Thursday, November 7, 2019

Vintage Block Along - Week 35 - Twirl Block!!


Well hello there:)
Welcome back to the 
Fall Quilt Market deadlines are over...
and I'm back from teaching in Arizona...



And I'm sew ready to pick up
 right where we left off! 

Today I'm sharing another vintage block
 with you from my 
Grandma's pattern basket:)





As usual I'm using 
Farm Girl Vintage fabric 
and a Bee Background:)



I like the way that this block 
looks like it's turning...
and I tried to think of a memory
 about my grandma that I could
 relate to it and think of a name.

I didn't take me long to
 remember the perfect thing...
and so this block is called 
TWIRL...
and here is my memory!

For as long as I can remember...
Grandma had two chairs this same color
 and that looked almost just like this one.

They were on each side of 
the fireplace in her front room.

Instead of legs they had a center base 
which allowed you to rock...
which was awesome...
but the best thing about them was 
that they could turn all the way around...
And boy did I ever love that! 

I called them "twirly chairs" and 
us kids often fought over who would 
sit in them and we would race 
to get into the house saying
 "I speak to sit in the twirly chairs!!" 
lol
I would twirl and twirl and twirl
 until grandma would say...
"Lori, you're going to
 make yourself sick now 
you better slow down" 
and then I'd slow down a little
 until she got distracted talking to mom
 or something and I'd speed up twirling
 until she would finally say
 "Okay Lori that's enough twirling"
 and then I could always tell by her tone 
that she meant it and so I would stop!
We always minded Grandma.
I can still hear her voice saying 
those words to me....
and I miss her and 
I miss those twirly chairs.

She had them still even after I 
married and had all three 
of my children and they liked 
to twirl in them too:)

You know...
They just don't make furniture 
like they used to.
She had those chairs all those years
 and they still looked amazing.


Okay...are you ready to make the block?
You will need one background and 
one medium value and one dark print.


From the background cut:
4 - 4 1/2" squares
16 - 2 1/2" squares



From the medium value print cut:
4 - 4 1/2" squares
4 - 2 1/2" x 4 1/2"



From the dark print cut:
4 - 4 1/2" squares
4 - 2 1/2" x 6 1/2"



Start with the medium and dark
 4 1/2" squares...



And make them into 4 half square triangle.
As you know by now I will
 cut squares from the leftover trimmings.

Your half square triangles should
 measure 4 1/2" square



Now grab 8 of the 
2 1/2" background squares...



Use the 
again and add an easy corner triangle 
onto each side ...



Like this!
All four should still measure
 4 1/2" square:)



Now grab the 4 medium print rectangles 
and 4 of the background squares...



Add an easy corner triangle onto
 the bottom right corner 
of each rectangle like this.
All four rectangles should still measure
 2 1/2" X 4 1/2"



Now grab the dark rectangles and the
 4 remaining small background squares...



And add an easy corner triangle 
onto the bottom left hand corner of these.

They should still measure
 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" each



Now sew these 2 sections together 
just like this...



And then add the dark rectangles
 to the top like this.



You should have 4 sections 
that look like this and
 they should each measure 6 1/2" square at this point.
Use the remaining background squares 
and add corners to each of them...



Like this.



Now all four of your sections
 should look just like this and
 still measure 6 1/2" square.



Now it's time to lay them out like this...



And sew them together!



This is what the back 
of my block looks like:)



TWIRL BLOCK
should measure 12 1/2" square 
before we sew it into our quilt:)



I just love how this block turned out!
It would also look nice 
in two different colors 
but I really wanted to make mine 
just classic blue and white.
I can't wait to see all of your color combinations!

Bee sure to use the hashtag #VintageBlockAlong 
when posting yours to 


Thanks for sewing vintage with me 
again today and for the lovely chat 
about twirling at grandma's house.

I'll meet you right back here
 next Thursday for another 
vintage block and another chat!
xx
Lori




If you are just joining us...
click on each block that we have
 done so far to go to the tutorial:


8. Humble
15. Memory
19. Picnic
20. Sparklers
26. Parade
30. Leftovers

5 comments:

  1. I love this story! My grandma also had a pair of these awesome twirly chairs in her living room that all us cousins loved. It is amazing how well those chairs stood up after all that rowdy spinning!

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  2. My Grandma had a twirly rocking chair - my sister has it, and No, they don't make furniture like that, it went thru a lot of testing!! I wanted to ask about the background sq on on the med & dk rectangles, I see how it goes together but it looks like they are sewn to opposite right & lefts. It could just be the photo tho. Love this block also - lots of "twirly" movement

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  3. I really like the color you used on this block. Thanks so much for sharing so much of your gift. I have most of your books and love your fabric lines. I would make everything you create. Can't always get the templates but ... my heart is with Bee in My Bonnet ...

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  4. Ok I have just got your book yesterday. So excited to catch up and start sewing the first 4 blocks. This new book rocks. Thank you,

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  5. Lori----just wanted you to know how much I am enjoying using the Seams So Easy flower. My half square triangles are so good and my 1/4" seam is so much better, too. So much easier than drawing the lines which were never right for me anyway. Again, Thanks!

    ReplyDelete