Sunday, August 30, 2015

Agri-Spouse Friday - Week 3

Welcome back to Week 3 of our Agri-Spouse Quilt Along.

First off, let's start with the photos that I have received of the three blocks we did last week. First we have Suzanne's Northern Lights:



 


And Marian's Northern Lights:




Our second block was Rainbow Flowers. Suzanne is up first:



And Marian's:



And, last, but not least, we did up Homeward Bound. Suzanne's:



And Marian's:



They all look so good to me! Even after ten years of quilting, it still amazes me how changing the fabric can so completely change the look of a block. I know that there was a flood at Mom's church a few weeks ago so she has been spending a lot of time there but she is planning to catch up in a couple of weeks when she gets her work done there. I will post her catching up as she is able to do so.

For clarification purposes, just in case, your block will finish TODAY at 6 1/2" square and 6" square after the cornerstones and sashing have been added. Blocks rarely to never finish at the exact measurement. All we do is trim them down to the measurement needed once put together. I had already purchased my sashing and cornerstone fabric so I have been adding it as I go along. Should you wish to also, the sashing cuts at 1 1/2" by 6 1/2" and the cornerstones cut at 1 1/2" by 1 1/2" square. I am making the Queen Sized quilt where you make one of every block. For that I needed to cut 110 cornerstones and 32 teeny triangles but I just cut 142 cornerstones. I also had to cut 252 sashing strips. If you are making a different sized quilt, check the book for how many of each piece to cut.

Last week we did a single block that had HSTs (Half Square Triangles) along with two other blocks that did not. That block with HSTs was the start of theme that I am going to run for a few weeks. We will do up the blocks that have the larger HSTs so that we can get those down pat before we move on to smaller HSTs and Flying Geese. These won't be at all scary in a few weeks though because by then the big HSTs will be so easy-peasy that it will only be a small step.

We are doing three blocks again this week but it isn't as bad as it sounds at first for any beginners. All three blocks have nine 2" finished squares which, when sewn together, make the final, standard 6" square. All three blocks have five squares with no piecing and four squares that are 2" finished HSTs and that's it. With different colours and different arrangements you will end up with three drastically different blocks.

For the purposes of putting the block together, all three of these blocks break down into a Nine Patch Block. Basically speaking, looking at the block you can take the main block and divide it into nine squares, 3 by 3 like a tic tac toe board or a number sign. If you start at the top left corner, that first piece is piece 1, then piece two going to the right and then three. You then move onto the next line and the left most piece in the middle line is piece 4, piece 5 is the centre square and the piece on the right is piece 6. Again move to the bottom row and the left most piece is piece 7, piece 8 is in the bottom middle and the last piece is nine. Basically, draw a tic tac toe board and number the squares the same way we read!

Knowing this will help piecing the nine patch with simple instructions and neatly nested seams. In reality there are effectively a good number of nine patches in this quilt.

Again, if you are using a method different than mine to make your HSTs, they need to trim to 2 1/2" square and will finish within the block at 2" square.

With that, our first block this week will be Block #84 - Spool.

This is a two colour block that ends up looking like a spool of thread. My block will have pink "thread" with a grey background. For your own block, use whatever colours and fabrics that you like of course but I will use my colours for descriptive purposes.

Cut two 3" by 3" pink squares and two 3" by 3" grey squares.  

Cut three 2 1/2" pink squares and two 2 1/2" grey squares.


Place one 3" pink square RST with one 3" grey square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the fabric of whichever one will show the line better. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn and then sew a seam on the other side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two HSTs apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Place the other 3" pink square RST with the remaining 3" grey square and repeat the HST process. Trim your HSTs to 2 1/2" square. You should now have four pink/grey HSTs that measure 2 1/2", three 2 1/2" pink squares and two 2 1/2" grey squares. Get your pieces organized RSU the way you want them to look.















Flip square 2 RST onto square 3 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 3. Flip square 5 RST onto square 6 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 5. Flip square 8 RST onto square 9 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 9. Flip square 1 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4.



Next flip square 7 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4. Flip the 2/3 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 2/3 set. Flip the 8/9 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 8/9 set. Finally Flip the 1/4/7 set RST onto the 2/5/8 piece, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press to one side and the third block is finished! You are finished the first block and there are only small differences between this block and the next two. The only differences are colour choices and organization no sewing differences!




Our second block this week will be Block #41 - Friendship Star.

Once again this is a two colour block with four HSTs and five squares, each of which are 2" finished, sewn together to make a 6" finished block. My block will be a purple star with a blue background. Again, I will use my colours for descriptive purposes but of course use whatever colours and fabrics you like for your own block.

Cut two 3" by 3" purple squares and two 3" by 3" blue squares.
Cut ONE 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" purple square and FOUR 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" blue squares.

Place one 3" purple square RST with one 3" blue square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the fabric of whichever one will show the line better. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn and then sew a 1/4" seam on the other side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two HSTs apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Place the other 3" purple square RST with the remaining 3" blue square and repeat the HST process. Trim your HSTs to 2 1/2" square. You should now have four purple/blue HSTs that measure 2 1/2", one 2 1/2" purple squares and four 2 1/2" blue squares. Get your pieces organized RSU the way you want them to look.

Flip square 2 RST onto square 3 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 3. Flip square 5 RST onto square 6 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 5. Flip square 8 RST onto square 9 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 9. Flip square 1 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4.

 
Next flip square 7 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4. Flip the 2/3 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 2/3 set. Flip the 8/9 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 8/9 set. Finally Flip the 1/4/7 set RST onto the 2/5/8 piece, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press to one side and the third block is finished! You are finished the second block and there were only small differences between this block and the next first block and there are equally small differences between the first two blocks and the last block. Again, the only differences are colour choices and organization no sewing differences!



Our third block this week will be Block #21 - Contrary Wife.

This is a three colour block but once again there are four HSTs and five squares, each of which are 2" finished, sewn together to make a 6" finished block. My block will be a green squares with pink and black HSTs. Again, I will use my colours for descriptive purposes but of course use whatever colours and fabrics you like for your own block.

Cut two 3" by 3" pink squares and two 3" by 3" black squares.Cut FIVE 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" green squares.


Place one 3" pink square RST with one 3" black square. Pin on the diagonal. Draw a line diagonally on the wrong side of the fabric of whichever one will show the line better. Sew a seam 1/4" from the line you have just drawn and then sew a seam on the other side of the line you drew. Then place your ruler along the line you drew and slice the two HSTs apart. Set the seam and press to one side. Place the other 3" pink square RST with the remaining 3" black square and repeat the HST process. Trim your HSTs to 2 1/2". You should now have four pink/black HSTs that measure 2 1/2" and five green squares. Get your pieces organized RSU the way you want them to look.










Flip square 2 RST onto square 3 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 3. Flip square 5 RST onto square 6 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 5. Flip square 8 RST onto square 9 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 9. Flip square 1 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4.



Next flip square 7 RST onto square 4 and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward square 4. Flip the 2/3 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 2/3 set. Flip the 8/9 set RST onto the 5/6 set, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press toward the 8/9 set. Finally Flip the 1/4/7 set RST onto the 2/5/8 piece, nest the seams neatly and sew a 1/4" seam. Set the seam and press to one side and the third block is finished!





You are finished the third block and there were only small differences between this block and the next first block and there are equally small differences between the first two blocks and the last block. Again, the only differences are colour choices and organization no sewing differences! Hopefully I haven't made any errors in the pattern instructions but if I have, please let me know and I will correct them. As I have said before, this is the first time that I have tried to write a pattern and I appreciate the help of corrections from all of you! Hopefully as I get better at this there will be fewer corrections to make.

Next week we will only do up two blocks again but once again there won't be any construction differences. Just colour choice and organization differences!

See you next week!


Tara

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