Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Easy Spool Block Tutorial...



Good morning cute bloggy people!

Well...just when I think I have done my
very last easy corners tutorial...
I am flooded with emails thanking me and asking me to do another!...yay!...I just love positive feedback:) 
As I said before, I love to teach but tutorials are a bit different
than when I am in the classroom because...
I can't see you!
But I can hear you when
you talk to me so I thank you
from the bottom of my heart for all of your wonderful comments and emails. 
You are awesome!
Today's tute is really fast and simple.
It's another traditional block that I love ...the Spool.

You could do a spool block using half square triangles...but I like to save even more steps and cut rectangles for the top and bottom row...along with squares for each side that will become triangles.
This not only saves steps, but I think it looks better with less seams to break up the design of the fabric.

First...Cut your pieces:)
I cut a 2 1/2" green square
 for the center (thread:)
2- 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" 
out of aqua for the spools
and
6 - 2 1/2" squares
 from the blue and green print.


Here are my squares and the rectangle that I will be sewing them to.

Place a square on the end of the rectangle and stitch from corner to corner.
Never guess on the line, either mark an accurate line with a ruler and a mechanical pencil (on the wrong side of the square)...
or have a straight line marked on your
machine that comes straight out from your needle...(this line needs to be absolutely accurate also).
Or...you can do what I do and use an
I keep it on my machine at all times.
I stick it there with clear scrapbooking glue so that it stays in place well...
but can still be removed.

See what the other side of the
rectangle looks like after stitching:)

One side of each rectangle stitched.

Now for the other side.


I made sure that I stitched going the opposite direction so that it
turned out correctly.

I gave them the usual quick press to set the stitches and cut off the excess leaving an approximate 1/4" seam allowance.


I pressed towards the triangle and laid
them back out on my
for sewing together.









Yay!…a 6 1/2" unfinished spool block:)


Fabrics Used;
Aqua = Grandmothers Flower Garden
Green = ?  (from my stash) 
Print = DS Quilts

I hope you enjoyed this fast and simple
block tutorial.
I would love to hear from you if my
easy corner tutorials are
helping you in any way:)
xx
Lori


31 comments:

ria vogelzang said...

WOW!!!! That sure was fast and easy! I know I will enjoy stitching my spools that way!
Thanks, Lori!!! You made my day!
Greets from the Netherlands!

NEFİSE said...

Sevgili Lori...hepsi çok güzel.Ben de bu işi yeni öğreniyorum.Yayınladıkların için teşekkür ederim.Seni izliyorum.Love.

Elaine said...

Fantastic, I didn't want to make many of these blocks because of the triangles, but now it seems so easy. Thanks
Elaine

Nedra said...

I'd love as many tutorials as you feel up to making.
Today is my day to join TFW!
I went and got the notebook and graph paper yesterday, and am so happy to get started! You have truely inspired me!

Linda said...

This looks amazing and easy to do. I want to make a bunch of spool blocks with the DS fabrics. Could you tell me what sizes you cut for this block? Oh and thanks for this tut! You have made my day :)

http://thankfullga447 said...

That was great, thanks for taking the time out to do the tutorial, we bloggers really appreciate it.

pcflamingo said...

Wooo. I love the "background" music on your site - a great variety. One song caught me by surprise today ... I'll Be Seeing You. That was one I had my grand-niece sing at my husband's funeral (over 2 years ago). But it caught me by surprise. I had to click away and come back to see your tutorial later. That's a great block, and I have some sewing-related fabric that would make a cute wall hanging for my sewing room.

Candice said...

I actually used it for the "Basket" block last night, hte bottom part of the basket. It took some figuing, but worked beautifully! Talk about perfect points!! I have been learning so much and your teaching has made a HUGE difference to me!! Pa-lease keep them coming :)!! Thank you-

Maxine said...

Woot Woot another great tut. Your instructions are so clear. We can't thank you enough for doing this for us.. I want to start the TFW... And your choice of fabrics are so great..Love any tut you would like to send our way..Again THANKS!!! Almost feel like you are sitting right by me..It would be hard for me to choose a favorite block....

annieb said...

Thanks for your wonderful tutorials! The Farmer's Wife is going to be a winter project for me and I am sure I will refer back to these tutorials.

Anonymous said...

Please don't stop with the tutorials! They are the only thing getting me through these blocks! I appreciate that preparing the tutorials is a lot of work for you but they are wonderful. I bought your Sew Cherry fabric just for the FWQA!

Lori Ginsberg said...

Hi Lori....I discovered your blog a few days ago, and I just love it. Thank you so much for all that you are doing, both to teach and to inspire. I also love all things vintage and I go thrift store shopping as often as I can. You and your blog are such a delight.!

carol said...

The green fabric is Windham Fabrics Bloom by Laurie Bird-I happen to have a piece With an identifying selvage on it my stash too!

Kim with a K said...

Wow! Not only a great tutorial BUT I love looking at your beautiful blocks! Great material!!! I like the way you used 3 colors instead of just 2 like in the book!!!

Please keep going with the tutorials...I went thru the book last night figuring out as many blocks as I can...using your tutorial to do this...there are "sew" many I need your tutorials for. Plus I'm kinda addicted to hearing from you each day! No pressure but your a great way to start the day!!!

Helen said...

I have really enjoyed your tutorials. You've done a great job of them. Every morning I draft one of the patterns. Then I check to see if you have posted another tutorial. I haven't started sewing any blocks, but I am so ready.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tutorial, it sure helps me. And I love the fact that the top and bottom row have less seems :-)

Quilts And Pieces said...

Just letting you know I am SO LOVING my mini design boards! I used them all weekend! How did I ever live without them?!

SallySewSavvy said...

Thank you so much for another tutorial. As a fairly new quilter these have been a life-saver! And the Angler 2...never heard of it, but will be ordering one for sure!

Thanks again Lori!!!

Beverly said...

I had so much to say and thank yous for all you do but Google ate up my post. So I just want to say THANK YOU! And keep those tutes coming.

•stephanie• said...

your tutorials are amazingly awesome. i love the smart shortcuts you come up with.

speaking of spools . . . i made a ton of your fabric covered wooden spools. pretty cute.

(and i added a link to your instructions. i hope that's okay!)

Kristal said...

I love your mind! I am just now starting to see quilt blocks in this way. Thank you so much for your time and tutorials.

Amy said...

Thank you for another wonderful tutorial!!! You are a great teacher. You have made my FW quilt experience a lot less stressful.

Tina said...

You are the BEST!!! Do you ever get to the Reno, Nevada area? I would just love to take a class (or two or three!) from you.

Anita said...

Love your blocks and tutorials! Thanks so much for taking the time to post them and figure things out for us. So far all I have are my design boards, but I'm almost ready for my first few blocks :)

Terry@ a quilting blog said...

Your tutorials are the best Lori...love the easy-to-follow directions and all the great pics!!! Thank you 'sew' much for doing this!!! I made some of your mini project boards and love them, too!! :)
~Terry~

Deborah in Atlanta said...

Now you're going to need to do a tute on the Angler 2. I'm sure once you do, they'll be bombarded with purchases. Because we'll probably all think we have to purchase an Angler 2, and then we'll need to post about it on our blogs, and our followers will then need to purchase one cuz it's so great, and so on and so on.

Love your tutes. You make something so difficult look so simple. You are awesome!

Sharon said...

Very cute! I love the spool block.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I've only lurked before, never posted, but I have to ask about your mini-design board!! It's so adorable! Do you have any information on it's size or how you put it together?
Thanks, Rita in CA

Julia and Jenny said...

Well after reading all those fantastic tutorials I now have no excuse not to join all the farmers wives & get going on my blocks! Please don't stop your tutorials they are excellent & your blocks turn out so neat & square too!

Gmama Jane said...

Lori,
First of all I love all your patterns, fabrics, tutorials, everything. You are one of my favorite designers, blogs, quilters, etc... I just like your color selection and find all your designs so fun and refreshing. Your tutorials are better than anything I could ever recreate. That is why I am asking your permission to link back to your blog from mine to show this tutorial on spool quilts. I do a little different technique for a hand sewn version of the spool block but I want to give my readers a choice of how to make the spool quilt. I'm guest blogger at Stash Manicure on Sept. 15th and would like to reference your link/giving you full credit with your permission.
Blessings
Gmama Jane

eileensideways said...

u make it look so easy. great tutorial. did u make the flannel backed palette the block pieces are on?

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