Monday, September 10, 2018

Autumn Love Sew Along - Week Four - Pieced Blocks!

Hello Autumn Lovers...
and welcome to week four of the 
Autumn Love Sew Along!
***NOTE***
If you are just joining us 
and want to read all of the 
blog posts about this sew along...
just look to the right sidebar
 here on my blog and scroll down 
until you see the photos 
from each and every post 
and click on them.
They are linked within and
 will take you directly
 to read that post!
Take note that you must be
 viewing the full web version 
of the blog to see the sidebar 
and not the shortcut version 
that shows up on your phone:)


Today's tutorials are 
all about the pieced blocks!

The diagrams for these blocks 
are on pages 2 and 3 of the guide.

The first tutorial is for the 
4" Stars that go around the house block:)


We will be making 28 of 
these little cuties and 
I'm going to show you how 
to make one right now:)


I grabbed my design boards 
that have all of the 
pieces cut on using the guide.
I used 2 small design boards
 for these blocks!


For one block you will need:
 4 rectangles "A" from the background
4 squares "D" from the background
and 1 square "C" and squares
 "B" from the print.


WE will be making 
4 flying geese for each block.

There are several ways to make
 flying geese and for these blocks
 we will be using my
 ECT (easy corner triangle) method.

Grab the 4 "A" rectangles and 
the 8 "B" squares and 
go to your machine:)


Lay the square onto the rectangle
 with right sides together and 
edges lined up perfectly like this.

You can mark a line from 
point to point diagonally 
on the back of your squares 
or you can simply use the center line 
of my Seams Sew Easy to guide you....
that's what I do because I'd rather
 just sew instead of draw lines:)


Sew from corner to corner...
paying attention which direction on the diagonal that you are sewing.

I chain piece mine like this....
it saves time and thread!


Trim off the excess leaving a 
scant 1/4" seam and press 
towards the outer triangle.


Now add another ECT to the other side
 in the exact same way.
Again...pay attention to the direction 
that you are sewing to get the
 required flying goose shape.


Chain piece and trim off the excess...
and press towards the ECT.


You now have 4 flying geese 
that should measure 1 1/2" x 2 1/2"
 at this point.
Lay the block out onto your design board.


Begin sewing it together 
into 3 rows like this.


And then sew those 3 rows together 
and you have a star!


This is how I pressed my 4" Stars:)
Sometimes when making this block 
I press my seams open...
but because there is sashing in-between
 the blocks when sewing 
them into the quilt...
I thought pressing this way would be fine.

You can press yours open
 if you would like because
 you're the BOSS of your own quilt!


After piecing I like to give my stars
 a good "PRESS"...
not ironing back and forth...
and then lay them directly onto
 my design board and then top it 
with a ruler and something heavy 
on top of ruler until it cools down.
This really helps my blocks to lie flat!


YaY and super cute!
Use the 4 1/2" Trim-It Ruler 
to trim up your block.


Because we need 28 of these blocks...
I will be making 4 each week 
and they will be completed by week 10!

You can divide yours up that way too...
or do them all at once...
however best your time allows:)


Next block tutorial:
Harvest Star


We will be making 4 blocks for the quilt:)
The following photos are 
the fabric combos for each block.





I'll just be showing you how 
to make one Harvest Star:)


***Note*** 
I noticed that in the 
Cream Text fabric cutting
 that there were two pieces labeled "F" 
for the Harvest Star Blocks.

Don't worry!... 
it makes no difference in the cutting...
but just letting you know that the
 1 3/4" x 3" are "E" and not "F"

Another note to take before beginning
 this block is that I pressed 
ALL of my seams open because there are
 a lot of places where seams
 need to meet up on the diagonal.
Okay...let's begin!


We will be doing this block by
 breaking it down into sections.

The first section is the center star 
of the block and it consists of 
 pieces "C" "D" "E" and "F"
The star is sewn in the exact same way
 as the 4" Stars.
Only difference is the size...
this star should measure 5 1/2" square 
before you sew the other 
Harvest Star pieces around it:)


Make 4 of these corner units with
 pieces "A" and "H"...
Use my Easy Corner Triangle Method
 just like in the 4" Stars.
Use this method throughout the 
rest of the pieces for this block.


Use pieces "B" "I" and "F" 
to make these 8 sections.
The 4 on the left are the same and the
 4 on the right are the same.

Pay close attention to the direction 
you are sewing the easy corner triangles
 so that you end up with correct angles:)


Use pieces "B" "G" and "F" 
and sew these 8 units:)


Lay your block out onto your 
large design board like this.
I placed mine on my cutting board 
so that you can see the pieces clearly.
Join the sections together...


Until you have 3 rows like this....


Then sew the rows together!


Here is the back of my block:)

I press my seams flat just like
 I showed you with the 4" Stars...
I use my 10 1/2" Trim-It Ruler 
and lay something heavy on top.
When it cools down I use the ruler
 to trim it up if needed.


Now you can make the remaining three
 Harvest Star Blocks
throughout the sew along 
as your time allows:)


Okay now for the Autumn Block...
the pieced letters that go underneath the house block:)


Don't forget the F-19 Heart 
for the letter "M" block. 

These letters are super easy!
Simply do each easy corner triangle first and then sew all of the pieces together.
The diagram of each block 
is on page 2 of the sew along.





Letter "A"
At this point it should measure
 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" BEFORE 
sewing it into the block.




Make two letter "U"
They should each measure 
3 1/2" x 5 1/2" BEFORE
sewing them into the block.



Letter "T"
It should measure 
3 1/2" x 5 1/2" BEFORE 
it goes into the block:)





Letter "M"
It should measure 
5 1/2" tall x 6 1/2" wide BEFORE 
sewing it into the block.


Sew the heart:)


Clip the cleavage 
in the top like this.


Turn and shape and press!


Glue baste your heart for applique:)




Letter "N"
should measure 4" x 5 1/2" BEFORE 
sewing it into the block.


You should have cut
 7 - 1" x 5 1/2" sashings
for in-between and ends of letters 
and also 
2 - 1" x 26 1/2"
for the top and the bottom.

Lay the letters and the sashings 
like this 
and then sew the short sashings 
and letters
 together first and then 
the top and bottom last.


Like this!
I pressed towards the sashings.

It should measure 
6 1/2" x 26 1/2"
BEFORE you sew it into the quilt:)


Yippee and WHEW!
That was a super long post!
Hang in there...
you are doing an awesome job.

These pieced blocks so far tutorials 
are now finished and the only
remaining pieced block 
is the house...
which we will do on week 9:)

Can I just say again how fun it is 
to see everyone's blocks posted onto
We are all so impressed with
 everyone's creativity and 
sew love everyones blocks!!!...
 Whether they are exactly the same 
as mine or your neighbor's or 
are unique and have a variation
 or two is no matter:)
As you know...
I like to say
 "you are the boss of your own quilt" 
The most important thing
 is to relax and enjoy every step
 of this beautiful wonderful 
imperfect or imperfect 
journey of quilting!

I'll meet you right here 
next week for week 5...
 and we will make the Scarecrow Block:)
xx
Lori




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