March 2012 BOM

Sorry I'm so late with posting my block of the month for March!  Life has a way of catching up with me.  I've been working a whole lot more this month (a very good thing) and some things have been put aside for a while.

So, here we go!

Remember those units we made for the center square of Martha Washington’s Star?  Well, this month, we are going to make them in a different way and put them together in a way that may be a bit challenging!

Irish Star

12 1/2” unfinished block

#1  White on White  (WOW): Cut 2       4 1/2" X 4 1/2" Cut 8      3 1/2” X 3 1/2”

#2  Medium Green: Cut 2       4 1/2” X 4 1/2"

#3  Dark Green Cut 4          4” X 4”

#4  Light Green: Cut 1   6 1/2” X 6 1/2”

 3/4 square triangle unit: 

1. Draw a diagonal line on one of the two 4 1/2" X 4 1/2" WOWs.  Place this square on top of one of the #2 medium green 4 1/2" square with right sides together.  Sew a 1/4 inch on either side of the diagonal line.

  

                                     

2. Cut on the drawn line and press seams to dark side.  Trim to measure 4 inches square.  Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the second WOW and medium green fabric.  You will now have four units total.
3. On the wrong side of this unit, draw a diagonal line between the two corners NOT on the seam line.  Place this unit and one #3 dark green 4” square with right sides together. Sew a 1/4 inch on either side of the diagonal line.

   

4. Cut on the drawn line and press seams to the dark green fabric.  Trim to 3  1/2 inches square.  Repeat for the other 3 units.  You should have 8 units total -- four units with the #2 medium green on the left and four units with the #2 medium green on the right. 

       

5. Place one of each of these units right sides together with the #2 medium fabric meeting together and sew a scant 1/4” on the #2 medium green fabric side.  You will probably need to pin the intersections where the diagonal seams meet both at the top and bottom in order to get them to match up properly.  Press open.  Repeat 3 more times.  Set aside.

  

Center Square-in-a-Square Unit: 

1. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of four of the  3  1/2" WOWs.  Place one of these squares on one of the corners of the #4 light green 6 1/2" square with right sides together.   Sew on the diagonal line.  Press WOW toward the corner.  (Hint:  Sew slightly off the line toward the outer corner and the finished unit will be a more precise 6 1/2” X 6 1/2".)  Cut the excess away 1/4 inch from the sewn line.  Repeat for the other three corners.

  

STOP!!  Don’t throw away all those lovely triangles you cut off!  Sew them 1/4 inch from the diagonal and square them up to 2 1/2 inches and save for another project!

Finishing: 

1. Sew the all the units together (along with the remaining #1 WOW  3  1/2" squares) as shown below.  Matching seams and points might be a challenge.  Don’t be afraid to use pins to match all the seams properly!

      

           

           

Tulip Time

For someone who says she's doesn't "do" applique, I seem to be "doing" alot of it lately!!  I was getting bored with the single wallhanging I had in my living room and decided I needed one for spring! 

This one from McCalls Quick Quilts caught my eye with it's bright, cheery colors.  I have a lot of purple and teal fat quarters in my stash, so I decided to work it up in those colors.   The original was in the magazine, and was a larger copy and was going to try and figure out how to downsize it to a wall hanging.  But the magazine led me to a link that made this 44x44 inch quilt, and I just had to make it. 

I used Heat and Bond lite to put the applique on and zig zagged around the edges since it won't get washed much.  I might have held the iron to the applique pieces too long because the Heat and Bond let go and didn't hold the pieces until I sewed them, so I'd probably go with a heavier weight in the future.

When I showed off  my last three quilts at my guild meeting last night, I remarked how I don't "do" applique.  Someone shot back - "you do now!!"