Easy 6" Churn Dash quilt block Tutorial!!!...

Don't you just love the churn dash block?

It's been around forever and I've seen many made by my great grandma, my grandma and great aunts make them using templates.

But as you know…

I like to rotary cut!

I thought you might be interested to see how I make my churn dash block!

I cut the center square 2 1/2".

(Also cut 4 corner squares and 4 background squares for the half square triangles in the corners at 2 1/2")

The rectangles are cut 1 1/2" x 2 1/2".

After I cut all of the pieces...I lay them out on my mini design board to "audition" them and make sure that I'm happy with each fabric and the placement.

When piecing half square triangles....

I use the same piecing method that I have taught for years and the same method that I use in my pattern instructions...

which is the easy corner triangle method.

I'm sure most of you have heard of this method...

it's been around for years too.

(just like me...ha!)

Basically that means whenever possible...

I cut squares instead of triangles and stitch them from corner to corner and then trim the seam allowance off...

and press the triangles open to

 reveal a half square triangle!

As you know when cutting triangles it's a little more difficult to stitch them accuratly because they are prone to stretching because of the bias cut...

but this way they are stitched across the bias first and then trimmed...

therefore...

no stretching and complete accuracy!

Of course I still cut triangles when I can't use my easy corner triangle method.

I clothesline stitched all of the squares together from corner to corner.

I use the Angler 2 to help keep

my stitching accurate.

 My Bernina is built into the countertop in my studio so it's easy to keep the Angler 2 on it all of the time.

I keep my cut pieces on my design board right next to my machine when I'm piecing...that way...I know exactly how the pieces go together and which piece to sew to what side and all that!

  I came up with the idea to make mini portable design boards in 1999 when I started teaching a series of

8 week beginning pieces classes.

I found that most of the time that my students made a piecing mistake was when the pieces were getting accidentally turned around in between cutting, pressing, sewing, and back over to pressing again.

I thought if they could just put thier cut blocks on a design board...and keep them on there between each step...it would be so much easier and there would be alot less

"un-sewing" going on.

So that's what I did and they worked out very well and I have been making them and using them in my teaching ever since!

By the way...in most of my patterns I have given directions on how to make them.

I clothesline sew everything that I can and then place the pieces back onto my design board.

And pick up the board to take over to my iron all at the same time.

I clip them apart...

and give the half square triangles a quick press to set the seams before I trim off the excess.

When I trim...I don't measure,

 I just eyeball a 1/4" seam allowance.

 No worries...it doesn't have to be accurate because it has already been stitched!

Then I press open my half square triangles ...usually with the seam allowance towards the darkest fabric....and place them back into the proper place on my design board...this is done with a quick glance at the block pattern to make sure all of the pieces are going the right way!

It also helps to have all of the pieces laid out in front of you on the design board so that you can decide the best direction to press your seam allowance's for less bulk within the finished block.

After each segment is pressed...

they go right back onto the design board....

and back over to the machine for more clotheslining...

or chain piecing...

whatever you want to call it:)

And again...from the machine, right back on to the design board....

And back on over to the iron....

And sew on...

and sew on...

And sew on:)

And we have a finished block!....

no pieces turned the wrong direction....

which means no un-sewing...

Which also means no stretching or distorting of pieces....

Which means an accurate block that will fit perfectly into the quilt!...and after all....that's what we all want right?

The mini design boards really do make a difference and I hear from my students all the time about how much they love them and how helpful they are.

So...if you think this looks like fun...and if you are so inclined to try something new in the way that you piece your blocks....and you wanna try it...

CLICK HERE

And I'll show you how to make your very own

 mini design board:)

xx

Lori

Mini Design Board Tutorial...

I'm excited to show you how 

I make my design boards 

that I told you about in my

last post!

I made 6 of them that

 measure 10" x 10" to use 

when making my 6" blocks...

of course you can make 

as many as you want and 

in any size according 

to the projects that

 you are currently working on.

 I have several sizes that 

I use all the time...

including ones that are as large 

as the foam board that I use 

to make them with.

You can get foam core board at any office supply store and usually most department, grocery and drug stores sell them too. They are with the poster board.

I got these at Walmart....Elmers brand...2 in a package that each measure 20" x 30".

They are about 1/4" thick which is great for the mini boards.

I can get six 10" x 10" mini boards out of one foam board....10 x 10 is the perfect size for the 6" blocks used in the Farmers Wife quilt.

I use my rotary cutter and ruler to cut them to size....but this is the important part so listen up!...

I use my OLD DULL BLADE that I have saved

just for this reason.

I would suggest that you never use a new rotary blade because it will certainly be an old one by the time you finish!...LOL

I simply measure and cut just like I do with a piece of fabric...but then I turn it over and make a cut on the other side in the same place as well.

After cutting from both sides...it easily snaps apart:)

Continue cutting your board into the sizes desired.

I use my paper scissors to trim off any foam that sticks out from the edge.

This is also a good way to use up small pieces of leftover batting.

I use thin batting made of 100% cotton or a blend of 80% cotton/20% poly.

Either would work for this project.

Lay your foam board down on your batting to use as a guide and cut your batting about 1" bigger than your board all the way around.

Using a hot glue gun, begin on one side and place a line of glue on the board ...

and glue the batting down.

The extra batting should hang over the edge.

Place your glue close to the edge but not right on it so that when you

press the batting down...

 the hot glue doesn't run down the sides:)

Glue all the way to the corners of one side...and then glue the batting down on the opposite side, pulling the batting as you go to make sure it fits smoothly.

It will look like this with 2 sides glued down. Now continue and glue the batting to the remaining edges of the foam board.

I only glue batting on one side of the foam board. The other side remains as is:)

After all four edges are glued down and the glue is completely cool...I use my Gingars and trim the batting even with the edges.

Easy-peasy don't ya think?!...I think a design board is a very useful tool besides being inexpensive and sew simple to make:)....I love them!

You can use the design boards just like this or you can make them fun and cute by covering the edges with fabric.

My motto is...if it's worth making...it's worth making it cute!!

Tomorrow I will show you how to cover the edges....so get your boards finished today so that you will be ready to roll!

Just so you know...you will need a

2 1/2" x  Width of Fabric strip for each

 10 x 10 mini design board.

You can see how I finish my design board edges with the fabric strip by clicking

HERE.

So I'll type at ya tomorrow....in the meantime...have fun making your boards and be careful not to burn your fingers!

xx

Lori

A New Farm Girl Friday - Happy Anniversary Farm Girl Vintage and a free Farm Girl Layer Cake Block Tutorial - Farm Girl Layer Cake!!

Good morning cute people! 

Today I'm celebrating Farm Girl Vintage 

along with my amazing publishers 

It's Sew Emma by making a cake!

Go check out 

The Jolly Jabber 

to see all of the cute participants:)

I'm super excited to show you 

how to make my new block called 

Farm Girl Layer Cake:) 

I designed this block to celebrate the 

one year anniversary of my third book 

Farm Girl Vintage

It's been so much fun 

seeing stacks of Farm Girl quilts 

from my book being made in sewing rooms 

and quilt shops everywhere...

so I thought it would be fun

 to celebrate by

 making a cake together!

Every celebration needs a cake right?

And what better kind than an old fashioned yummy layer cake

 made with lots of love and sprinkles...

just like grandma used to make...

and of course she put it on a vintage cake stand:)

Click Here

 to download the free cutting sheet 

and then I'll show you how to make it!

After you have downloaded the recipe...

decide which size cake you will be baking and

cut all of your ingredients. 

Cutting is for a 6" block...

And a 12" block:)

I made both sizes of course...

 but today I'll be showing you 

how I made my 6" block.

I always lay my block out on my design board

 to make sure that I like my fabric choices 

and that I have cut everything:)

*NOTE* - I also cut a green  2 1/2" x Width of Fabric for binding.

1 strip is enough for the 6" block 

but you will need 2 if you are making the 12" block.

Now lets bake a cake!

*Take note when laying out ...

that the bottom rectangles for the cake stand (M) (L) 

are laid out tall and the rectangles for the top of the 

cake stand (N) are laid out wide as pictured:)

**Also take note***  

that piecing instructions 

are exactly the same 

whether you are sewing the

 6" block or the 12" block:)

Lets start with the top layer of the cake.

1. All of the smallest background squares are (G). 

Place one on each side of the heart tops (P) with right sides together.

Also place the bottom pieces of the heart (Q) onto 

the top inside corners of pieces (H) 

and stitch from corner to corner like this.

2. Trim an approximate 1/4" seam allowance and press your seams OPEN.

3. Place back down on your design board for the next step.

4. Yes...I said press your seams open!

You will find that by pressing open...

 (especially when sewing small pieces) 

that your blocks will lie flat be more accurate. 

In a few of these steps its not necessary...

 and I will let you know when we get there!

1. Place a (G) square onto the other side of the heart tops (P)

 and sew the other easy corner triangle.

2. Place them back onto design board.

3. Yes...continue to press seams open:)

4. Sew the two heart tops and

 the two heart bottoms together like this.

1. Sew (E) to the top of the hearts and the 

frosting (K) to the top of the bottom cake layer (I).

2. I pressed the seam towards the (E) rectangle 

and pressed frosting/cake seam open.

3. Sew a (B) on both sides of heart top and press toward (B)

Sew the bottom layer of cake/frosting section

 to the top layer and press open. 

sew the side pieces (D) to 

each side of the cake and press towards (D).

4. Sew these two sections together making sure that

 the center seams in your heart line up. 

Press seams open:)

The top of your cake is out of the oven...frosted and decorated...

and now its time to place it on your cake stand!

***TIP***

Here's another thing that I do to get my blocks to lie as flat as possible.

After pressing each section...

(I use a good hot iron with absolutely no steam)

I lay it out on my design board while its still hot from pressing 

 and smooth it out flat...

the batting on the design board will keep it in place...

 and then...

I quickly put a ruler on top on hold it down firmly until the block cools off.

I do this especially when sewing small blocks or little pieces in a large block.

By pressing open and using a good hot iron and my design board...

my blocks are flat and accurate.

YaY!

Now for the cake stand:)

1. Sew the easy corner triangles onto the (N) pieces of the cake top. 

Use one (G) for the left side of the end piece and the other little squares are (J).

2. Repeat for the right side of the cake stand top pieces.

3. Trim as usual:)

4. Press seams open and lay back out on your design board.

Sew them together like this:)

The back of mine:)

There are a lot of seams in this section but don't worry...

just be sure to use an accurate 1/4" seam allowance 

so that it doesn't end up too long or too short 

for the top piece that you are sewing it to. 

You can see that mine is just a smidge longer.

Whenever this happens...

 I place the longer piece on the bottom when sewing the two together

 because I know that the feed dogs will 

pull the bottom piece through at a little faster rate 

than the top piece so it will ease in nicely....

Like this:)

Make sure to press your seams open and use my 

design board and ruler trick!

Now sew the easy corner triangles (G) onto 

the bottom rectangles (M) (L) of the cake stand like this. 

Sew the side pieces (F) to the cake stand center (O)

Press these seams towards the (O) 

After trimming the easy corner triangles on the bottom...

sew them together and press the seams open.

Before sewing to the cake stand center you will need to 

sew the easy corner triangles (C) onto the top outside corners.

I use my Seams Sew Easy

 so that I don't need to mark any lines 

on my easy corner triangle squares...

and for an accurate 1/4" seam of course!

I also use an open toe foot when piecing 

so that I can see exactly where 

my needle goes into my fabric at all times...

I don't like to assume it's lining up 

if I can't see it under a presser foot:)

Now the bottom of the 

cake stand pedestal is finished...

With seams pressed open of course!

Now sew the two pedestal 

sections together and 

add the side pieces (A).

Press towards the (A).

YaY!

Your block is complete:)

I added the optional borders on mine because

 I'm making a Farm Girl potholder just like on page 

number 120 in the Farm Girl Vintage book:)

One more view of the back of my block:)

I prepared my cakes for quilting 

by layering the blocks with batting and backing fabric.

I prepared a binding for each as well.

Click Here 

to see my machine quilting 

and binding tutorial:)

Here is my 6" Farm Girl block 

fresh from the oven!

(it finishes at 8" with the borders)

And here is my 12" Farm Girl Layer Cake 

completely baked and ready for a celebration!

(it finishes at 14" with the borders)

Thanks so much for joining me for another

Farm Girl Friday!

Click Here 

to see other Farm Girl Layer Cakes 

that others have been baking!

xx

Lori