Cow Block

I’ve had several people ask me about the cow block, so I decided to share the pattern. This is a fairly complex paper pieced block, so if you’ve never tried paper piecing (foundation piecing) before, you might want to start with something a little more basic. Okay, a LOT more basic. Like this:

If you click on the image, you’ll open a PDF of the foundations (two to a page).

To try something just a little more interesting, try the heart blocks (also posted on my Patterns page). All Heart Blocks finish at 6″.

Or, if you’re ready to jump in with the cow block, click on the image below for the PDF. You will need to foundation piece several separate sections, then put those sections together to form the cow. Each section is numbered with the order to add pieces.

Use your favorite paper piecing method, or download my freezer paper piecing tutorial. Of course, foundation piecing is a topic we’ll cover in future Skill Builder posts.

Cow and Baskets

A blogging friend, Nancy Near Philadelphia, is collecting blocks for a COW quilt. I live in Wisconsin, the Dairy State, Cheesehead Central, so of course I had to participate. She asked what I wanted in return, and at first I was going to say nothing, but then I remembered that she’d participated in the Basket Block of the Month, and had even created an extra, thirteenth basket. What could be more perfect than a Nancy Basket block from Nancy herself? She sent this beautiful block made from French General fabrics. I love the subtlety of the small basket within the larger one.

I knew right away that I wanted to foundation piece the block, so I looked for patterns. Unfortunately the only one I found wasn’t quite what I was looking for. Next step – find a photo to copy! I saved several photos and finally chose this one. I opened it in EQ7 as a tracing image and then started drawing straight lines to divide it up into paper-pieceable sections. While I love the way the cow looks, if I make it again I’ll try to refine the sections a bit so it isn’t as choppy. Here’s the finished block:

Actually, that’s not quite what I sent to Nancy. See, I trimmed it after I took this photo and accidentally chopped too much off one side. In order to make it 12 1/2″ I had to sew a strip of white on three sides. Believe me, there was much forehead-smacking. I also forgot to sign it, which she clearly requested and I clearly knew, as evidenced by the post it note on my computer. More forehead-smacking.

I love this guy’s face! In fact, I’m planning on making four more in various colors (and slightly larger) and turning it into an Andy Warhol-inspired wall quilt. Something like this:

Thanks, Nancy, for the inspiration!

Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to the giveaway winner – Beth @ Wandering Minstrel!

I had a lot of wonderful entries and I’m so glad this decision was made by the Random Number Generator. If I’d had to chose based on stories told, I’d still be deciding. As it is, I was surprised to learn that I’ve actually met the winner! Funny how my last giveaways went to Canada and France, and this one is going 20 miles away. Beth, I’ll contact you to make arrangements for receiving your new UFO!

PM/GC Quilts Skill Builder Series: Part 8A – Flying Geese

Welcome back! This time around, Jeanne and I will show you several different methods for constructing Flying Geese. Be sure to check out Jeanne’s post. The method she will demonstrate is my favorite method for making Flying Geese, and it’s pretty slick!

Between the two of us we’ll show your four different methods. You need to make a total of eight Flying Geese units that you will assemble into a block called the Flying Dutchman. The final block will finish at 12″ (12 1/2″ unfinished) so each Flying Geese unit will finish at 6″ x 3″ (6 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ unfinished). Use whichever technique(s) you’d like to make the units.

Please review the Quarter Inch Seam post for details about cutting and sewing accurately.

I’m going to show you the traditional method, which involves cutting triangles then sewing them back together. I have a lot of experience with this method – my first “on my own” quilt (that is, the first one outside of the sampler I made in my quilting class) consisted of columns of Flying Geese alternating with long strips. It was inspired by an illustration in the children’s book The Quiltmaker’s Gift written by Jeff Brumbeau and illustrated by Gail de Marcken. This is a fantastic book – the illustrations are incredible, and there are two pattern books – Quilts from the Quiltmaker’s Gift and More Quilts from the Quiltmaker’s Gift, both by Joanne Larsen Line – that are some of the best I’ve seen. They’re very accessible for beginners – in fact, several of the quilts were made by children.

Anyway, back on track! Here’s my original Flying Geese quilt, titled Wild Goose Chase:

Technically, a Wild Goose Chase quilt has a different layout, but there’s a family story behind it so I used the name anyway. As this was my first quilt, I did a terrible job with the quilting (just a few straight lines). It looks pretty good despite that, and you’d never guess the agony I went through when I made the thing. My columns looked like the geese were trying to make a U turn! I made it work and the strips between helped straighten them out. It was partly the sewing method and partly my own inexperience, but I muddled through anyway, and I’m glad I did. I still love this quilt, warts and all.

Method 1 – Traditional

Flying Geese are made of three right triangles. For those who have forgotten Geometry class, right triangles have one “right” or 90 degree angle (shaped like an L) and two smaller angles. If you start with a square, the two smaller angles are 45 degrees. Although all three triangles are the same shape, they are not cut the same. The “sky” triangles are made by cutting a square in half diagonally. The “goose” triangle is made by cutting a larger square in quarters diagonally.

So why are those triangles cut differently? Let’s review a bit about bias edges. When you cut a square, all four edges are on the straight of grain, and are fairly stable. They don’t stretch too much or too easily. If you cut a square in half diagonally, the diagonal edge is on the bias which stretches a lot and very easily. When you’re making blocks you want the exposed, unsewn fabric at the edges of the block to be on the straight of grain. Blocks are often assembled over a period of time and collected until you have enough to sew into a quilt. You want them to be as sturdy as possible so they aren’t distorted when you handle them.

Back to the triangles – the sky pieces are a square cut diagonally once, so they have one stretchy edge and two stable edges. The goose piece is a square cut diagonally twice, in quarters, so each triangle has TWO stretchy edges and one stable edge. When you put the pieces together to form the Flying Geese unit, you’ll sew the stretchy edges together, stabilizing the bias with the seam. All four outside edges of the unit are on the straight of grain and are less prone to stretching.

The magic numbers for figuring out what size to cut your squares is 7/8″ for the sky and
1 1/4″ for the goose. For the sky pieces, start with the smaller measurement of the finished unit and add 7/8″. For the goose, start with the larger measurement of the finished unit and add 1 1/4″. If you’ve been reading my Skill Builder posts, however, you know I prefer to cut a little larger then trim to size, so I cut my sky 1″ larger and my geese 1 1/2″ larger.

In order to create one 6″ x 3″ finished Flying Geese unit, you’ll need one sky square cut at 4″ (or two, if you want to use different fabrics on either side of the goose) and one goose square cut at 7 1/2″. (Full disclosure – for this sample I accidentally cut my large square at 7 1/4″, so trimming was a little tight.) Cut the sky square(s) in half diagonally, and cut the goose square in quarters diagonally. Lay out the pieces so you can see how they will go together.

Flip one sky piece over onto the goose piece, aligning the bottom corners. The top sky corner will extend well past the goose edge – that’s okay, you’ll trim the excess here.

Place the fabric under the presser foot, sliding the fabric forward enough that the tip of the triangle is well over the feed dogs.

Remember, this is a bias edge so sew carefully, just guiding the fabric and letting the feed dogs do the work. Don’t hold the fabric down because the feed dogs will pull and stretch it. Once it’s sewn the seam will stabilize the bias, but you should still be careful when pressing because the other bias edge is still exposed.

Lift and press with the iron, don’t push it over the fabric. Press your seams open if you prefer, but I nearly always press my Flying Geese to the side. You hear about pressing to the darker fabric, and if there is no benefit to pressing one way or the other, that’s what I do. However, with Flying Geese you can create a magic spot with the seam intersections that helps keep your points intact. (I’ll show you the magic spot later in the post.) If you press to the side, always press to the sky.

Place the second sky piece on the goose, again aligning the bottom corners and letting the top corner extend past the edge.

When you place this under the presser foot, put the seam side up so you have a smooth surface going across the feed dogs. Slide the fabric forward so it rests over the feed dogs. See how the two sky pieces make a Y shaped notch? That’s where your needle should go.

Sew, again gently guiding the fabric and not pulling or pushing it to avoid stretching the bias, and press toward the sky if you are pressing to the side.

If you cut the pieces a little larger, now you need to trim it to size. Look at the piece – there’s only one seam intersection that you need to worry about (the point at the top). If you trim that edge so it is exactly 1/4″ past the point, you should have no problem with floating or cut off points when you sew it into a block. That needs to be the center point, so be sure to measure from the center out when you trim your sides. The piece should be 6 1/2″ x 3 1/2″, so I placed the ruler with the intersection of the 1/4″ and 3 1/4″ lines right on the point. The 3 1/2″ mark at the bottom lines up with the long edge. (Since I cut my goose fabric at 7 1/4″ instead of at 7 1/2″, I don’t have any room to trim at the bottom, wide part of the goose. If I’d cut it large, I could also trim here.)

Trim the excess fabric on all four sides. Both fabrics should extend to the bottom corners. Mine doesn’t one one side, but I can live with the amount that it’s off. If I’d cut it larger I could have fixed this during trimming.

Here’s your finished Flying Geese unit:

If you flip it over, you can see that “magic spot” I talked about. When you sew this to another piece of fabric, you’ll sew just a hair above the place where the threads cross.

Method 2 – Squares

The second method for Flying Geese is easier because it does not require you to deal with exposed bias edges. Instead of cutting the triangles, you sew two squares to a rectangle and then cut off the excess. Depending on the size of the pieces, you may want to sew a second line on each corner, creating half square triangles out of the excess fabric. This may not be feasible for very small pieces, and so the method can result in some wasted fabric.

In this case, figuring out the size of your pieces is very easy – if you Flying Geese unit finishes at 6″ x 3″ (unfinished at 6 1/2″ x 3 1/2″), you cut a rectangle of goose fabric at 6 1/2″ x 3 1/2″ and two squares of the sky fabric at 3 1/2″. If you want to cut these larger and trim later you may, but I don’t usually find it necessary.

Draw a diagonal line on the back of each square. If you are going to sew a second line and save the half square triangles, draw a second line 1/2″ to the outside of the center line. (Note: When you sew half square triangles, you draw a center line and then another line 1/4″ on either side of center. The two outside lines are for sewing and the center is for cutting. For the Flying Geese units, you will sew the line that runs corner to corner.)

Sew on the lines.

If you have a seam guide you may choose not to draw the sewing lines (this is easier with smaller pieces). Put the point under the needle and line up the opposite point with the sewing line on your seam guide. Sew, watching the point nearest you – keep it on the sewing line.

If your seam guide has markings for 1/2″ on either side of the sewing line you can do the same thing with the second seam, lining up the point with the 1/2″ marking on your seam guide.

Cut off the corners, setting aside the half square triangles for another project.

Press to the sky fabric using the same instructions as in the first method. Sew the second sky square in the same manner. Because you need to put the fabric with the drawn line on top, be aware of the seam allowance on the back, making sure it doesn’t fold down when you sew it.

You’ll notice I had some trouble with the corners getting chewed by the sewing machine.

Melinda of quirky granola girl pointed out that she sometimes uses a little piece of tear away foundation paper as a leader/ender when she has to feed a point into the machine. I tried doing the same with a small sticky note and it worked well. When you’re sewing the second sky piece, you can turn the piece around and the fabric extending from the top will protect the point.

Trim the corner just like the first side and press to the sky fabric.

Your Flying Geese unit is finished!

Just like Method 1, the intersecting seam lines show where to sew the component to another piece so you don’t cut off the points.

Method 3 – One Seam (Dimensional)

The last method is… unusual. It’s one part gimmick, one part ridiculously easy, one part wasteful and one part designer-friendly. I saw it demonstrated in the sample video over at The Quilt Show (with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims) and was amazed at how quick and easy it was to make a Flying Geese unit. This creates a dimensional unit, with little pockets on each side of the goose.

For each Flying Geese unit, cut two squares (sky) and one rectangle (goose). The squares should be 1/2” larger than the finished height of your Flying Geese unit, so for a 6″ x 3″ finished Flying Geese unit, the squares should be cut at 3 1/2″. Cut the rectangle the same width (3 1/2″) and 1/2” shorter than the total of the two squares. In this case, the rectangle will be 6 1/2″ (3 1/2 + 3 1/2 = 7, and 7 – 1/2 = 6 1/2). (Yes, these are the same measurements we used in Method 2.)

Fold the rectangle in half, WRONG sides together, and place on a sky piece, RIGHT sides together. The fold should be toward you, and the top two corners should line up. There should be a 1/4″ space between the fold and the edge of the sky square.

Place the second sky square on top, RIGHT sides together, lining up the four corners.

Sew the right edge of the sandwich using a scant 1/4″ seam.

If you flip the top sky square back it should look like this:

Turn the unit over and press the seam open, creating a little arrow at the top. Pressing the back first makes the next step easier. (By the way, that arrow points to where you would sew when you put the units together into a project.)

Flip it back over and open the center piece, spreading it…

…and pulling the center fold line down to meet the seam line.

Press, making sure the points align at the corners. That quickly you have a Flying Geese unit!

You can use them as you would any other Flying Geese. Here they are in a quilt I called “Flying by the Seat of My Pants” (a swap quilt that introduced me to Karrie Lynne of Freckled Whimsy):

You could even take this a step further and turn back the dimensional edge to form a curve. Here are two Flying Geese, the top with the edges curved back and stitched, the bottom just a regular dimensional goose.

Whew! That’s a lot of poultry, and there’s still one more – the best one – to come over on Jeanne’s blog, Grey Cat Quilts!

Flying Dutchman Block

The Flying Dutchman block consists of eight Flying Geese assembled into four sets of two. You can play with color placement to create secondary patterns, as I did in my sample, or you can use just two different fabrics, one for sky and one for geese. If you are creating a secondary pattern, lay out the Flying Geese so you can watch your fabric placement.

Sew the Flying Geese together into four sets of two. As you cross the seams, use the seam line intersection point as a guide for where to sew (just at the tip of the point).

Pressing gets interesting here. If you’ve chosen to press open, continue of course. But if you’ve been pressing to the side, you need to decide which way to press from this point forward. If you press the way that the fabric wants to go, the goose points will lay flatter but you will not be able to see the point where the seams intersect when you sew the rest of the pieces together.

The unit on the left is pressed so it will lay flatter, and the unit on the right is pressed so you can see the seam intersection points. There isn’t a right or wrong answer here – you need to decide what’s best for you. Personally, I like my points to be as precise as I can get them so I decided to press like the unit on the right.

Move your units to your sewing machine…

…and flip the top right unit over the top left unit.

Normally I’d tell you to keep it facing the same direction when you sew, but because I went to the effort of pressing so I can see the seam intersections, I need to flip it over so they’re visible.

Sew, watching your seam intersections.

Continue pressing based on the decision you made above. I’m still pressing to the points so I can see the seam intersections.

Sew, again watching the seam intersection points. You won’t be able to see the first one since it’s on the bottom, but the center point and the third intersection are both visible.

Press your final block, opening the center point like we did on the Half Square Triangle Pinwheel block.

Trim to 12 1/2″, if necessary, and you’re done!

I want to point out one thing on the finished block. Notice how I used directional fabric for the geese. When I used Method 1, cutting the square in quarters, I ended up with geese that had the fabric running different directions (the red background). Method 2, starting with rectangles, keeps the fabric running the same direction (the white background). Keep that in mind if you’re using directional fabrics.

Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day

Today is Sew, Mama, Sew’s Giveaway Day, so be sure to stop by their blog and see the list of bloggers hosting giveaways.

My giveaway is a little unusual and there’s a story behind it. I’m giving away a UFO and coordinating fabric for a baby quilt. The fabric is Oh Baby! by Sandy Gervais for Moda, and there are two yards plus another 12″ width of fabric of the green print, 32″ of the cream print, and one yard of the purple print. There are 25 half square triangles that need to be pressed and trimmed. The rest of the quilt is almost finished – a center “thistle” block, four corner blocks, and four pieced flying geese side sections. You just need to add a strip of fabric on each side (I planned on using the cream print) and you’d have a small square baby quilt. I was also going to add a row of half square triangles at the top and bottom, but you’d need to make a few more HSTs if you want to do that. This is not from a pattern – I think I found the center block somewhere, then designed the rest of the quilt around it. I’ll send the EQ illustration with it so you have a “map” of the finished quilt.

Now for the story…

I started this quilt several years ago. Actually, this is the first of two similar quilts I was making for my boss and his wife. They were expecting twins, she was Scottish, and I thought a thistle theme was appropriate. I was late finishing it, as usual, and he fired me before I gave them the quilts. Yeah. Wasn’t really gonna give them the gift after that, you know?

I set the project aside for a while, then got the news that my cousin was pregnant with twins. How fortuitous! I pulled out the project and worked on it a little more, nearly finishing the first quilt. Sadly, my cousin delivered the twins extremely early, and the boys only lived a couple of days. Again, the project was packed away. (For those who are wondering, my cousin and her husband just celebrated the baptism of a new baby girl!)

The project has such negative memories for me that I don’t anticipate ever completing it, and even if I did, I wouldn’t want to give it to anyone. Not everyone has the same history with it that I do, though, and I hope that someone would like to finish it and give it a happy memory.

If you’d like to win this giveaway please leave a comment on this post telling me a happy baby story. I’ll chose the winner through random drawing, so if you don’t have a story, tell me what you’d do with it if you won, or just say “I’d love to give this quilt a happy memory.” The giveaway ends on May 25 and is open to international readers. I won’t ask you to jump through any hoops – just one entry per person. I’ll ship to the winner by May 30.

Comments are closed – congratulations to Beth @ Wandering Minstrel!

Skill Builder Series

Be sure to check out the Piecemeal/Grey Cat Quilts Skill Builder Series. All of the posts are listed on the Skill Builder Series page. They’re no longer in chronological order – I sorted them into an order that makes the most sense if you’re a new quilter who wants to expand your skills.

PM/GC Quilts Skill Builder Series: Part 7 – Quarter Square Triangles

Welcome back for the next entry in the Piecemeal Quilts/Grey Cat Quilts Skill Builder Series! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the series so far as much as Jeanne and I have enjoyed writing it. This time around I’m talking about Quarter Square Triangles, or QSTs.

Before I get started, I’d like to show you why sometimes it takes me a little longer to accomplish things than I’d like.

Buttercup likes to “help” me. I put her on the floor after each of these pictures. In one case she was back on the table before I stood up.

Finally, she moved to the quilting frame. I don’t usually like to let the cats do this, but today I was happy that she left me alone.

Besides, how ‘dorable is this?

Okay, back on track…

Method 1 – Traditional

The traditional method for piecing QSTs involves cutting two (or more) square in quarters diagonally, then sewing the individual pieces back together. The formula for cutting the squares is your finished size (the size the square finishes at once it’s been sewn into a block or quilt) plus 1 1/4″.

Although this method wastes little fabric in theory, it is also require greater accuracy in cutting and sewing. If you decide to use this method, I recommend wasting a little fabric and cutting your squares at finished size plus 1 1/2″, then trimming your finished unit to size.

I started with four different 5″ squares, stacked on top of each other (I actually cut the squares with the fabrics stacked so they are exactly the same, and they’re already lined up perfectly).

Cut the squares diagonally. Notice how the 45 degree line on the ruler lines up with the bottom edge of the squares and the edge of the ruler goes from corner to corner? You don’t have to use the 45 degree line, but it is a nice way to make sure that you cut squares instead of rectangles. If you’ve every accidentally cut a 5″ x 5 1/4″ “square” you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

Do not pull the triangles apart – turn the ruler and cut the other diagonal.

Now you can separate your triangles. The diagonals you cut exposed the bias edges of the fabric (for more on bias, check out Jeanne’s Fabric Fundamentals post). Bias is stretchy, much more so than the straight of grain, so whenever you have an exposed bias edge you need to handle it carefully. Don’t pull on your fabric and don’t push your iron across it.

Lay out your four triangles to form the QST. Value is usually important here, so try to alternate lighter and darker fabrics. You can also use contrasting colors or prints and solids to emphasize the different pieces.

Turn the two right triangles over and place them on the two left triangles. Be aware of which edges you need to sew!

Although it would make sense to put the pointy end of the top triangle through the machine first…

…I like to flip the piece over (still making sure which edge you need to sew) and start on the square edge. Sometimes the machine gets hungry and pulls that point into the feed dogs, causing a thread snarl. Because one of those edges is a bias, you can easily distort the fabric when this happens.

Repeat with the second set of triangles, then press. (In this case I pressed to the darker fabrics, but you should press the top half one direction and the bottom half the other direction, unless you choose to press the seams open, which I’ll get into in the next section.)

Place the two halves right sides together, aligning the long edge and pinching the seams between your fingers to make sure they’re nested tightly together.

(I probably should have pinned here, but the results aren’t too bad.)

The long edge that you’re going to sew is also a bias edge, so try not to stretch it. This time you’ll have to put the pointy end through, so to minimize the chance of the feed dogs eating your point, lift the presser foot and slip the fabric under it…

…then put the presser foot down on top of the fabric. The point is past the leading edge of the feed dogs and the edge of the fabric is just in front of the needle.

Sew, press, and you have a nearly finished QST! I say nearly finished because you still have to trim it, but I explained that in detail in the next section so I won’t repeat it here. By the way, if you look closely, you can see that my seam intersections aren’t quite as nice as I’d like – they’re certainly good enough, but I can do better. That’s caused by a combination of my neglecting to pin the two pieces, and sewing across the seam with the seam allowance pressed toward me (again, I explain this in greater detail below).

Of course I now have a lot of extra triangles with exposed bias edges that I really should use soon. I don’t like having triangles in my scrap bin because the bias edges distort so easily.

This method isn’t really all that difficult, although I struggled with it initially. The most important thing I can emphasize is cut bigger, then trim to size. Yes, it wastes fabric, and yes, it is an extra step, but I’ve found that it reduces frustration and time overall because it is more accurate.

Method 2

There is, however, an easier way. In fact, the only time I would use Method 1 is if I needed to make only one QST unit that had four different fabrics, and I didn’t care if I had a bunch of extra bias-edge-exposed triangles left over. In other words, almost never.

The trick is to start with half square triangles using your favorite method from our first Skill Builder posts. You’ll need to make these a little larger than you would for just HSTs, so add 1/2″ to the finished size of the HSTs. For example, if you want to make 4″ finished QSTs, follow the instructions to make 4 1/2″ finished HSTs.

Using this method, you’ll need at least two HSTS, which will make two QSTs. Fortunately, most blocks that have quarter square triangle units use them in multiples of two, so it works out well.

I’ll demonstrate using the HST method that starts with two squares. In this case, I want to make a 5″ finished QST (that is, it will measure 5″ when it is sewn into a quilt, and 5 1/2″ when it is a separate QST) so I cut two 6 1/2″ squares. (And yes, Buttercup was still helping at this point.)

Draw a diagonal line on the back of one square, then draw another line 1/4″ to each side of that line. Once you’re comfortable with this method, you can eliminate the center diagonal line and just place the 1/4″ line of the ruler on that center diagonal, as I did in these photos.

(Here’s where a ceramic pencil comes in handy – the white line is thin, easy to see and doesn’t require a lot of pressure.)

Place the two squares right sides together and sew just a hair to the center of each line.

Cut on the center line (or where the center line would be if you didn’t draw one). By the way – you just exposed a bias edge, but it doesn’t really matter because you’ve already sewn the pieces together, and the seam keeps the bias from stretching. Another reason to like this method!

Draw a diagonal line on the back of HALF of your HST units, crossing the seam. Measure 1/4″ to each side of the drawn line and draw two more lines. As you can see in the photo, the white line didn’t show up very well on the print fabric, so I used a regular pencil for half of the lines.

Place two HSTs right sides together (one with the lines, one without), with the seams running the same direction. If you are using a background fabric or light/dark values, you want the background (or light) to match up with the print (or dark) on the opposite HST. (I took this photo before I drew the lines – whoops!)

If you pressed your seam allowances to the side, make sure they nest together tightly at the center point. Press on the fabric to feel if there are any lumps or gaps.

Pressing to the side creates a little bulk in the center, but I find that my seam intersections are more accurate with that nesting effect on certain components – QSTs especially. If you prefer to press your seam allowances open, make sure your seams match along the entire length but especially at the very center. It wouldn’t hurt to pin on either side of the center point.

Sew just to the center of each outside line. You’ll be able to trim these to size later, but it is a good idea to stay in the habit of creating “scant” quarter inch seams. With seams pressed to the side, try to sew across them so the seam pressed away from you is on top.

There are two benefits to this – first, if the seam pressed away from you is on the bottom it increases the likelihood that it will catch on the plate of your machine before going under the needle, potentially flipping one or both layers back. Second, the presser foot pushes the nested seam tighter together. If you sewed it in the opposite direction, the presser foot would push the top layer away from the seam intersection rather than toward it, potentially creating a little gap at the points.

Cut along the center line and press the two units. See how the center intersections are all nice and tight? That’s thanks to the tightly nested seams.

Here’s an example with seams pressed open. I pinned the intersection, but I found this more difficult and time consuming than nesting the seams. Sometimes open is great, sometimes I definitely prefer pressing to the side.

I made every effort to sew this accurately, so the slight gaps are not deliberate. You CAN make a neat, accurate QST with seams pressed open, just expect to take a little extra time lining things up.

Here’s an example where the seams weren’t nested tightly because I put them through the machine backward.

Of course, they look worse than they really are because the finished square are very small!

After you’ve sewn the units, you need to trim them to size. It’s an extra step created by cutting the squares slightly larger than necessary, but you’d have to trim the dog ears anyway, so it doesn’t take that much longer. In this photo you can see that the QST unit is 5 3/4″, when we need it to be 5 1/2″.

When you trim your QST units, you MUST measure them from the center point out, NOT from one edge to the other edge. This requires a little math, but it’s pretty simply. Just divide the unfinished size of the QST (in this case, 5 1/2″) by 2. For this unit that equals 2 3/4″. Find that measurement on your ruler in both directions and put that over the center point of your block. Make sure the 45 degree line on your ruler lines up with the diagonal seam on your QST.

Trim the excess fabric on the first two sides, then turn the QST around, measure 5 1/2″ from the trimmed corner, again making sure your 45 degree line on your ruler lines up with the seam and the 2 3/4″ point is on the center intersecting point, then trim the last two sides. Your QST is finished!

Using QSTs in Blocks

QSTs look fantastic all by themselves, laid out with a 1/4 rotation on alternating blocks.

With a light/dark contrast or background/print fabrics, this is often referred to as an hourglass block. Here I used it to create a couple of baby quilts. (I sent the first quilt off without getting a photo of it quilted. Whoops!)

You can see a secondary pinwheel on point pattern where the blocks come together.

Another very common traditional block that uses QST units is the Ohio Star. Here’s one example, using Method 2. It went together like a dream!

And another that splits the blocks diagonally into light and dark halves. This was made using Method 1 back before I knew better.

So, are you ready to tackle a quarter square triangle now? Or have you been making them for ages? Let me know if you have any tips or tricks to add!

Sew, Mama, Sew!

I’ve been a little absent from the blog for the past week, and I apologize. It’s been kind of crazy – see, Sew, Mama, Sew! contacted me about being a guest contributor on their blog! Without going backward too much, a quote from their blog set off my “hey, now!” reflex and I ranted a bit here. It started some things that I don’t want to revisit, but I DO want to clarify that I’ve always enjoyed their site. You can imagine, then, my reaction when I receive the invitation.

Okay, enough blather – just go check out their two most recent blog posts. The first is by Sew, Mama, Sew!’s Kristin, titled Weighing in on the Great Quilting Debate: Three Guiding Principles, and the second is my contribution, Learning Classic Pieced Blocks, which is an intro of sorts to the Skill Builder Series.

If you’ve never visited their site before, take some time to look around. One of my favorite things is their yearly collection of Christmas gift tutorials, called Handmade Holidays, one subject (with multiple links) per day for an entire month. It’s worth keeping them in your reading list for that alone, although there’s so much more to see.

PM/GC Quilts Skill Builder Series: Part 6 – Nine Patch

One of the earliest skills to learn in quilting is matching seams, and the basic Nine Patch block is a great way to practice. There are several different methods for constructing nine patch blocks, and the method you choose depends not only on what you find easiest, but what you want the block to look like and how many like blocks you need to make. Jeanne at Grey Cat Quilts will be posting a strip piecing method, which is perfect if you’re making a lot of the same block. I’ll show two other methods, one that starts with two squares, and the traditional method that starts with nine separate squares.

If you’ve been following the blog since November, Method 1 is going to look very familiar since I decided not to reinvent the wheel and am reusing my Nine Patch instructions from the Christmas Cactus Quilt Along.

Matching seams works differently if you are pressing your seams open rather than to one side. I use both methods depending on the size and complexity of my blocks. I prefer pressing my seams to one side for the larger sizes, but if you’re doing a quilt with 1 1/2″ finished squares or smaller you should consider pressing the seams open. It may mean pinning a bit more, but you’ll probably be happier with the finished quilt.

Method 1 – Traditional

The traditional method of making a Nine Patch begins with nine separate squares. This is the best way to make Nine Patch blocks if all or many of the squares are different fabrics. It is the most flexible, but it does take longer to cut the fabric and sew the pieces together.

I like to chain piece, which means leaving a little bit of thread connecting the sewn pieces and continuing through several blocks at a time. (It makes more sense in the illustrations below.) If you have the space to lay out several blocks right next to your sewing machine, you can do this whole thing without moving from your seat. Well, if you have an iron nearby, or if you’re good at finger-pressing.

Lay out your squares to form your nine patch. If you’re chain piecing multiple blocks, lay out two, three or even four blocks. I’m showing two blocks, but I often do four at one time.

Starting with the first block, flip the SECOND square in the top row onto the FIRST square in the top row, and sew those two squares together.

Without cutting the thread or removing the first two pieces, repeat with the middle row. A little chain of thread links the two sets.

Now repeat with the bottom row. Don’t cut the thread yet! Repeat these steps with the first two squares of the next block.

When you’ve finished those squares you can cut the thread linking the first block to the second block, and place the chained pieces by the remaining squares for that block. Don’t turn it upside down!

Finish chain piecing the first and second squares of the remaining rows on the second block. (If you’re doing multiple squares at once, repeat the chaining until you have all sets sewn.)

With the last set from your last block still under the presser foot, pick up the chained squares from the first block. Open the first pair of squares and place the last square for that row on the middle square.

Sew a scant 1/4″ seam, then repeat with the other two squares. Just as you did with the first sets, start your second block before cutting off the first one.

Repeat with the rest of the blocks.

Press your squares. If you’re using larger squares (for me, 2″ finished or larger) you can press them open or to one side. If you press to one side, alternate the direction the seams are pressed. I recommend pressing the top and bottom rows to one side and the middle row to the other side. That way when the rows are sewn together, the seams will nest neatly together.

If you’re using smaller squares (for me, smaller is 1 1/2″ finished or smaller), press the seams open.

Now sew the first two rows of your first block together. The little chains of thread hold the rows in the correct order, which is very handy. If you pressed to the side you can still pin, but you may not need to. Nest the seams together, with one seam folded one direction and the other going the opposite way. See how they nudge right up against one another? If you squeeze the seam intersection between your fingers, it should feel perfectly flat. If you can feel a ridge or a depression, they aren’t nested together properly.

If you don’t pin, press on the seams with your finger as you sew so you can feel if it starts to separate.

You can adjust the block as you sew by lifting the top piece and aligning the seams, then pressing on them with your finger as it feeds to the needle.

If you pressed your seams open, you may want to pin before (and after, if you prefer) the seam intersection to make your seam intersections as accurate as possible. This is where fork pins might come in handy (for those who saw the comment under the Tools Skill Builder post).

If you pin, don’t pin in the seam, pin in the seam allowance. If you push a pin into the seam, you’ll widen the space and cause a little gap in the intersection. If I pin, I usually pin just the side that will be going under the presser foot first.

Sew those two rows together, then repeat with the remaining blocks. See how you always have a block under the presser foot? That’s chain piecing.

Do the same with the bottom row of the block, pinning as necessary, and repeat until all blocks are sewn together. (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures here!)

If you’re pressing to the side, I suggest waiting to press these last two seams until you assemble the finished blocks into a quilt top. That way you can decide which direction to press so the different blocks nest together neatly.

If you’re pressing your seams open, do that now. Snip the little thread chains so you can press the open seams flat.

Here are the finished blocks. As you can see, the one with the seams pressed open are flat and pretty. The block with the seams pressed to the side looks a little funny now because it hasn’t been pressed, but you’ll appreciate that when you sew the rows together later.

Method 2 – Two Large Squares

If you want to make a couple of Nine Patch block out of just two fabrics, try this method. First decide what size to cut your squares. If your quilt is made entirely of Nine Patch blocks, it’s handy to start with square that are easy to cut (or are pre-cut). This is a great way to use a layer cake, especially if it contains fabrics that have high contrast. For these instructions I’m starting with two 10″ squares, the size of a layer cake. It does require a tiny bit of extra trimming. If you are cutting your squares from yardage, you can cut them at 9 3/4″ and eliminate the two extra cuts, or cut the squares at 7 1/2″ so your blocks will finish at 6″.

So… start with two large squares.

Place the squares right sides together and sew a scant 1/4″ seam on the left AND right sides. (Yes, sew both sides!)

Cut 3 1/4″ from each side, then trim the middle section to 3 1/4″ (if you cut your squares at 9 3/4″ you do not need to trim the middle section).

Press the two sewn pieces to one side (or open, if you prefer). If you press to the side, press to the same fabric on each piece. In this case, I pressed to the print. Place the center pieces on one side of each sewn segment so you have alternating fabrics.

Sew each set using a scant 1/4″ seam.

Press to the same fabric you did before. Place the two pieces right sides together. Because you pressed to the same fabric, when you put them together the seams will go in opposite directions. They should lie very flat, nesting together.

See how the seam allowances go in opposite directions? If you squeeze the layers between your fingers it will feel flat, without any lumps or valleys.

Once again sew both sides.

Cut 3 1/4″ from both left and right sides.

Trim the center section to 3 1/4″ (and push the “helpful” cat out of the way for the 37th time.)

Place the center pieces on one side of each segment.

Sew, press, and you have two two reversed Nine Patch blocks!

When you start with 10″ (or 9 3/4″) squares, your block will finish at 8 1/4″ (it is 8 3/4″ before sewing into a project). That’s a rather odd size for a block, so starting with this size only makes sense if you are making an entire quilt of 8 1/4″ finished Nine Patch blocks. If you want to make Nine Patches using this method that finish at standard sizes, here’s the (very easy) calculation:

Finished block size (as it will be when it’s sewn into the project) + 1/2″ seam allowance (to reach the size it will be when the block is sewn, but not put into a project) + 1″ = size to cut the squares.

Or, the short version: Finished block size + 1  1/2″ = Size to cut squares

So, for a block that finishes at 6″, cut 7 1/2″ squares. After you sew the squares together, you need to calculate 1/3 of the original square size so you know where to cut the segments. If your square started at 7 1/2, you need to divide that by three. Remember learning fractions in school? Here’s a quick refresher:
Multiply the bottom number of the fraction (2) by the whole number (7), then add the top number of the fraction (1). (So 2 x 7 = 14, plus 1 = 15) 7 1/2 is the same as 15/2 (fifteen halves). One third of 15 is 5, so one third of 7 1/2 is 5/2 (or five halves). To get back to an easy to measure number, count how many times the bottom number goes into the top number, and how many you have left over (2 goes into 5 twice, with 1 left over). So 5/2 is the same as 2 1/2.

You can see why Nine Patch blocks are usually made in finished block sizes that are multiples of 3 to make it easier to calculate. A 5″ finished block is cut at 6 1/2″, which means you’d have to measure 2.1666″ when you cut the pieces. That’s not a real ruler friendly size!

So, do you have any tips for making Nine Patch blocks, or for matching seams?

Unquilty book recommendation

I need to share an announcement about my favorite author’s latest book release!

Joshilyn Jackson’s book, Backseat Saints, will be in bookstores in paperback on Wednesday, and is available for order now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. You can also get it in Kindle and Nook formats, and as an audiobook read by the author. (I heard her read an excerpt when she was on book tour and I have another of her books in audio format – she does a fantastic job.)

Here’s the paperback cover:

Click on the book to go to the author’s site and read more about the book or listen to an audio clip.

Also, the author is giving away copies on her blog, so be sure to check it out!