Monday, May 18, 2009

May 2009 Block of the Month #2

The next May block is called Baton Rouge. It’s another 10” block from Quilterscache. Here’s a link to the instructions:

http://www.quilterscache.com/B/BatonRougeSquareBlock.html

I followed the block instructions on the Quilterscache page so I won't duplicate the steps here, but here's a pic of how the individual patches look laid out after the half-square triangles are made:

The instructions will tell you to press each row in alternating directions, but I did make a small deviation on that step. I prefer to press away from each half-square triangle if I can do it without having seams facing the same directions when I put the rows together. I think it reduces the bulk at the intersections, and it also lets you see the intersection of the sewn thread lines so you can cross the seam exactly at the intersection point. Doing this prevents points from being "chopped off". Here's a pic of the wrong side of my rows after pressing:


And, here's the completed block:

Happy sewing,
Carolyn

Thursday, May 7, 2009

May 2009 Block of the Month #1

Sorry this is late....I have been having camera problems not to mention life problems in general.

Quilterscache has a new ten inch block called Grandmother’s Puzzle which will be our first block of the month for May. Here’s a link to the instructions:

http://www.quilterscache.com/G/GrandmothersPuzzleBlock.html

And, here’s the pic of mine:




It looks a little complicated with those large triangles, but they are actually pieced from a square and two smaller triangles, so you can just make half square triangles and piece the block by rows. Give it a try!

Carolyn