Hello and welcome to Week 24 of our
Today I'm sharing another
vintage block with you from
my grandma's pattern basket:)
As I mentioned last week...
my grandma owned the only store
in our small town and it
was called The Mercantile.
Today's block is inspired
by the flooring in the store.
It was made with linoleum tiles...
which back then was very common
and easy to install.
Just like with quilting...
you could arrange the tiles
for many different designs.
There were many colors to choose from
and grandma's store was in
the classic black and white.
In the backroom of the store
the flooring was the deep blue green
color that is the exact same
as the color in my fabrics
that is called Vivid.
The opening of the backroom
had a curtain instead of a door.
Grandma kept a small size
table and chairs set back there for us.
I remember staying at the store
with grandma before I was old enough
to go to school when Mom had a
PTA meeting or went to get her hair done.
We would eat lunch at the table
and grandma had a book shelf back there
with lots of fun books
and also some toys...
and of course crayons and coloring books.
I looked through grandma's basket
for a block that had a checkerboard
to represent the flooring.
In grandma's pattern it said
the block was called Stepping Stones.
I used the same colors from
Farm Girl Vintage
that were actually in the floor:)
I used one of my
Bee Backgrounds for the block:)
Are you ready to sew???
From the background cut:
16 - 1 1/2" squares
From this cut:
5 - 3 1/2" squares
From this one cut:
20 - 1 1/2" squares
And finally from this one cut:
4 - 3 1/2" squares
(I changed my mind and used another print
and I'll tell you why at the end:)
This block is easy peasy to put together...
as simple as sewing squares together.
First step is to grab all of the
1 1/2" squares...
And make 4 little 9 patch blocks.
Each should measure
3 1/2" square at this point.
Then lay them out with the
5 - 3 1/2" squares to make
a larger 9 patch...
Like this!
It should measure 9 1/2" square
at this point.
Now to add the 4 easy corner triangles
to the corners:)
And this is where I switched the fabric...
Although I think that
my original choice would look good...
I just felt that the darker
would be a better contrast
so I went with that one!
Draw a diagonal line for sewing or use the
I really like how the darker print pops!
Now to trim off the excess...
And cut 1 1/2" squares from the leftovers.
As I told you in the
beginning of this series...
I always cut the largest size squares
that I can from the trimmings
of my easy corner triangles.
The smallest size that I cut is 1 1/2".
If I can't get that out of
the trimmings I just discard them.
You may be surprised to find out that
I use my scrappy squares stash
SEW MUCH!
Here is my completed block....
And how I pressed my seams.
I cannot tell you how thrilled
I am with how it turned out.
The pattern and the colors truly
take me back in time to those days
in the store with grandma.
I can still see the floor in my memory...
and each aisle with neatly stocked
shelves of groceries
and household items.
There was a tall turn around display
that held packaged toys hanging
on the pegs that was
next to the cash register.
I loved that store:)
My brothers and sisters and I
didn't even have to "play" store...
we just went to grandma's store:)
She sold the store and retired
when I was in Junior High School.
MERCANTILE BLOCK
should measure 9 1/2" square
before we sew it into our quilt.
Thanks for sewing vintage
with me today:)
Tune in next week for
another episode of the
Vintage Block Along!
xx
Lori
If you are just joining us...
click on each block that we have
done so far to go to the tutorial:
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
15. Memory
16. Farmers Daughter
19. Picnic
20. Sparklers
21. 4th of July Flag
22. Playing Card
23. Penny Candy
1 comment:
I am loving this vintage block series, Lori! Do you think you will publish them in a book?
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