The toddlers have grown into teenagers. And just like all teenagers - one has to be different! Two teenagers are wearing white cherry bars and one is wearing turquoise. This is due to me using what fabric I have.
Saturday, 28 June 2014
8" Nested Churn Dash Blocks
The toddlers have grown into teenagers. And just like all teenagers - one has to be different! Two teenagers are wearing white cherry bars and one is wearing turquoise. This is due to me using what fabric I have.
Saturday, 21 June 2014
Patchiqué Blocks 25 and 125
I
lost my way on the Patchiqué trail this week
because I just couldn't see the path. No matter how hard I looked I just
couldn't see the pattern of Block 25 - 'Chigai igeta (staggered igeta). I
could see the grid but what I didn't realise, until I went to cut the fabrics,
was that there were two different fabrics used in the grid, giving an
additional pattern. This was not helped by the photo in the book.
Can you see two different fabrics used for the grid? I can't.
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| Block 25 from Japanese Taupe Quilts |
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| Patchiqué Block 25 - Patchsmith Style |
Was it worth the effort? I have to say Block 25 is not one of my favourites and I wouldn't make it again. (I have
used distinct fabrics so that you can see how the block should be. The
darker brown is Fabric A and the taupe is Fabric B. )
I
immediately moved on to the applique block for this fortnight - block 125 -
Kano rinpo (Kano treasure wheel).
And straight away I ran into
difficulties. I could not understand what the construction details were
telling me to do! It reads "Cut out the larger circle. On the
cutout piece, mark and cut out a 5" circle around the petal applique.
Insert the B circle into the A square. Cut out a 4" circle from the
block center and insert the circular petal unit". I have reread it
and I still don't get it. To me the block photo looks quite
straightforward - a cut out wheel with a flower in the middle and detailing
around the outside of the wheel.
So I traced a 7" circle onto the
paper side of my fusible webbing (using a 7" side plate) and then I
centred a 4½" circle
(using a cooking cutter) within the 7" circle. I cut out the
circles creating a 7" doughnut. I positioned
the doughnut onto the background square, arranged the petals in the
middle and tucked the outer wheel points under the circle.
Simple.
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| Block 125 from Japanese Taupe Quilts |
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| Patchiqué Block 125 - Patchsmith Style |
It has to be said that this is the first week that I have encountered
any problems with this book which is not bad at all seeing I have completed 32
blocks.
So there you have it. I may have been lost briefly on the Patchiqué trail but I am well and truly back on the path now. Sew until next time
when I will be tackling patchwork block 18 and appliqué block 109 .............
Friday, 20 June 2014
4" Nested Churn Dash Blocks
My baby 2" blocks have grown into 4" toddlers. And I've lost a little on some of the baby points.
I had to improvise with the background check on this round as I ran out of the smaller mink check. So two of the blocks have a different check for the half-square triangles.
From 4" toddler to 8" teenager next ..... sew until then .......
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
2” Mini Churn Dash Blocks
I’m joining in
the Nested Churn Dash sew along and I hope
to make a runner comprising three 16” blocks. As ever I’ve made a
small change already by constructing a 2” churn dash block (2½” unfinished) for
the centre square. They are a little fiddly but good fun. Want to
have a go? (Click here for a PDF printable version.)
All seam allowances are ¼".
To make one 2” churn dash block (2½” unfinished) you will need:
One 6” x ¾” strips from two different fabrics (total 2 strips)
Two 2” squares from two different fabrics (total 4 squares)
1. With right sides
together stitch the 6” x ¾” strips
together along the 6” length.
Press. Unit should measure 6” x 1”. Cross-cut this strip into four 1½” x 1” units.
2. Stitch one of the 1½” x
1” units to either side of the centre square.
Press seams towards the centre square.
3. Make your half-square triangle
units using the 2” squares. Place the
contrasting squares into pairs, right sides together and mark a diagonal line
on the back of one of the squares from each pair. This line will be your cutting line. Stitch
¼” either side of the marked line. Cut along the marked line and press each
square open. You should have four
half-square triangles. Trim each
half-square triangle unit to measure 1”.
4. Stitch a half-square
triangle to both ends of the remaining 1½” x 1” units. Press seams towards the half-square triangles.
5. Finally stitch each
half-square triangle unit to the top and bottom of your centre square
unit as shown. Press. Trim block to 2½”.
I’ve
made three of these mini churn dash units as the basis of my nested churn dash
runner. But there will be no more ‘Patchsmithing’
from here on – I will stick religiously to the excellent NestedChurn Dash pattern by Quilt Jane.
I will post pictures once these 2” babies have
grown into 4” toddlers!
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| Mini Churn Dash Blocks |
Sew
until then ..............
Sunday, 8 June 2014
Patchiqué Blocks 21 and 80
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| Block 21 from Japanese Taupe Quilts |
Patchwork block 21 entitled ‘Kasuri juji’ (translated as Kasuri crosses)
is made up of 49 pieces. It sounds a lot
doesn’t it? But actually the block was
fairly straightforward.
 |
| Patchiqué Block 21 - Patchsmith Style |
The only thing I
would say, something I seem to say each fortnight, is you must follow the
construction diagram exactly. Do this
and you will spend little more than an hour on this block. One of the strengths of this book is the concise yet clear construction
diagrams.
 |
| Block 80 from Japanese Taupe Quilts |
Appliqué block 80 ‘Neji nioi ume’ was just as quick to put together,
leaving me plenty of time to add a little bit of primitive embroidery (running
stitch and French knots). Susan
identifies this flower as ‘plum blossom’ but all I could think when appliquéing
this pretty square was ‘hibiscus’ but that could be due to the fact that I
don’t think I have ever seen plum blossom.
 |
| Patchiqué Block 80- Patchsmith Style |
Susan used a lovely graduated fabric for her block. Not having anything similar in my stash I
decided to go for a more patchwork approach, creating each petal from a
different fabric. Instead of a yo-yo I
fussy cut a centre circle – like so many of my previous appliqué blocks.
This Patchiqué project is really honing my patchwork skills and I am
often putting the patchwork blocks together without pinning. It comes down to accurate cutting and using a
scant ¼” seam allowance.
Next fortnight it will be the turn of patched Block 25 (staggered igeta)
and appliqué Block 125 (Kano treasure wheel).
Sew until then
......
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