Vintage Block Along - Block Six - Vintage Lily Block Tutorial!!

Welcome and thanks for tuning in to the 

Vintage Block Along

Today I am sharing another vintage block

 with you from my 

grandma's pattern basket:)

Grandma was a farm wife...

 so of course behind the house

 in the pastures there were

 vegetables...fruits and grains to grow...

but she always grew flowers 

and flowering shrubs in her 

front and side yards.

Her yard was pretty and well kept

with one very large shade tree

 and the flowers always smelled so sweet!

All of her flowers were the 

tried and true old fashioned kind 

that her mother grew in her garden.

My Great Grandma Martha not only was a beautiful quilter but grew and lovingly tended large flower gardens.

I love old fashioned flowers and we grow several in our little garden:) 

The lily has always been a cottage garden favorite and that's why I chose this block...

And chose to name it Vintage Lily:) 

I decided that mine needed to be orange

 and of course green for the leaves:)

Keep in mind that any color of

 lily that you choose to do

 will be beautiful as well!

I do have several orange prints 

in my Farm Girl Vintage collection 

and so I chose 2 oranges and two greens

 for a scrappy happy combination:)

The original vintage pattern

 (upper right corner) 

has a curved appliqué stem.

I drafted it so that we could use

 2 easy corner triangles and

 easily sew a straight stem.

Notice the adorable vintage 

lady head vase in the photo....

it's so easy to turn it into a pincushion

 and I'll show you how 

at the end of the tutorial:)

I chose to use this

 gunny sack background print 

from my Autumn Love collection.

From your background 

you will need to cut:

2 - 5 1/2" squares

3 - 4 1/2" squares

2 - 2 1/2" x 6 1/2"

9 - 2 1/2" squares

From the leaves fabric cut:

2 - 4 1/2" squares 

4 - 2 1/2" squares

For the stem cut:

1 - 6 1/2" square

For the main part of the lily cut:

1 - 6 1/2" square

For the top of the lily cut:

3 - 2 1/2" squares

Now it's half square triangle time!

Pair up the 2 1/2" squares with

 a background square to make them.

Sew from corner to corner 

with right sides together.

Mark your lines or use the 

Seams Sew Easy Guide

CLICK HERE

to find out how I use it 

and put it on my machine.

Trim the excess off one side...

And press!

Set these aside for a bit:)

Now make 2 more half square triangles 

exactly the same way...

and use these 4 1/2" squares.

Sew...trim...

And press!

Set these aside as well.

I cut 2" squares from those trimmings:)

For the stem...

mark a line down the center 

of each 5 1/2" background

 square like this.

Sew one onto one corner of

 the 6 1/2" square stem fabric.

Trim excess...

And press.

Now do the same thing for the other side:)

You now have a 6 1/2" square

 with a stem going down the middle!

Easy peasy:)

I cut 2 1/2" squares from those trimmings.

Of course you don't have to...

but I'm just showing you what I did!

Let's make the lily section now:)

Lay these pieces out on your 

design board just like this.

Sew the top pieces into a row and 

sew the two squares on the right together

 and add to the 4 1/2" square on the left.

And now you can sew top row to bottom....

Like this!

To add the easy corner triangle 

on for the bottom of the lily...

you can mark a line from 

corner to corner on the lily print...

But I like to mark my line 

on the pieced square instead 

so that I can see exactly where

 I'm sewing on that side 

and to make sure not to

 sew my points off!

I just line them up... and pin...

 and sew on my marked line.

Before I trim off the excess...

I check to see if my points are still there:)

Then I trim!

And after pressing...

 my lily portion is completed.

Set it aside while we do the leaves.

But first...

if you want to...

quickly cut squares from your trimmings and 

add them to your scrappy stash:)

Lay your leaf pieces out like this 

and sew them together.

*Take Note:

This is for one leaf only...

the other is sewn opposite. 

This is the left side leaf....

now for the right side.

Those pieces are laid out and

 sewn just like this.

Right side finished!

You should now have 4 sections that 

each measure 6 1/2" square at this point.

Lay them out...

And sew them together to make your block!

VINTAGE LILY

Your block should measure

 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" at this point:)

This block looks so vintage to me...

and maybe because it is!

I love it sew much.

Back in vintage land they used to

 make a lot of blocks that 

leaned to one side like this 

and I think they are just charming:)

Of course a leaning block can be 

set on point and they

 did that a lot as well.

So far we have made 6 blocks...

YaY!

If you would like to make the

 first five blocks in this series

just click on the links below:

1. Grandma's Star

2. Pattern Basket

3. Around the Corner

4. Little Farmhouse

5. Rhinestone

Right after sewing the block together

 I got right to work/play on

 making this vintage lady head vase 

into a pincushion:)

If you are not new here...

you know that I often re-purpose 

vintage things and especially 

to use in my sewing room.

One of my favorite things to do 

is to make pincushions out of them!

One can never have too many pincushions 

and I love the extra sweetness that 

a thrifted vintage object adds:)

Here she is ...

Milly the pincushion lady.

Named after grandma:)

Grandma always had potted plants

 in her kitchen and front room...

she also loved fresh flowers in vases

 and had several vases of different kinds

 ...including lady head vases.

Head vases were so popular 

back in her day and there

 were so many styles...

below are a few that I love!

First up is fabric choice for the pincushion.

This print looks so cute with her 

and would have been perfect!...

but I only have this swatch because

 it's from my next fabric collection

 and it won't be here until July.

That collection is called

 "GRANNY CHIC" 

I haven't announced this yet...

 so I guess I will now!

Above is the Granny's Garden Quilt 

that we will be doing for the 

sew along that will start in August.

We will be using a new set of 

Sew Simple Shapes called Granny's Garden

 and it will work just like my

 previous appliqué sew alongs:)

Because I didn't have a

 big enough piece of that print...

I went through my stash and found 

this print from one of my previous

 collections called Flower Patch.

Grandma Milly looks like 

she is thinking it over...lol

and I'm pretty sure she approves!

I wanted to find a print that had

 all of the colors from the vase in it 

and a vintage style as well.

This one is a winner!

Next...I grabbed a few of my 

Circle Rulers to cut a 

circle from the fabric.

I have two sets of Circle Rulers

 in several sizes

 that I use on a regular basis.

These are the two largest sizes...

 a 10" and a 12" and they 

come in a set along with an 8"

The 10" or 12" size would probably work

 for this but I chose the 12"

because it's easier to 

cut it smaller later if needed:)

CLICK HERE

for the set of larger size

 Circle Rulers

Other supplies you will need:

1. Cotton Stuffing

2. Perle cotton or #3 cotton crochet thread

(it needs to be strong)

3. Large eyed needle for the thread

(I use the Chunky ones from my

 Nifty Needles - they are the ones in red

 and they come in a tube in several sizes 

as well as the sampler pack)

CLICK HERE

if you need a sampler pack:)

I'm kind of a "stuffing snob" and 

like to use natural fiber stuffing

 for most things.

This one I'm using is my 

current favorite and is 100% wool.

I snapped a photo of the box label for you:)

It's amazing to work with 

and I'm always happy with the results.

It's more of a dense finish than you get

 with poly fiberfill and it fills out 

corners nicely when I'm doing squares:)

Okay...so I have a 12" circle cut from my

 fabric and all my supplies are ready.

I just leave the edges unfinished and 

gather the circle with a large 

running stitch about 1/2" from the edge. 

Make sure you make a big knot 

at the end of your thread.

Before pulling it up into a ball

 I put some stuffing in the center.

As I'm gathering it tighter I can sew

 if it is too much or too little 

according to the size of the vase.

I took quite a bit out because I want this

 to be looser and shape it 

like a tall oval not a circle...

Because that is the shape of the vase inside.

So this is what I end up with

 before knotting off.

I begin placing it inside 

all the way down as far as I can...

And trying not to mess up her hair-do:)

All of the stuffing automatically goes

 to the top for a nice full look 

which is what I want.

I just keep tucking it in 

all the way around:)

This Point to Point Turner

 is helpful for tucking it even farther down.

The fabric will stay in very well 

but I can carefully pull the 

whole thing out if I want to.

I do not want to use glue on 

perfect little vintage pieces like this...

just in case I want to revert her

 back to her original use.

On some pieces...

that is not the case and 

I'll just glue the fabric ball

 in at the bottom with a glue gun.

Milly is deciding if she likes her 

"new hat"...

She does...and I do too!

Now for the pins:)

I have several Pretty Pins...

these are just a few.

I decided to use the ones in the

 pink package because they are

 very vintage looking.

 From them chose the colors that

 matched Milly's hat:)

CLICK HERE

for the Sewing Pretty Pins

Here is Milly hanging out 

with my record player

deciding what to play next.

Doris Day or Nat King Cole???

Hmmm...tough decision.

Will this pin look nice 

on the dress that I'm planning to wear

 to the Garden Club social?

I love how my Milly Pincushion 

turned out and she was 

so quick and easy to make...

just like this shoe one 

that I've had for a while.

I love making pincushions 

out of shoes as well.

So vintagey cute!

I hope you enjoyed both of my 

vintage tutorials today 

on this episode of the 

Vintage Block Along.

Thanks for listening!!

xx

Lori