Random Sampler QAL – Squash Blossom

Well, I’m sorry I’m so late with this block. I had a bigger vision of what this block should look like than what it actually came out to be.  We’ve all been there, haven’t we? If I chose to make this again, I think I would reverse the values.  The points on the outside seem to fade away and I’m not all that happy about it.  But it is what it is. I like the block,  just not my fabric placement. I’m sure you all will do much better… learning from my mistakes.

I chose this block because I felt like we needed another large block to keep the Tree of Life block company.  I have no idea what the official name of the block might be. It’s an uneven 9-patch. And It sort of looks like a squash blossom to me. So that’s what I’m calling it. I hope you like it.

1.  Choose five fabrics.  A light value for the background, two medium values and two dark values.

2. Cut the following pieces for one block.  This block should measure 12 1/2″ including the seam allowances

For the center of the star (mine is the dark green) cut:

• 1 – 3 1/2″ square

For the center star points (mine is the light green polka dot) cut:

• 4- 2 3/8″ squares, cut in half diagonally once to yield 8 triangles

For the outer half stars (mine is the dark orange) cut:

• 4 – 2″ x 3 1/2″ rectangles

For the outer star points ( mine is the yellow/orange polka dot) cut:

• 8 – 2 3/8″ squares, cut in half diagonally once to yield 16 triangles

From the background fabric cut:

• 2 – 4 1/4″ squares, cut in half diagonally twice to make 8 triangles
• 4 – 3 1/2″ squares
• 4 – 2 3/8″ squares, cut in half diagonally once to yield 8 triangles
• 12 – 2″ squares

3. Sew a 2 3/8″ Center Star triangle to each side of a 4 1/2″ Background triangle to create a Star Point unit.  Press each seam open to reduce the bulk.  Make 4 Star Point units.

4. Sew a Star Point unit to each side of the 3 1/2″ Center Star square. Press the seams toward the center.  Then sew a 2″ Background square to each of the 2 remaining Star Point units. Press the seams towards the 2″ squares.  Sew a Star Point unit to the top and bottom of the Center Star unit. Press the seams towards the outside edge of the block.

5. Sew a 2 3/8″ Outer Star triangle to each side of a 4 1/2″ Background triangle. Press the seams open to reduce the bulk. Make 4 Star Point units.

6. Sew a 2 3/8″ Outer Star triangle to a 2 3/8″ Background triangle to make a half-square triangle unit.  Make 8 half-square triangle units.

Lay out 2 – 2″ Background squares, 2 half-square triangles, 1 Star Point unit, and 1 – 2″ x 3 1/2″ rectangle for the Outer Star units.

Sew the 2″ Background squares to each side of the Star Point unit. Press the seams towards the 2″ Background squares.  Sew the 2 half-square triangles to each side of the 2″ x 3″ rectangle. Press the seams towards the rectangle.  Sew the 2 rows together to complete the Outer Star unit.  Press the seam towards the rectangle.  Make 4 Outer Star units.

7. Lay out the Center Star unit, the 4 Outer Star units and the 4 – 3 1/2″ Background squares.

Sew an Outer Star unit to each side of the Center Star unit.  Press the seams towards the Center Star unit.  Sew a 3 1/2″ Background square to each side of the 2 remaining Outer Star units.  Press the seams towards the 3 1/2″ Background squares.  Sew to the top and bottom of the Center Star unit and press the seams towards the outside edge of the block.

Thanks for sewing along with me!  I am enjoying immensely the growing collection of all your blocks & fabrics. So many beautiful blocks!  As always, please add your progress photos to the Flickr group.

Thank You! and more

♥ Thank you so much for all of your kind words and condolences!  They mean a lot to us!  We sure do miss that cat!

♥ Above is something I started over the weekend.  All from my stash. I needed something simple to work on.  It still needs a few more rows.

♥ I’m working on the March block for the Random Sampler today.  I’m hoping to have it done and posted by tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

♥ I’m sure you have already heard the news about Google Reader shutting down in July.  I’m thinking of moving over to The Old Reader. It’s not quite as robust as Google Reader, but the simplicity of it may win me over.  I hope this isn’t going to be a huge issue for bloggers & readers of blogs.   I don’t have a smart phone, and even if I did I wouldn’t want to read blogs on it.  I do have a Kindle and I hate reading blogs on it because the pictures are too small.  I like to see everything BIG.

Remembering Eli

I almost wasn’t going to post this. But in case you were wondering where I’ve been or when the next Random Sampler block is going to be posted…  you should know.  We let go of this sweet yellow face and he is in kitty heaven sniffing the air & jumping over fences.  We sure do miss him.  No words are necessary. See you next week.

Sparkle No. 2

This is Sparkle No. 2 quilt for my charity bee Do.Good.Stitches.  If you missed Sparkle No. 1, it’s over here.  We are donating quilts to Restore Innocence, a much needed organization that rescues girls from human trafficking.

This one is my favorite version.  I am a huge lover of lime green.  The backing fabric is Heather Bailey’s Dandelion print from the Nicey Jane collection. I found it discounted at a local fabric shop.  It reminds me SO much of my bedroom when I was in Jr. High and High School.  My favorite colors back then were yellow & spring green and it was all ruffly & girly.  I still love the green even though I don’t decorate like that any more.  The quilt is finished with the same wavy zig zag stitch as in the first Sparkle quilt.  A huge thank you to the ladies in my sewing circle for the lovely blocks!!

And I just had to throw in a pic of the cute wee plants that are living near our sink.  They are making me happy.

Medallion Mania

My mom and I were able to sign up for a Gwen Marston workshop in June and we are SO excited!!  I have been dying to take a class from Gwen for ages!  The workshop will focus on her book Liberated Medallions Quilts.  Even though I am excited, I am STUMPED about which direction I should take.  We need to start thinking about the fabrics we want to bring to class.

Do I want to go scrappy?  Or pull from my stash?  A liberated ‘Parts Department’ (from the book Collaborative Quilting)? Or a study on a particular shape… ie. stars, flying geese, etc? Or maybe something abstract?  There are WAY too many choices & decisions to make!  At first I was thinking of cleaning up my red & white scrap basket.  There are a lot of strings. And then throwing in some stuff from my stash.  But the more I look around for inspiration the more undecided I am becoming.   AAAAArrrrrggggg!!!!  What’s a girl to do? I can’t take my whole sewing room.  How do I narrow down my options?   I’m hoping I will have clearer answers to those questions by the time June comes around.

Realistically, I really should do something out of my comfort zone and try to stretch myself.  If you remember these… I already have a few Medallions under my belt.

Medallion Quilt-along
Garden Medallion
Amish Medallion

Above photos pulled from my Pinterest patchwork boards.