Hey all! Happy March, spring is almost here. I love spring and all of the azaleas blooming in the neighborhood. Flowers are so pretty and colorful, the sunflower is my favorite.
I moved into a new shop in September. When we were finished homeschooling the boys, the school room became a dedicated sewing studio. I was able to grow in there, but when we decided to get a longarm, we quickly learned the space was not big enough. While it fit, it was a major muscle movement whenever I wanted to use the big machine. My husband promised to build me a studio along the back of the our property, but due to the pandemic, it was put off for a bit. Last year it became a reality. All of this to say, I have a quilt that hangs above my ironing board. It's Elizabeth Hartman's lightening bug quilt. I decided it was time to change it out to a sunflower. In my research I came across this block pattern. While I didn't use the pattern in the quilt, I fell in love with this block. It's called a traditional sunflower block.
This is the tutorial I stumbled across in my research. It is a fantastic tutorial, easy to follow and thorough.
Having found Fabric 406, I think it is a great resource for free block patterns and tutorials.
While I like this tutorial, my process is a bit of a different approach. I like getting my sewing done in groups of like techniques, and my tutorial will follow that train of thought.
Fabric choices: think flowers and make it your own. I'd prefer blenders or low volume prints, or fabrics with flowers. I used a charm pack of bright colors as well as some of my stash to come up with some examples. (The first two I messed up when I squared the smaller blocks.) I'd like the dark fabric to be green to mimic leaves and the background to be a light blue or aqua to mimic the sky. I also used three mediums while the above tutorial used two. Honestly, make it your flower. I'm interested in seeing your color creativity.
Cut sheet:
Background:
A. (2) 5.5 x 5.5
B. (2) 3 x 3
C. (8) 2.5 x 2.5 draw a diagonal line on 4 of the 2.5 squares
Med 1:
D. (4) 5 x 5
Med 2:
E. (4) 2.5 x 4.5
Med 3:
F (1) 4.5 x 4.5
Dark (Green, 2 shades): draw a diagonal line on all of the green squares
G. (2) 3 x 3 lighter green
H. (2) 5.5 x 5.5 darker green
Steps:
1.
Take pieces C & E and place them right sides together with the diagonal line running from the top right corner to the bottom left corner of the C block. Sew along the line, iron back, and trim to 1/4 in seam allowance. Make 4 CE units, set aside.
2. Half square triangles:
B & G: make 4, cut, iron, trim to 2.5 and set aside
A & H: make 4, iron, draw a diagonal line perpendicular to the seam, sew AH to D making 8 quarter square triangles.
You will have two sets of quarter square triangles. You only need one set of 4. The other is a bonus set.
Hard to describe, but place both triangles with the background up and choose the one with the left facing D triangle, the diagonal seam running from the top left corner to the bottom right corner.
Square the quarter square triangles to 4.5.
Half and quarter square triangles are finished.
3.
Take the BG half square triangles made in step two and add a C square to the top of the hst with the left G side of the triangle facing upper left. Make 4.
4.
Take pieces CE from step one and BGC from step 3 and make a four patch. You'll make 4.These should measure 4.5 square.
5. Putting the block together:
Orient the the quarter square triangles so the background is to the outside, and the four patches have the background square in the corner. If you notice the left one in this pic is the wrong way. I corrected it before I sewed it together, but failed to take another picture.
And you're finished! The blocks measure 12.5 inches.
No comments:
Post a Comment