Bee In My Bonnet: Mercantile Sampler Sew Along - Week Two

Friday, February 9, 2024

Mercantile Sampler Sew Along - Week Two - Grandma's Quilt Block!!

"GRANDMA'S QUILT BLOCK"

Welcome back to week two of the

"MERCANTILE SAMPLER"

Sew Along!

Are you ready to sew with me?

I hope that you will join me here each week

when I will be doing two tutorials

weekly...every Monday and Friday.

We are making the

Mercantile Sampler Quilt

88" x 88"

The quilt is made with my fabric

collection called Mercantile:)

We are piecing all 25 blocks

and then turning them into a

12" circle to applique onto a

4-Patch Block background!

I detail all of the supplies

that you need to make the quilt in my

Bee Prepared post right here on my blog.

I have already posted the

"BEE PREPARED"

post which not only details

all of the supplies needed but

explains how this sew along works.

I have also given the links there

for the free PDF Download

of the Sew Along Guides

CLICK HERE

to download the sew along guide

if you have not downloaded yet.

CLICK HERE

to download the sampler block

sew along guide.

As per usual for the first block in my

new fabric collection Sew Alongs

that FIRST tutorial is a video.

Because I now have my own

YouTube Channel

I have posted the

Birthday Cake Block

Tutorial there.

CLICK HERE

to visit my channel and watch the

tutorial and I hope that you love it!

Pretty please leave me a comment

over there and let me know:)

If you like what you see

and my other videos there...

click on subscribe and click on the bell

to be notified whenever

I post another tutorial:)

ANGEL STAR BLOCK

CLICK HERE

for the tutorial and blog post

MAPLE LEAF BLOCK

CLICK HERE

For the tutorial and blog post

Today we are making

GRANDMA'S QUILT BLOCK

Here's mine all cut and ready to sew!

Cutting each block will be super

simple because of the sew along guide

that is provided for you.

We are using the

2 1/2" Trim-It Ruler

for the Grandma's Quilt Block:)

So let's start by making these twelve

2 1/2" half square triangles first.

Draw a double line on the six "A" squares.

Match them up with the

"B" and "C" squares and sew directly

on your marked double lines.

Cut them apart...

And trim them before pressing.

*Remember that we are using the

2 1/2" Trim-It Ruler for these...

NOT the 2 1/4"

All twelve trimmed up!!

Press the seams open and

let them rest

under the clappers for a bit:)

Now that all of our

half square triangles are completed...

and they all should

measure 2 1/2" square.

Stack them four deep like this

along with the four "D" squares

and sew them into four patches:)

Of course

this goes without saying but...

I'm just sayin' lol

BEE SURE to use an accurate

1/4" seam allowance

when sewing ALL of your

blocks together for this quilt:)

Four - 4-Patch's made

and all seams pressed open:)

They should each

measure 4 1/2" square.

I use my 4 1/2" Trim-It Ruler

to check for accuracy:)

Now that all of our

HST's are completed

we can lay our block out

on the design board for sewing!

Simply sew the block into

3 rows like this and then

sew the 3 rows together.

Press all seams open:)

Add the borders and

press towards them

so that we can turn our cute

and happy block into a circle...

Like this!!

And we have another circle!

It's cooling under the clappers

after shaping and pressing:)

Sew your 4 - Patch block

for the background of the circle:)

Seams are open and now

let's go to the work table.

Line the 4-Patch seams up with

the center of the block both ways...

And then pin.

Sue Glue your cute circle into place:)

Grandma's Quilt Block

is ready for applique!

Afterwards I'll press from the back and
then trim it down to 14 1/2" square
so that it can be sewn into the quilt:)

Now that we are four blocks in...
some of you may be ready to applique.

Be ready for a looong explanation lol

***TAKE NOTE***
I do not trim away any
of my fabric after applique.
This goes for ALL of my applique quilts.
I enjoy the texture and
stability of the layers of fabric.
Here is why!

The following is what my grandma
and her sisters taught me:
The reason that they used to
trim after applique back when
everything was hand quilted...
it was very difficult to get the
tiny quilting needle to get tiny
stitches through layers of fabric so
they trimmed out the back of
the appliqués to make it easier.

Now today for us quilters...
for the majority of us
our quilts are quilted by sewing machine
or with long arm machines and the
layers are not a problem anymore to
needle through and are actually
better for the quilt.
This is what she taught me:
When trimming...
especially a circle or large pieces
it will distort and weaken your block.
Your quilt is strong and will last well
through time and washings etc.
because of the layers.
I have found this to be very true
coming from someone who has done both
in my lifetime of making quilts...
and may I also add that
the appliques also look amazing
when quilted because they really pop
because they are ON TOP of the fabric!!
Okay...there you have it.

Of course with all of that being said...
you can chose what YOU would like to do.
YOU ARE THE BOSS OF YOUR OWN QUILT
and
YOU DO YOU!!