HST-squares are mirror-imaging each other around the rectangle.

Join the 3 strips.

Finished !

Flying Geese

Flying Geese are extremely simple to make with Inklingo, so, this month I'll be doing a number of Flying Geese blocks. The first one is Barbara Brackmann # 1967 which is simply called "Flying Geese"

Block uses Collection 2 or the new, downloadable HST collection 00B

Fabric 1 (Background)

1 square, 1" finished,
cut 1.5"

24 HST, 1"
6 x 8.25" printed landscape

Fabric 2 (Focus 1, light)
3.25" square for making 4 Flying Geese
unprinted

Fabric 3 (Focus 2, medium)
3.25" square for making 4 Flying Geese
unprinted

Fabric 4 (Focus 3, dark)
3.25" square for making 4 Flying Geese
unprinted

Make the 3 sets of Flying Geese, using Linda Franz fast method.

Make 3 strips, as shown on picture to the right.
Please note, that the background-fabric square goes between two light Flying Geese, pointing in each their direction.

Join the strips to form a finished block

If you want the block to finish at 5", cut 2 strips that are 1 x 5.5", and join them to two opposite sides of the block.
Then cut two strips that are 1 x 6.5" and join to the remaining two sides. If you - like me - are not good freinds with your sewing-machine, you might want to cut the strips 1.25. It is easier to trim than to add :-)

Happy New Year !

And I'm so sorry.
Today is the first Friday in 6 months where you do not get a new block, BUT, I need some time off, so that I can do my paid work.
I will be back, never fear !

A Sampler Blog Button

Linda has made me a button :-) So now you can show on your blog or home-page, that you are following this Sampler Blog.

You can copy the html-code in the side-bar, and paste it into your own blog.

Nearly Insane !

Yes, Nearly Insane, or - as I would have it - Definitely Bonkers :-)

I've gotten Liz Lois' permission to share this block with everyone. She is the lady who wrote the book "Nearly Insane". The block with the most pieces in that truly amazing book, is block # 18.
It has 218 pieces !
And my love of precision battled mightily with my decision to try and machine-piece all the blocks on this blog. The decision won over the love, which is why it is not (nearly) as precise as I could have done it by hand. HOWever, I know that there are machine-piecers out there who can do it precisely with ease.

There are many (MANY) blocks in the "Nearly Insane" book that can be Inklingo'ed. All you have to do is decide whether the unit you want to Inklingo is a QST or a HST. Then measure the size of the unit in the book and pick the same size Inklingo template.

In this case, the majority of units are HST (Half Square Triangles), and they are all 0.5". Your measurement in the book, as well as the size of the Inklingo template, is the finished size.

I recommend you down-load Monkey's Cheat-sheet, and write down the requirements on one, before embarking. It is much easier to follow the printing-directions when written on the cheat-sheet, than it is on what can be written up for a blog, (and I have not yet mastered the art of embedding a pdf-file on a blog)

In the original block, there is no "background-fabric", I have, however, chosen to use the background fabric that I have used throughout the sampler-blocks. For ease of reference (since this is a many-pieces block), I have written the colour of the fabric I have used in the printing-directions too.

The block is made, either with Collection 2 or the new, downloadable HST collection and QST collection.

Fabric-1 (background, white / light)

96 HST, 0.5" - uses the square layout, (which is both on the CD and in the downloadable collection)
6.25 x 11.5" printed Landscape AND
6.25 x 11.5" printed Landscape
4 QST, 0.5"
2 x 4" (use smallest size your printer will accept, for mine it's 3 x 5")
4 squares, 0.5", (not printable).
Cut each square 1" for a finished size of 0.5"

Fabric-2 ( Focus 1, pink / medium)
3.25 x 11.5 to layer with Fabric-1, (do not print), giving a total of 32 HST-squares
2x 4" to layer with Fabric-1, (do not print), giving a total of 4 QST-squares
9 squares, 0.5", (not printable).
Cut each square 1" for a finished size of 0.5"

Fabric-3 (Focus 2, brown/ dark)
6.25 x 11.5" to layer with Fabric-1, (do not print), giving a total of 64 HST-squares
4 squares, 0.5", (not printable).
Cut each square 1" for a finished size of 0.5"
2 rectangles, each 0.75 x 1.5", (not printable).
Cut each rectangle 1.25 x 2"
2 rectangles, each 0.75 x 3" (not printable).
Cut each rectangle 1.25 x 3.5"

- - -

Make all the HST and QST units. See Triangle Tips, or in your collection, OR in the Inklingo Handbook for tips and hints on how to do it.
This step will take quite some time, since you will need to trim off all the points. The bits in this block are so small, that everything that can be trimmed, should be trimmed. FORtunately, with Inklingo, you have lines along which to trim, so it isn't hard at all, just somewhat time-consuming.

Take the QST-units, of the Fabric-1 and Fabric-2 bits.
Make a star, exactly the same way you did the Ohio Star. The only difference between the two is the size !
Border the star with the rectangles made with Fabric-3, adding first the two short rectangles to opposite sides, then the two longer to the remaining sides.

Next comes a number of rows of HST. They are not difficult to make, however, to get the block to look as it should according to the book, it is important that you look closely at the pictures, and add them as they are there ...
Another option is to live with it looking different from the original pattern, and rest at ease, since only NI-buffs with a strong leaning towards QuiltPolice will ever notice :-)
Disregarding Inklingo, this block is a bear to frog-stitch and to press. Do not expect it to lay flat with ease.

Make 4 rows, each with 6 HST-squares of Fabric-1 and 3
To two of these rows, add a Fabric-2 square to each side.
Join the two rows that have no square at the end, to opposite sides of the centre unit.
Join the two remaining rows to the remaining two sides.




Make 4 rows, each with 8 HST-squares of Fabric-1 and 2
To two of these rows, add a Fabric-3 square to each side
Join the two rows that have no square at the end, to opposite sides of the centre unit.
Join the two remaining rows to the remaining two sides.




Make 4 rows, each with 10, HST-squares of Fabric-1 and 3
To two of these rows, add a Fabric-2 square to each side.
Join the two rows that have no square at the end, to opposite sides of the centre unit.
Join the two remaining rows to the remaining two sides.

Finished !

Free Pattern - Passacaglia

In the year 1973, the British author Lucy Boston made a quilt for her friend, harpsicordist Colin Tilney.
As all of her quilts, it is fairly simple in it's basic construction, yet very intricate in its execution.

In early August of this year (2009), I was given a copy of Diana Boston's book "The Patchworks of Lucy Boston", and saw the picture of the quilt.

The book has no directions, just a few pictures, but since when has that stopped a determined quilter :-) I fell in love. Hard. Really, really hard :-) And started to make blocks to make my own version of this quilt. As of now (December 2009), I have finished 30+ blocks, all of which you can see on my other blog.

Then, a couple of months ago, I wrote Diana Boston, and asked her permission to make a pattern, and she graciously granted that. The quilt is not in her posession, however, but resides in Canada, with Colin Tilney.

When I started to write the pattern, it turned out to be very, very difficult to make lucid AND comprehensive, wherefore some very hard decisions were necessary. This is why the pattern I'm giving away this Christmas, is a pattern for a table-runner, and not a full quilt. Should you want to make a full quilt of your own, however, it should be possible to do with the information in the pattern.

The pattern turned out to be impossible to write it up for the blog, which is why you need to download it at Linda Franz Inklingo home-page. It is written for the Free Collection, so if money are low, but stash is high, you need not go out and buy anything at all.

You can buy Diana Boston's book direct from her, right here, or, if you are in North America, from Linda Franz, right here. Be aware, though, that there are no patterns in the book, just pictures of the quilts Lucy Boston made.

You can download your free Passacaglia pattern here : http://lindafranz.com/product.php?productId=55

Merry Christmas ! And if you don't celebrate that, then Happy New Year :-)

Puss in the Corner

For those of you who do not celebrate the season and/or are feeling somewhat fed up with the whole thing, here's a nice, absolutely non-christmassy block.
... and anyway, with winter being in full swing in the northern hemisphere, a warm corner is where my pussies prefer to be.

... and yes, I do know that there are many blocks called "Puss in the Corner" and that this is probably not the one most frequently associated with the name, but I really like it, and it gives those of us who makes this block the opportunity to practice this kind of corner ... which is much used in quilt-blocks.

Uses either Collection 2 or the new, downloadable "Half Square Triangles 00B" collection.
The squares can be printed from either the Inklingo Lite # 4 (the smaller size of POTC), or Collection 1.


Fabric 1 (background)
1" HST (16 needed)
4.25 x 8.5"
2" square
Cut 2.5" square
3.25" square for Flying Geese

Fabric 2 (focus 1, dark)
2" HST (4 needed)
3.5 x 6.75"
1" squares (4 needed)
3" square, cut apart to make 4 squares, each 1.5"

Fabric 3 (focus 2, medium)
1" HST (8 needed)
4.25 x 5"
3.25" square for Flying Geese


Barbara Brackman # 1669

Make a total of 8 Flying Geese, 4 in each distribution of fabrics. Use the Flying Geese method, found on p. 10-11 of the Triangle Tips.

Join the Geese, two and two, to make a total of 4 squares (2" finished, 2.5" unfinished)


Make the 4 corner-units.
Start by joining a 1" HST to each side of the 1" square.
Join a 2" HST to the unit, to form a square (2" finished, 2.5" unfinished).
Make 4.



Lay out and join block as you would a 9-patch.

Finished

Hexagon bonus block # 10 - Poinsetta

This block is my own design (as far as I know). IF someone out there has information that others have designed the same block previously, please let me know.
In any circumstance, play fair. If you want to share this block with others, refer them to this page, please :-)

This block uses Collection # 3, but if you want it in a different size (4" to the side, 8" from tip to tip), you can use Collection 1, and use the 1" unit as your base.

Fabric 1 (background)
6 diamonds, 0.75" (p. 115)
3 x 5" (printed landscape)
12 triangles, 0.75" (p. 136)
3 x 6.75"

Fabric 2 (leaves)
12 diamonds, 0.75" (p. 115)
4 x 6.5" (printed landscape)

Fabric 3 (flower)
6 starpoints, 0.75" (p. 97)
5 x 6"

Fabric 4 (centre)
1 hexagon, 0.75" (p. 82)
4.25 x 5" (will yield 4, but it is the smallest sensible size)


Make the diamonds that are to be inset between the star-points. Each of these pieced diamonds consists of two triangles and a diamond of background-fabric, and two diamonds of the leaf-fabric.



Make the star-flower, as you made the Texas Star block and inset the sewn diamonds as you did the unsewn background-fabric diamonds on that one.

Mary's Block or Gentleman's Fancy

Take your choice on the name, depending on whether or not you want to make this into a Christmas-block.

Uses Collection 2, or the downloadable HST 00B-AND the QST 00B collection

Fabric 1 (background)
12 QST, 2"
3.5 x 10.5"

Fabric 2 (focus)
8 HST, 2"
6.25 x 6.5"
4 QST, 2"
3.5 x 5" (my printer's minimum size)
1 square, 2"
cut 2.5" or use the POTC collection or Collection 1.



Make the centre economy-patch :

Take the 2" square and add a 2" QST in Background-fabric to each side of the square.

Add a 2" HST in Focus-fabric to each side of the new square.

Make 4 units, each with 3 QST triangles, BUT the long end.

Add a 3-triangle unit to each side of the Economy Patch.


Add a 2" HST in Focus Fabric to each corner.

Finished !

Joseph's Coat or Scrapbag

Pick the name depending on whether or not you celebrate Christmas :-)

Uses Collection 2 or the downloadable HST 00B collection. Since there are now two different versions of the same sizes of the bits, I will not note the page on which it is on. Download Monkey's Cheat Sheet, and make your own notes.


Fabric requirements

Fabric 1 (background)
12 HST, 1"
xxx
Two unprinted squares, each 3.25, for Flying Geese

Fabric 2 (focus 1, medium)
4 HST, 1"
xxx
4 HST, 2"
xxx
1 square, 2"
Cut a 2.5" square, or print from POTC or Collection 1.

Fabric 3 (focus 2, dark)
16 HST, 1" (for Flying Geese
xxx

Fabric 4 (focus 3, medium)
4 rectangles (not printed)
Cut each of them 1 x 2.5" for a finished size of 0.5 x 2"

Start by making the corner-units.
Make four 1" squares from Focus Fabric 1 and Background Fabric
Add a Background-fabric HST to each side of the Focus-fabric side of the square, forming a 2" HST.
Join the 2" HST of Focus Fabric 1 to the unit, forming a 2" square.
Do this a total of 4 times.


Make 8 Flying Geese, using the 3.25" squares of Background Fabric and the 1" HST of Focus Fabric 2. Use the method described here .

Cut away 1/4" (the seam-allowance) on the bottom of each of the Geese-units.

Add the rectangle to the side where the seam-allowance has been cut off.

Join a Flying Geese unit to the other side of the rectangle, forming a 2" square.


Lay out block as a 9-patch.

Join as you would a 9-patch.

Finished.

Hexagon bonus block # 9

Star of the East
Barbara Brackman # 241.1 / 3716

Uses Collection 3

Fabric 1 (background)
6 diamonds, 1.5" (p. 122)
5.5 x 6.25"

Fabric 2 (focus A, dark)
6 half-diamonds, 1.5" (p. 125)
4.5 x 6"

Fabric 3 (focus B, medium)
6 half-diamonds, 1.5" (p. 125)
4.5 x 6"


Join the half-diamonds from the two focus-fabrics, to form a total of 6 diamonds.

Join them as you would a normal 6-pointed star. Make sure that you alternate the colours on the two focus-fabrics.

Add the backing-fabric. If you hand-piece, this can be done with one continuous stitch.

Finished.

Washington Star

Could be State of, could be George, could be DC. You choose.

QST for this one ! and some Flying Geese :-)

Uses Collection 2

Since this block deals with quite small units, it makes the most sense to me to make not two flying geese in each colourway, but 4, and discard the two surplus. Likewise, it makes most sense to make 6 QST-squares, and discard one.
This is therefore, what the directions are made for.

Fabric 1 (background)
4 squares, each 1.5" (cut 2")
8 rectangles, each 0.75 x 1.5" (cut 1.25 x 2")
10 QST, 1.5" (p. 102)
3.5 x 9.25" (prints 12)
20 HST, 0.75" (p. 60)
5.75 x 7.5" (prints 24)

Fabric 2 (focus A)
10 QST, 1.5" (p. 102)
3.5 x 9.25" (do not print, but layer with the printed background-fabric)
1 square, 2.75" for 2 flying geese units (makes 4, but 2 are discarded)
Fabric 3 (focus B)
1 square, 2.75" for 2 flying geese units (makes 4, but 2 are discarded)
4 HST, 0.75" (p. 60)
2 x 3.5" (do not print, but layer with the printed background-fabric)

Make a total of 5 QST in Fabrics 1 and 2

see Linda's Triangle Tips on Flying Geese
Make the Flying Geese units with Fabrics 1 and 2
Make the Flying Geese units with Fabrics 1 and 3

Lay out the block as shown in picture on the right.
(click on picture if you have trouble seeing the individual units)

Join to form 5 rows, as shown in picture on the left.

Join rows

Finished !

Bonus-block - Spools

This month the square bonus-block is not made with the free collection or the LeMoyne star collection, but with Inklingo Lite # 4, the one you use if you are making your own version of Lucy Boston's Patchwork of the Crosses.

The block finishes smaller than 6", (actually, it finishes at the weird size of 4.82") but you can log-cabin it, and make it fit with the other 6" blocks.

Also, if you print the 1" squares for this block, you will waste some. You can get around that, by cutting squares, each 1.5". They will then finish at the 1" you need for this block.

As you can see, I have used scraps for centres, and have not coordinated the centre ("thread") part of the spools with the end of them. This is perfectly good with this pattern ... after all, spool-ends and colour of thread are rarely identical :-)


Fabric 1 (background)
8 Long half-hexagons (p. 48)
5.25 x 6"

2 strips, each 1.25 x 5.5" (for log-cabining the block, to make it 6")
2 strips, each 1.25 x 6.5" (for log-cabining the block, to make it 6")

Fabric 2 (Focus A)
4 Long half-hexagons (p. 48)
3 x 6"
4 squares, 1" (p. 28)
3.5 x 5"

Fabric 3 (Focus B)
4 Long half-hexagons (p. 48)
3 x 6"
4 squares, 1" (p. 28)
3.5 x 5"

Join a long half-hexagon of the same fabric to opposite sides of each square.

Inset a background-fabric half-hexagon to each of the remaining sides

Make a total of 4 spools

Arrange as a 4-patch

Join the squares as you would a 4-patch.

Log-cabining it : The shorter strips are longer than the block is. Just sew one on each side of the block, and then cut off the (small) excess.
Add the two longer strips to the remaining two sides.
Trim it down to 6.5". This is the unfinished size. It will finish at 6" when it goes into the quilt.

This is a great way to use your smallish scraps, and if you - like me - are slightly addicted to old quilts and pictures thereof, you can probably find at least one picture of an antique quilt, made from scraps.

Balkan Puzzle / Whirlpool

After all those HRT, time to sink into the (relative) comfort of a block made solely with HST.

Block finishes at 6"

Uses Collection 2

Fabric 1 (background)
16 HST, 1.5" (p. 66)
5.5 x 10.5"

Fabric 2 (focus A)
8 HST, 1.5" (p. 66)
Cut a piece 5.5" square to layer with the printed Fabric 1 (machine-piecing)
OR print a sheet the same size (hand-piecing).

Fabric 3 (focus B)
8 HST, 1.5" (p. 66)
Cut a piece 5.5" square to layer with the printed Fabric 1(machine-piecing)
OR print a sheet the same size (hand-piecing).

Cut Fabric 1 (background-fabric) into two halves

With Fabric 1 and 2 : make 8 squares. Press 4 of those towards the background-fabric, and 4 towards the focus-fabric. Yes. This is really necessary if you want to have a fighting-chance to make this block lie flat in the end. If you hand-piece, it isn't an issue, but if you machine-piece, it is.

With Fabric 2 and 3 : make another 8 squares. Again, press 4 of those towards the background-fabric, and 4 towards the focus-fabric.

Arrange as shown in picture (left).

Make 4 identical 3" squares (OR join rows)

Join the 4 squares (OR join the 4 rows).

Finished

Hexagon bonus block # 9

"Diamond Cube"
Finished size : 3" to the side.
Uses Collection 1

Fabric 1 (background / outside pieces)
6 diamonds, 1" (p. 55)
3.5 x 6" (printed landscape
Fabric 2 (light)
7 diamonds, 1" (p. 55)
3.5 x 7.5"

Fabric 3 (medium)
7 diamonds, 1" (p. 55)
3.5 x 7.5"
Fabric 4 (dark)
7 diamonds, 1" (p. 55)
3.5 x 7.5"


Even though it doesn't much look like it, this block is really a Hexagon-flower with an Attitude.
There are basically two ways to make it.

Make 7 hexagon-shaped blocks, each from one light, one medium and one dark diamond. Make sure the values are placed the same way in each of the blocks.

After having done this, you can make it as you would a Hexagon-Flower block (Cathi's Tutorial is right here)

The other option is to do it in strips, laying out your pieces like shown on the picture.
I would then machine-piece the dark-and-medium-(and-background)-fabric) "strips", and hand-piece in the light fabric diamonds afterwards


Barbara Brackman's "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns" #240