Month 9 - March 2014 - The Road to...oh damn!

"The Road to....oh damn"

The inspiration for this block is the classic Road to California.  (Maybe we should do a series on "road to" blocks.  I bet we could find 12 of them.)  Our Oops version might better be named "The Road to...oh Damn!"

Lean back in your seat, and talk real slow, "Whaal, you con't get thera from hera." That is a classic response given by any far north yankee when asked for directions.  "This aint the road to California".

Some of you may notice that this isn't the block I had planned for this month. Truth be told, I didn't like the quilt the other one made.  So I changed it.   I love the quilt this block makes.  Check it out!

"You Can't Get There from Here"

General Description:

• The Quilt: "You Can't Get There from Here"
• 36, 12" finished "The Road to...oh damn" blocks in a 6 x 6 grid
• 2 borders
• 1" finished inner border
• 5" finished outer border
• As described the quilt measures 84" x 84"

Fabric Requirements - rounded up to the nearest 1/4 yard
# blocks	Finished Size	Red	White	Blue	Grey
16 4 x 4 grid	60" x 60"	1/2 yard	1 ½ yards	2 1/4 yards	3/4 yard
36 6 x 6 grid	84" x 84"	1 yard	3 yards	3 1/4 yards	1 1/4 yards
64 8 x 8 grid	108" x 108"	1 yard	5 1/4 yards	4 yards	2 1/4 yards

If you choose to make one of these quilts please take a picture of it and add it to the Tops to Treasures Flickr group.  I'd love to see your quilt.

"The Road to...oh damn"

• The Block: "The Road to...oh damn"
• Finishes at 12" square (actually measures 12 1/2" x 12 1/2")
• 9 patch construction -
• 5, 4 patches
• 4, half square triangles

FQG - This months kit contains fabric for the grey portion.  I found it on my BOM shelf.  I must have purchased it years ago and never used it.  However, as it has postage cancellations marks on it I thought it would be fun to use for this quilt.  We will use it for the grey part of the half square triangles.

Seashells by Exclusively Quilters

The color is actually brighter in person.  Please add the following:

• Background = White 
• Oops 4 patch = Shades of brown. See the darkest color in the seashell fabric. Take it a few shades darker, but please Do NOT go lighter.  We are going for the look of coffee.
• Traditonal 4 patches = Navy

Because we are making a scrappy quilt you do not have to use the same fabric for each required patch.  You could use several different whites, 2 different browns, or 8 different navies...or not.  It is all good.

Our finished quilt will look something like this...

Anyone else think it is hysterical to make a manly quilt from a block that is a tribute to getting lost?!  We all know that they won't stop to ask for directions.  (with apologies to our newest member.)

Cutting Directions:

• Background (white)
• 2, 5" x 5" squares
• 10, 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares
• Oops Patch (browns)
• 2, 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares
• Navys
• 8, 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares
• Half Square Triangles/hst (in kit)
• 2, 5" x 5" squares

Sewing Directions:

• Half Square Triangles:
• Gather
• 2, 5" x 5" squares background
• 2, 5" x 5" squares hst fabric
• On the wrong side of the background fabric draw a diagonal line.
• With right sides together sew 1 background square to 1 hst fabric square, 1/4" from each side of the drawn line.  Yes, sew it twice.
• Cut on drawn line.
• Being careful not to stretch the triangles, open patches and iron seam allowances open
• Trim patches to 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" square
• 4 Patchs:
• Gather
• 2, 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares oops patch fabric
• 8, 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares navy
• 10, 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares background fabric
• Sew 1 dark square (oops or navy) to 1 background square
• Iron seam allowances toward the dark side.
• Being careful to keep the oops patches in the same unit, sew 2, 2 patch units together to make 5, 4 patch units.
• Pop seams and iron seam allowances in a spiral.
• Trim 4 patch units to 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" square

•  Block:
• Gather
• 4, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" half square triangle patches
• 5, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" 4 patch patches
• Arrange pieces on the desk or design wall in front of you.
• The navy blocks should be aligned in the same direction
• The brown patches of the oops block should be aligned perpendicular to the line created by the navy blocks in the other 4 patches.
• The hst fabric of the half square triangles (in our case the seashells) should be pointing inward.
• Be careful to get the oops patch turned around - you want it to be wrong!
• Sew blocks together to make rows.
• Iron seam allowances towards the 4 patch blocks.
• Trim finished block to 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" square

FQG:  Return you completed block (s) to me by March 25th, 2014, or bring it to the general meeting on that night to be eligible to win.  You get one chance to win per block completed.  If you do not finish the block, no worries, just bring the kit back.  We want the winner to have all of the blocks, finished and un.