Vintage Block Along - Week 23 - Penny Candy Block!!

Welcome to week 23 in the 

Vintage Block Along

I picked another vintage block pattern

 from my grandma's pattern basket

 to share with you:)

I'm using Farm Girl Vintage fabric

 for all of my blocks:)

This vintage block is traditionally called Single Irish Chain.

It's the perfect scrappy quilt block 

and especially perfect 

for leftover squares:)

I chose to name this block

PENNY CANDY

and here's why!

Last week I told you that 

Grandma owned and ran the

 only store in our small town.

The official name was 

Herriman Mercantile but

 everyone just called The Merc.

Every week after we were finished

 with our Saturday chores...

Mom would give us each a dime

 and we all would head over

 to The Merc to see Grandma 

and get a little brown paper sack

 full of penny candy.

Some of the candy was even

 2 or 3 for a penny! 

Candy bars were a nickel:)

I usually chose one candy bar

 and then used the remaining

 5 cents on penny candy.

It took us FOREVER to decide 

and then we would walk home 

(it was in the center of town on Main Street) and our farm was on 

the outskirts of town.

We would eat our chosen candy bar

 on the way home and then 

save our penny candy and try to 

make it last as many days 

as possible until the next Saturday lol

Sometimes instead of walking 

we would ride our bikes...

or roller skate.

I chose the single irish chain block

 because I could just see the squares

 in colorful scrappy prints...

each representing a piece of candy:)

You will need 45 - pieces of candy 

for this block..

Also known as 1 1/2" squares lol

I used leftover squares from my stash.

Remember in the beginning 

of this sew along 

I told you that I always

 cut the trimmings from 

easy corner triangles 

into usable square sizes?

I am using mine for this block.

Waste not...want not

Grandma would be so proud!

I also have several 1 1/2" squares

 from my Bee Backgrounds 

and I used them as well.

You will need 40 of these:)

I chose this sweet little daisy print 

from Farm Girl Vintage 

and the yellow circles print 

from my Bee Backgrounds 

to use in my block.

From this print I cut 

20 - 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangles

And from this one I cut

 4 - 5 1/2" squares

You will need to make a total of

 20 - 4 patch blocks.

For each one you will need 

2 colors and 2 backgrounds...

Like this.

Each 4 patch should measure 

2 1/2" square at this point.

I pressed my seams open.

I just grabbed a bunch and randomly

 matched them up while chain sewing...

I didn't do a lot of planning 

other than tried to use 

a few of each color and 

not to repeat prints 

if I could help it.

I think I repeated a few though 

and that's okay and totally fine with me.

20 cute little 4 patch blocks!

Now lay 4 of them out onto your

 design board like this and add 

the background rectangles

 and one more penny candy square 

in the center.

 Sew them together into a block

Sew five of these blocks...

each should measure 

5 1/2" square at this point.

This is how I pressed mine.

After you have 5 blocks 

lay them out like this...

Add the 5 1/2" squares...

And sew into three rows...

And sew the rows together 

to finish your block!

This is how I pressed mine.

Oh my goodness I LOVE this block!

It turned out just like I imagined...

sweet as candy!

PENNY CANDY

should measure 15 1/2" square 

before we sew it into our quilt.

I hope you love making your block

 as much as I did making mine!

Join me back here next week

 for another vintage block

 from grandma.

This time I'm telling you

 what it's called...

MERCANTILE

See you then!

xx

Lori

If you are just joining us...

click on each block that we have

 done so far to go to the tutorial:

1. Grandma's Star

2. Pattern Basket

3. Around the Corner

4. Little Farmhouse

5. Rhinestone 

6. Vintage Lily

7. Star Shine

8. Humble

9. Egg Money

10. Quilting Bee

11. Sunday Star

12. Sweet as Honey

13. Bear Hug Block

14. Front Yard Flower

15. Memory

16. Farmers Daughter

17. Potluck

18. Spool and Bobbins

19. Picnic

20. Sparklers

21. 4th of July Flag

22. Playing Card

Fun with Cross Stitch!!

Today is a show and tell day:) 

I wanted to show you a few of

 the accessories designed by me 

and produced by the fabulous 

It's Sew Emma!

 Above you can see my new 

Fit to Stitch Project Bag:)

Any kind of stitching definitely

 makes my heart go pitter-pat...

which I why I chose to put 

this saying on there along with

 a cross stitched heart:)

This is The Beekeeper...

I like to keep all of each project

 floss colors on it when I'm using

 something other than my Aurifloss ...

because Aurifloss is already on a spool:)

I also like to keep individual colors 

of floss on my 

Floss Flowers:)

First let me tell you about 

The Beekeeper.

It comes with several cards

 so that you can write the projects

 and the floss numbers on one card 

for each project.

I like to use my Planner Pens...

or  you could use a pencil if you want

 so that the card could be re-used.

I've filled out the card...

listing the DMC colors 

that are called for in my...

 Sew She Did 

cross stitch pattern.

Fat Quarter Shop is hosting the 

Sew She Did Stich Along 

right now on their 

FQS Cross Stitch Channel.

CLICK HERE

to view and join in on the fun!

You will see several different 

fabrics that it's stitched on...

this is what it looks like stitched on my

 Oatmeal 25 count Lugana

Vintage Cloth

I used Aurifloss 

and 2 strands over 2.

Each of the holes on 

The Beekeeper 

are numbered and so you simply write

 the color of the floss on the 

same number that you 

placed in the hole.

For example...

you can see that 817 is written

 on line number 1 and 

817 floss is in hole number 1.

I like to cut my floss about

 18"- 20" long before 

tying onto The Beekeeper.

Now they are precut and I just 

take them out and use them as needed:)

Another thing I wanted to show you 

about The Beekeeper is that 

you can put a 

needle minder in the center...

To hold your needles like this!

This is what the back looks like

 with a needle minder on it:)

When everything's is gathered

 for the project I can

 put it all in the bag.

It holds a lot!

I added one of my enamel charms

 to the zipper for extra fun:)

When I use the Floss Flowers 

I write the floss number

 on a sticker (they come with several)

 and wind the floss onto the flower...

Like this...

And the sticker goes on the back:)

I think they are so cute and fun to use ...

I love to be organized for every project...

you can place the Floss Flowers

 on a ring to keep them 

all together for one project:)

This is my brand new pattern set called

 Bee in my Bonnet

Stitch Card

This is set A and includes

 4 cute little patterns that 

coordinate with the

 quilt blocks from my books:)

I will be releasing 

Sets B-C-D-E-F-G etc

and so on every quarter:)

I'll be doing all kinds of 

fun things with these 

cute little patterns:)  

After I have each project 

in my project bags 

I like to put them all into my 

Take-Along Project Bag

It's large enough to hold 

2-3 project bags along with 

Q-snaps..hoop or frames:)

I love this bag!

It's very well made and

 it's a thick soft durable canvas.

CLICK HERE

if you would like to 

see all of my cross stitch patterns!!

I use it for my crochet projects too!

It holds a lot of

 Chunky Thread

 and all my hooks and

 yarn bowl and accessories.

I can grab it and go 

so that I'm never without a project:)

My favorite thing to do

 in the summer is to

 stitch out on my deck:)

I also use my Floss Flowers to hold 

leftovers of Chunky Thread yarn.

That little bit you see there is

 enough to make a round in a 

granny square or granny circle 

so I wind it on my Floss Flowers to use.

The bag has a nice sized pocket

 with a zipper in the front that I love!

I just load it all up with yarny goodness...

Cinch it closed and I'm ready to go!

Thanks for joining me while

 chatting about cross stitch

 and also a little crochet...

I'll see you tomorrow for

 the next tutorial in our 

Vintage Block Along!

xx

Lori