Square in a Square - Time to Sew (part 2)

To recap, the previous posts are: The Beginning, The Math and Time to Sew (part 1).  Now let's finish this off with the final square,

Put a pin to mark the center point of the 7.5" x 7.5" trimmed square.  Fold over the larger triangles wrong sides together and make a center crease.  Line up the center crease with the pin ... and pin away.  

Now, flip the pinned unit over and begin sewing with the smaller square on top.  It is not necessary to begin at the tip of the triangle - but start about 1/2" away from the middle square.  The pictures above show what you should see when you begin to sew.

Press seams open and trim excess, using the 7.5" block as a guide.  Do the same thing all over again on the remaining side:  put a pin in the midpoint and line up with a creased larger triangle.  See pixs above.  

However, for this last bit of sewing - do not flip over the unit to sew.  Because the triangles are now smaller than the whole unit - it's easier to sew with the front facing you.  Start sewing at the tippy top of the triangle and continue all the way to the bottom.

Iron seams open and voilà - the final block is complete.  The unfinished size is a wonky 13.5" so I suggest trimming to 13.25" or 13".  

On the left is Grand Canal by Kate Spain and on the right is Finnegan by Brenda Riddle.  Both made from two layer cakes each and perfect for a beginner.  

Even if everything goes horribly wrong - just trim the middle and outer squares a consistent size throughout and while the block will be a little smaller ... no big deal.  There is enough fabric between squares to trim and never loose a point!

It's obviously great to make this quilt with fabric on hand.  I have a variety of blacks and greys from Zen Chic - and the square in this tutorial is from that.  A quick mock-up of what my next 'Square in a Square" quilt will look like is here.  15 squares will start with a dark center, light middle and dark outside.  And, 15 squares will start with a light center, dark middle and light outside.  

Any combo is possible and I hope in the New Year you try this and enjoy it as much as I am.  Here's to a happy and healthy 2021 - Ruth :)

December 2020

Square in a Square - Time to Sew (part 1)

At last, the sewing portion of a Square in a Square quilt made from (2) layer cakes (or scraps). Earlier posts on fabric selection and cutting are HERE and HERE.  Recap of the pieces you should have:

Take the center square and fold in half - right sides together to make a crease.  If you have darker or busy fabric - use a marker or chalk.  I used a white pencil.  Take your middle triangles and fold them in half wrong sides to together - and make a center crease.  (Pictures below)

Put the middle triangle on top of the center square - and the creases should fit into each other.  That's your mid-point and while for this particular block finding the exact center isn't necessary - it's good practice for more refined blocks you may make in the future. 

Pin two triangles on opposite sides as shown above.  Then flip over the whole unit and start sewing with the center square facing up.  I like smaller pieces on top of larger ones so I can see if anything shifts or needs aligning. Because I also tend to crumple up the tiny tip of the triangles when I chain piece this block - I cut the thread and restart sewing a new unit each time. 

Follow the outline of the center square which is 5" and trim off over lapping ends. Iron seams open. Then do the exact same thing on the other two sides.  Match creases, pin and sew.  Flip everything over again and below is what is looks like from the back when you are sewing. 

The picture below shows how the block looks with seams pressed open.  To trim - I use a 7.5" ruler which makes it very easy - but any sized ruler will do.  Find the mid-point at the top (red arrow) and mid-point at the side (blue arrow) and trim.  That's the 3.75" mark on the ruler.

There are many ways to make a square in a square block.  The picture below is more representative of how others make their blocks - they leave a 1/4" between the point and the edge of the block.  This means that the 'squares' are tighter next to each other and the points almost touch when everything is assembled.

Whereas you can see from the dreaded red arrows below - my way leaves lots of fabric between the points and the edge of the block.  This is because I trim as little as possible to use as much fabric as I can from each layer cake.

The original size of the layer cake (10" x 10") dictates the basic measurement of 5" squares for the center and middle portion.  And, I am not keen on cutting more than an inch off the outer square to 9". Any more cutting and it defeats the whole idea of using a pre-cut. 

We still have the outer triangles to assemble and trim - but that's it for now.  More pictures and directions will finish off this block in the next post.  Until then, here is your amazing 7.5" x 7.5" square. 

Here is a picture of what the final block will look like and how much you trim for each block.  It's mostly from the last square - but more on that later. 

The final unfinished size should be 13.5" x 13.5" - which I can never do because one side is always off.  I will put the blame on my love of steam ironing (haha) - but realistically you can get nice 13" to 13.25" square.  I trim down a little further to 12.5" because I have a ruler that size and it works for my minky quilts. Thanks for reading :)

December  2020 

Square in a Square / The Math

A standard layer cake is 42 pieces of 10 inch fabric. 

(2) layer cakes yield = 84 pieces.

If you have read the previous blog post "Square in a Square / The Beginning" - you have a pretty good idea of the colors and shapes of your layer cake fabrics. 

** Iron, but don't steam or starch because that will definitely shrink the fabric and you need every inch for the smaller units.

** Put everything into labeled piles and then trim and cut.  After you see the fabrics grouped together you might alter what becomes a center square, middle square and outside!

Let's begin: Start with the largest amount of fabric pieces to put aside - the OUTSIDE square. 

Remove 60 pieces that you want for the OUTSIDE squares.  Shown above in dark blue on the left, and on the right picture - mismatched in browns. (2) layer cake pieces create ONE outside square.  

Trim each of the 60 pieces to 9" x 9".  

Now, cut each piece on the diagonal ONCE.

Yield = 4 large triangles that will make the outside square

What is left of the layer cake bundle is 24 pieces - you only need 23.  

Take those 23 layer cake squares and cut them into 5" x  5" squares.  (shown above in purple)

Yield will be (92) - you need 90.  

Put aside (30) of the 5" x 5" square - these will be the CENTER pieces. Do not cut. 

And lastly - take the remaining (60) 5" x 5" and cut them ONCE on the diagonal to make the middle squares.  (4 triangles per block)

And there you have it - everything you need to assemble an economy block quilt using (2) layer cakes.  

Make the 30 piles - center square uncut - 4 middle triangles - and finally (pix below) the larger outer triangles. 

The last post for this quilt will be pictures of how to sew and trim each round.  

Size: 62.5" x 75"

December 2020

Square in a Square / The Beginning

I recently finished a square in a square quilt using this pretty Finnegan fabric from Brenda Riddle.  These blocks are referred to as economy blocks and can be made in a variety of sizes. I used 2 layer cakes.  This way I get a whole beautiful collection picked out for me by the fabric designer - and not much left over fabric to add to the never ending scrap hoard.  

Before you cut your pieces, look at the patterns and colors of the layer cakes. See what fabric you might like for a center.   What color or pattern contrasts with that for a  middle area - and finally, what looks good as your largest square - the outer one.

With a strong collection like this Grand Canal collection from Kate Spain - the sunflowers became the center square and the larger scale images worked nicely in the outer square.   

For this quilt, flowers added visual weight for the center. Whether it's by color or with design, try to make a distinction between the center, middle and outer squares.  Shown above are the stronger center squares and softer middle pieces laid on top.

Lastly are the larger outer squares that can match in color even if there aren't enough duplicates in the layer cakes to make everything perfectly match. 

The layout above shows all 30 blocks made from two layer cakes.  The next post will be about the specs and cutting dimensions so you too can make this fun pattern.  With a little planning on what fabrics to emphasize in each square - scraps are just as effective.   

Each block has only nine pieces and trimmed to an unfinished size of 13" x 13".  This is not a forever project but one that is easy to keep track of for those times when you want something simple to stop and start. 

Materials:

Finnegan layer cakes by Brenda Riddle / Moda 

December 2020

Old Mill Path Quilt - Halloween Style

A bright and happy quilt made just in time for Halloween and best of all, it uses just one layer cake for the main design.  

The fabric:  Ghouls & Goodies by Stacy Iest Hsu for Moda.  One layer cake with some scrap black fabric for the border.  

The Pattern:  Old Mill Path by Missouri Star Quilt Co.  Their video shows in detail how to sew and assemble this pattern using their Drunkards Path ruler (small size).  Link to the video is HERE. 

This pattern is perfect for novelty designs, and I have made it before using another of Stacy's fabric lines called Safari Life.  

The blog post HERE explains how I made this block with lots of pictures if you are interested in more step by step details.  There is one difference between these two quilts.  The original pattern calls for the blocks to be made with two colors ...  the center 'star' and similar colored circles surrounding it (picture on the right).  In this Halloween quilt I mixed up all the circle pieces to balance all the colors (picture on the left).  

I try my best with circles and often end up seams not lining up as shown in the picture above. The reason why this can happen is two-fold.  Sewing curves is challenging and it's easy to stretch the fabric since everything is on the bias.  

But, it can also be because after you FOLD one 10" fabric square and cut through four layers of fabric to get your shapes ... the rotary cutter can shift a little on the curve.   This picture shows how uneven some of my cuts were.   I am merely mentioning this because it helps explain why, even if you think your sewing is pretty accurate on the curved parts - things can be a little off.  But bottom line, this is not something to stress or worry about.  NO ONE WILL NOTICE. 

I always trim my blocks and the previous post HERE shows how I line up the ruler to get this 8.5" x 8.5" square.  

Some soft minky from Hawthorne Supply Co.  in Aubergine ( purple eggplant) and some of their in-house printed Candy Stripe for the binding,  also in Aubergine, completes the picture. 

 Royal purple thread from Connecting Threads in straight lines on either side of the seams, and then on the diagonal in a 3.5 stitch length is simple and easy.  

That's it for this Halloween ... may your day be filled with Ghouls & Goodies! 

Materials:

Ghouls & Goodies by Stacy Iest Hsu for Moda

Missouri Star Quilt Co. Old Mill Path video / Drunkards Path ruler (small)

Hawthorne Supply Co. Minky & Candy Strip in Aubergine 

Warm & White batting

Royal Purple thread 50wt. Connecting Threads

Border: Chillingsworth Deadly Damask in Shadow from Echo Park

Size: 52" x 61"

Date: October 2020

Old Mill Path Pattern in Safari Life

I enjoy video tutorials from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. and when I saw the Old Mill Path pattern I couldn't wait to try it. Shortly after the video aired the holiday sales began at Green Fairy Quilts ... and all I needed was one layer cake to make a lap quilt ... SOLD!

Yes, there are curves.  Yes, Jenny from MSQC gives you lots of good advice to sew a perfect curve ... but my blocks came out a wonky 8.5" x 8.5'.   No worries - I love to trim and came up with a way to get a block that's almost perfect (my curves will never be perfect but almost is just fine).

Let's start.  I used the MSQC drunkards path template that is shown in the video. By folding the fabric I made a mid-point crease in all pieces (left pix), and marked that center spot with a pencil. Sew as the video explains and try to match the pencil marks in the center to keep you on track.  

Here's a wonky block with a 8.5" square ruler positioned on top.  Looks horrible but not to worry.  On both the horizontal and vertical measurements on the grid I put pink Post-It paper on the 4" line.  

Here is a close up of the top and right side. The left side and bottom also align on the 4" mark.  

Ideally it would be 'perfect' to have all the 'channels' measure the same width, but they didn't.  What is important is that when you trim your block 8.5" x 8.5" this way the 'star' feature and the curves will all be centered.  Your quilt will look consistent - even if on closer inspection some of the seams don't totally match.

The pix above shows how the 'star' seams (or 'channels') don't totally match up - but look how those curves create "almost perfect" arcs! Nothing screams 'mistake' as everything look pretty centered. I will never be able to create perfect curves but being able to trim a block to get that illusion means patterns like this are in my reach! If anyone has a different method or suggestions I would love to hear what you do.

I did 2 layouts - the left has similar background colors in columns. The right layout was random and the one I picked.  When I made this quilt I paired contrasting colors together, cut everything and sewed them together.  Layout was the last phase.

Next time I make this quilt pattern I will cut out everything and then do the layout before any sewing.  It may make color balancing a little easier. 

Safari Life by Stacy Iest Hsu had all the colors, images and contrast I needed for this pattern. A beautiful minky called Stone from Hawthorne Supply Co. is the backing.  Lastly, Aurifil 50wt. thread #6730 matched perfectly for the front and back.

Six blocks across and 7 rows down - one block for every 10" square in this Moda layer cake.  

Quilting was straight stitching on either side of the seams and through the middle of the 'star'.  

Materials:
Safari Life layer cake /  Stacy Iest Hsu for Moda
Stone minky / Hawthorne Supply Co.
Warm & White batting
Aurifil 50wt. #6730
Old Mill Path pattern from Missouri Star Quilt Company 
Drunkard's Path Circle Template Set - Small from MSQC

Size: 47" x 54.5"
February 2020