Ohio Star

We have already had this block, in the 6" format on this blog
Until I have time to write a printing-table and a new block which works with the other ones in this series, see the Ohio Star post from July 2009.

And if you do not have Collection 2 (which is sold out), use 2" QST from the downloadable QST 00B collection, and 2" squares from any number of (other) downloadable collections.

Confederate Rose

As was the case last week, this week's block on Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler, isn't really Inklingoable.
BUT, it is possible to fake and fudge your way through it.

Print the 2.5" QSTriangles as directed in the printing-table.
Note that you must use Layout 2 and must (!) use the size I have given. You will have a good deal of waste, but it cannot be helped if you want to use Inklingo as part of constructing the 'weird shape' you need.

From the fabric you have printed with the 2.5" QST, cut 4 squares, each with two adjacent QSTriangles.

Draw a new stitching-line, 0.25" from either of the two stitching-lines already on the two-triangle unit.
Cut another 0.25" away from the newly drafted stitching-line.
See the picture on the right. Red line is new stitching-line, green line is new cutting-line. If you have trouble seeing it, click on the picture to enlarge it.

Add these four 5-edged shapes to the 2.25" central square (cut 2.75")
Be careful NOT to stitch into the seam-allowances. Sew only from cross-hair to cross-hair (or the equivalent). That is the 'joy' of Y-seams or inset seams, but it is possible to do, even on the machine, even for me (!), but only if one does not sew into the seam-allowance but stops exactly at the corner.

Add the 1" (finished width) strips to the centre.
Strictly speaking, to make the relationship between the pieces exactly the same as is found in Brackman's block, you now need to cut the strips 1.4" for a finished width of 0.9". I have opted to make mine 1" finished (and printable with the 1" Log Cabin collection), and to print them 5" long. They need to be trimmed, BUT, if you print these, align the centre of each log with the centre seam on the 'messed with' shapes that border the centre square. That way, you can also align the 1.875" HST you need to add to the corners with the centres of both ... centre and strips, and can wait to trim until the block is actually finished.

For the 8" block, use Barbara Brackman's directions.
Printing table.

Empty Spools

Week 31 of Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler is (fortunately) a very simple block.
No need for a printing-table, though, since only one shape is printable.

For the 8" size, follow Brackman's directions.

For the 6" size :
From both Background and Focus fabrics, cut a square, 7.25"
Cut in half diagonally, twice, making 4 QST of each.

You need two of those squares from each of your fabrics.

From focus-fabric :
Print two 3" QST (from the QST 00B collection). Use layout 2, in rows, and print a sheet that is 4 x 4.5" printed Landscape.

Using the technique described for the Bow Tie blocks, (shown previously on this blog) add the smaller focus-triangles to the larger background-fabric triangles.

Trim behind the smaller triangles.
Join the 4 triangles to form a square.
Finished !

Next Door Neighbour

Week 28 of Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler is called 'Next Door Neighbour'.

It uses HST and QST, and is easily Inklingoable in both sizes ... however, if you want to make it in the 8" size, you need the (sold-out) Collection 2 on CD. If you don't have that, you need to hand-cut the 4" QST. Just follow Brackman's directions for her template B, and you should be good.

In the 6" size, however, it's good and easy to make with the HST 00B and QST ooB collections.

Brackman's Post.
Printing-table.

Blockade

This week's block on the Brackman Sampler is called 'Blockade'
In the 6" format, it uses 1.5" HST and 3" QST; in the 8" format, it calls for 2" HST and 4" QST.
HOWever, for the growing number of people who do not have access to the (sold out) Collection 2 on CD, the 4" QST is a problem.
Not worry. By adding a few, but crucial, seams, the entire block can be made with one size HST.
I've made two printing-tables for each size. One with the big QST, the other without the QST.


... oh, and for once, I've made the block as well, and you can see what I mean. This block is made entirely from HST.

Picture on the left shows the HST-squares before joining.

Brackman's post here.
Printing-tables here.

Missouri Star

Week 19 of Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler quilt is called Missouri Star

Now, isn't it fortunate, that this week, with the square in a square for the centre, of the block, that Linda has just made a post on her 'All About Inklingo' blog, which deals with how you get from a known size HST to an unknown size square (or vice versa). Go check out the Measurements of Half Square Triangles post.

This week's block is fully Inklingoable in the 6" format, and almost fully Inklingoable in the 8" format (fully Inklingoable only if you've got the sold-out Collection 2 on CD).

And please note : When you make the star-points, do not make 8 identical ones. If you do, you'll get different coloured tips. Make two mirror-image set of each 4 star-points.

Brackman's Post.
Printing Table.

Fort Sumter

Completely re-written ! on June 3, 2011

This weeks block on Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilt Sampler is not really inklingoable in the 8" format, however, with the advent of the 0.75" Log Cabin collection, the 6" size is fairly easy to do, and without all the tweaking the original posting necessitated.

Only one thing to tweak : The new directions require you to print logs that are 0.75 x 3" (finished size). You only need logs that are 2.75" long (finished size), so this is what you do.
Print the logs, then cut away one seam-allowance on the long side, and you have the perfect lenght.
And that's it ! And no, you don't need the stitching-line, you can follow the stitching-line on the 0.75" square that you will be joining to it.

There is no printing-table for the 8" block, since only one of the shapes is genuinely inklingoable, and that's the 1" square she uses for cornerstones on the centre square, but there is a brand new printing-table for the 6" version.

Brackman's post.
Printing table (6" block only), also re-written on June 3, 2011

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 !

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 !

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 !

Ohio Star

Block finishes at 6"










Other versions of this block can be seen here.
Uses QST from Collection # 2 and Squares from Collection # 1 or the POTC collection
QST means Quarter Square Triangle
Martha's block on the left, Elly's block on the right.

Fabric 1 (Background)
1 piece 5.75 x 5.75", for printing 4 squares
1 piece 4 x 7.5" for printing a total of 2 sets of QST.

Fabric 2 (Focus)
1 sheet 4 x 7.5" (if you're hand-piecing, you will want to print QST on this one too, if you're machine-piecing, it is not necessary).
1 square, 2.5"


From page 106 of Collection # 2, pick the ink-colour that will work best with your lightest fabric.
Cut a 4 x 7.5" square and same size of freezer-paper.
Iron freezer-paper to the front / right side of the fabric.
Print 8 QST

From page 59 of Collection # 1, pick the ink-colour that will work best with your lightest fabric. Cut a 5.75" square and same size of freezer-paper.
Iron freezer-paper to the front / right side of the fabric.
Print 4 squares that finish at 2"

Making the block :

Check Linda's Triangle Tips on how to make the QST, or check the Inklingo Handbook, p. 64-65.

Make 4 sets of QST blocks. Each set should measure 2.5" unfinished to give a 2" finished size.

Lay out the component parts solid and QST squares, so you are certain that everything is there.

Join as you would a 9-patch.

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" # 1631.