Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Hive 1 May Block

I would like to make a quilt based on one of the quilts from the Block Party book by Alissa Haight Carlton and Kristen Lejnieks.  The quilt is called “Falling to Pieces” and is by Ashley Newcomb.

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The finished blocks size is approximately 12” x 15.”  Exact size is not crucial.

You will need:

1 fat quarter of Kona charcoal

6 6”x6” purple scraps—I’d prefer purple (if you don’t have 6 purples, you can use 6 of another color like red, green, orange, etc, but they all need to be approximately the same color)

Here are the steps:
Cut your Kona charcoal into a piece that’s 18” x 14”.  Cut your scraps into 6 6”x6” squares.

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Subcut your Kona charcoal into three rows with 4 columns each.  Make your cuts straight across or up and down, not wonky.

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Cut your 6” squares on the diagonal once.  Taking one of the triangles, place it right side down on top of one of the black squares.  The bias edge does not have to be on the exact corner to corner diagonal.  Try to vary the placement a little bit.    Always remember that the right angle needs to be on the top left.  Sew across from one end to the other of the bias edge.

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Press your piece, then fold back the triangle and press down.  Now flip over and trim off all the excess triangle fabric.

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Then, open up the triangle and fold under to the other side of the seam.  Trim off the excess Kona charcoal fabric to make your 1/4” seam allowance.

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Then smooth out the triangle piece and press once more.  It should look like this:

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And then, just join your squares to make your rows and then sew your 3 rows together.  I pressed my seams all one direction in one row and in the opposite direction in the next row to nest my seams.  I didn’t need to use any pins to join the rows, either, since the seams nested up perfectly.  These are supposed to look modern, so don’t sweat it if a point gets cut off or seams don’t match perfectly.  Don’t worry about trimming down your block.  I would prefer it to be in the largest size possible and I can trim it down later.

Now, if you aren’t able to get Kona charcoal, I’d be glad to mail a fat quarter to you.  Just email your address to my email—lugar4tresgatos@hotmail.com.  I will be out of town for a few days, but I can get it in the mail on Monday.  If this block is something you don’t want to do, I was in another bee and am short a few log cabin blocks.  You can follow this tutorial here.    It comes from Quilt Dad’s blog.  I need 8 blocks, but I only have 3 at this point, so if you want to do this block instead, that would be lovely.  The finished log cabin block needs to measure 12.5” x 12.5” and will be going in a quilt for my daughters that is mostly aquas, pinks, greens, yellows, and reds. 

Please email me if you have any questions!  Thanks so much!!!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really like this block!

Second Chance Tan said...

This looks exciting - just ordered my kona charcoal.... x

KristyLou said...

FUN! I am off to buy some Kona Charcoal... which I decided I can't have too much of!

supersara20 said...

Ok, just to clarify, you want everything wonky except for the kona, this needs to be squared up but it can or cannot be wonky in sizes? by this I mean can the charcoal blocks be more rectangular or do you want them measured out to be exactly the same size. This is my first wonky piece and want to get it right!

Julie said...

I love this block it is going to be fun!

✾Jamie Lee Cooley✾ said...

Yes, the Kona should be able to be squared up when you are all done, but you don't need to square it to 12 x 15. I can do that.

When you make your cuts across the Kona, make them straight, not wonky. But your rows and columns can be different widths. I didn't cut my rows at 6 inch intervals, I just cut wherever, but straight across and up and down so I ended up with 12 slightly rectangular pieces. Hope that helps!

supersara20 said...

Thanks! I know how silly it probably sounds to be over thinking Wonky!

Jenelle said...

Yay! This looks like fun. :) I also realized that my stash was woefully deprived of many purples so I ordered a few FQs last night. I can't wait for them to arrive to get started!

Julie said...

I love this block, and am considering it when it's my turn in Hive 3...but that's not for a year, so who knows. This quilt in the Block Party book is my favorite--and I really like your "purplier" version too.

Taisia @ Piecing Light said...

My Kona is in the mail to me so looking forward to starting this. I have many purples ;) Would you prefer any side of the 'purple' range? red-purple or blue-purple?

Lisa C in GA. said...

This is so funny - what a popular pattern this is turning out to be! This will be the third time I've made this pattern for a bee in the last 2 months :) Each a tiny bit different, though - it's nice, how the pattern can be 'made your own' through the color choices. Yours sounds like it will be lovely :)

Danny Heyen said...

I went to Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's, and a couple LQSs today and I couldn't find any charcoal so I'm going to have to order some!

Anonymous said...

When you say they all need to be the same color, do they need to be the same intensity? Like all dark purples or all lavenders?

Taisia @ Piecing Light said...

My Kona charcoal is in the post from sewfreshfabrics. I have the purple triangles cut in readiness!

Strawberry Patch said...

Fab! I've had that book on my wish list for ages now, Kona charcoal is here and I am going to hunt through my stash for purples tomorrow :-)

✾Jamie Lee Cooley✾ said...

All the blocks look amazing! I can't wait to see them put together! When I got the Block Party book for Christmas this was definitely the one that stood out to me. There are other quilts I like in it too, but I think it's kind of cool how this one is pretty popular! Makes me think I have good taste;)