sample blocks

A busy semester, a bit of sewing going on behind the scenes.
Working on pressing plans for Paths and Stiles and for Pavement. Quite a few blocks already cut out, so I am ready to go when more sewing time opens up in later October.

Kamala quilt

The Democratic National Convention was just down the street from us last week.
Lots of motorcades, helicopters, street activities.

I found this wonderful pattern by Berene @happysewlucky who shared her great Kamala block on her Instagram. I scaled it up to the letters to be 4 inches tall finished and eliminated many seams by making flying geese for the K and M and modified half square triangles for the A. Machine quilted in curved lines on my Bernina Record 930. I chose pink because it is a happy, strong color. Three pink solids used.
The back is a pink paisley from the stash of a late friend who I am sure would approve of its use. And a bit of cat fabric because, well, just because.

Thanks Berene!

3-tatami mat, block construciton

 

Block measures 12 by 8 inches and contains sixteen 3-tatami mat units.

I love tatami mat layouts and use the very simple 3-tatami mat layout as the basic unit for this block, using scraps from my 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch darks and brights coins bin.
The solid is Kona Ice Frappe, K001-1173.
I use my basic 16-patch construction method once those units are sewn.

There is Unit A and Unit B
Unit A: cut three scrap rectangles 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches
Unit B: cut two scrao and one solid rectangles 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches
Sew scraps into pairs and press to one side. I kept these seams consistant in the units construction. 
Sew scrap onto top of Unit As and solid onto top of Unit Bs.
Press towards top rectangle, away from the pairs.
For a block, make 8 Unit A and 4 Unit B.

Sew units into pairs, for the block, 4 all scrap Unit As and  4 with a Unit A and a Unit B, keeping the solid rectangle at the edge of that pair.
Press towards the edge that ends with a single rectangle.

Take two of these and sew together into units with the solid in the center. 
Press consistent to previous pressing.

Flip one row and sew into block halves.
Then sew two halves together to one block.

Press block to one side.

This will be a longer-term sewing project over the fall as faculty week starts next week. Thinking of 120 blocks set 8 down by 10 across for quilt to measure 96 by 80.
Block is my design--use at your pleasure.

I am also playing with doing this block on a larger scale with 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch red rectangles and white as the solid. ALWAYS room for another red and white quilt!
Block finishes 24 by 16 inches. What a different in scale.

16-patch with bullseye chain, top completed, directions for construction

16-patch with bullseye chain
96 by 80 inches
Top completed 2024
Block finishes 8 inches

A summer quilt! Made from my lights/neutrals bin of 2 1/2 inch squares. 
1632 of them. 
I really like working with the neutrals. The summer feel of these quilts is pleasant. Note I kept the bullseye center squares oriented consistently with the images, but all background squares I let go every which way.
The green I think is Kona Fern. Stands out in a lovely way from the squares. I will bind it in this green.
I wanted to center the chains a bit so I added half-blocks to the side blocks to make them a bit wider. 

60 16-patch blocks
24 half 16-patch blocks
48 double bullseye blocks

After making the previous bullseye quilt where I wanted to have just one block, I went to this one in my sketchbook and decided to make two blocks (plus a variation on the sides).

Green
For each bullseye cut two 2 1/2 by 1 1/2 inch rectangles and two 4 1/2 by 1 1/2 inch rectangles
For this quilt, I cut 192 of each

Neutrals/lights
1632 squares cut 2 1/2 inches
Set aside 96 for bullseyes.
Sew remaining 1536 into 768 pairs.
Set aside 192 of the pairs for the bullseye blocks
Sew remaining 576 pairs into chains of four patches

Block A is a double bullseye block
Make the bullseyes, pressing away from the center square
Make the 4-patches, watching pressing
Sew 4-patches to the bullseyes, keeping the bullseyes oriented consistently. 
Press as shown
Sew into blocks.
Sew blocks into pairs then 4-block units
Press these horizontal seams south




Block B is a 16-patch block
Make 16-patches, keeping pressing as shown

Block C is a half 16-patch block
Make the half 16-patches, keeping pressing as done with Block B

Take 24 of the Block B and sew a Block C to each.
Press as shown

Take these 24 expanded blocks and sew into pairs then into 4-block units.
Press these horizontal seams north

Take remaining 36 16-patch blocks and sew into pairt then into 4-block units.
Press these horizontal seams north


Lay out and sew into three rows
Sew final two seams 

Everything nests!
My design, use at your pleasure.

Backing is Nests from Bird Song by Rae Ritchee for Dear Stella Fabrics

Bins before this quilt

Bin after this quilt!

16 patch variation with bullseye, top completed

 

16-patch variation with bullseye

96 by 80 inches
120 blocks
Block finishes 8 inches

I love me a 16-patch.
After I designed the Driven Rain in July 2023 I sketched out variations that would again use a chain effect with dark/bright scraps and Kona Ice Frappe.
Came up with this one using a bullseye block in place of 4 of the squares in a 16-patch. 

Also, bullseye. As a farm kid, I have always pictured an actual bull's eye with that phrase, not the target for archery. Bull's eyes are beautiful and a bit frightening. The barn on our farm was recently taken down by the current owners of the building site. Lots of memories flooding back, including memories of the bull.

the block

The sewing sequence of units ensures all seams nest. The pressing plan is a bit irritating to keep track of, but by preparing and keeping reference units at each stage, I stayed on track.
There may be a simpler way of construction, but this was an efficient design where there is only one block to consistently make.
Watch for another variation of 16-patch with bullseye soon using lighter scraps where I work with different blocks (just starting that one).
Edit: Here it is!

Cutting:
Solid (Kona Ice Frappe K001-1173)
For each block two 2 1/2 by 1 1/2 inch rectangles; two 4 1/2 by 1 1/2 inch rectangles
(for quilt, 240 of each)
Prints
Scrap squares cut 2 1/2 
For each block 13
(for quilt 1560 squares)

I cut down my scraps into set sizes and separate the darks/brights from lights.
This quilt was made from my shoebox bins so no extra cutting was needed for the squares for this quilt.
I had 1 1/2 bins of the 2 1/2 darks/brights and got them down to one full bin by the end of this quilt. Enough for two more quilts. 

Piecing and pressing:
Make 120 bullseye units using 120 of the scrap squares and the solid rectangles
Press seams away from center square

Sew the remaining 1440 squares into twos.

Use 240 of these twos to make 120 4-patches.
Pay special attention to pressing

Sew the bullseyes to the four patches, orienting them as shown. By keeping the bullseyes consistent in orientation they will be a check as you assemble the quilt to make sure you haven't flipped something wrong.

Use remaining of the twos to make 240 4-scrap units.
Pressing again is important as shown.

I found I kept getting these oriented incorrectly when I sewed them into a 8-patch unit, so instead I sewed them one by one onto the bullseye/4-patch. 
Make 120 blocks. Every block is pressed the same way.

Take half the blocks and sew with the bullseyes meeting in the center. Make 30 Unit A
Take other half and sew with the bullseyes in the corners. Make 30 Unit B

Unit A

Unit B

Press the Unit As south and the Unit Bs north.
Sew with Unit A on the left, B on the right

This will get you to 30 large blocks

Sew into pairs, pressing top block seam left and bottom seam right.
Make 15 pairs.

Lay out into three rows of 5 pairs.
Sew rows and press middle row east and top and bottom rows west.
Everything nests!
My design, use at your pleasure.

Backing by Rosie Dore for Timeless Treasures (ROSIE-CD2492)
Love these mushrooms!

starting bins

ending bins!