Oops 4 - October 2013 - Maple Kindling

 

 

Maple Kindling is based on the idea of the traditional Maple Leaf block.  Although, there are several variations of the block I could find no definitive pattern, save the notion that it looks like a leaf.

I'd like to tell you that my research unearthed something fascinating. 



 

Unfortunately, if I did so I would be lying.

 

The most I can discover is that it is very old.  It isn't a surprise.  If I were designing a quilt without the aid of my computer and software or a stack of books on the subject, my first inclination would be to look to nature.  That is exactly where this block came from.

 

Perhaps the best history lesson I can come up with this month is from the book of Genesis.  And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so.  Gen 1:11

 

For ease of construction I chose to loose the stem of the leaves.  

 



Maple Leaf Stars



General Description:

 

The Quilt: "Maple Leaf Stars"

• 36, 12" finished "Maple Kindling" blocks in a 6 x 6 grid
• 2 borders
• 1" finished inner border
• 6" finished outer border
• As described the quilt finishes out at 86" square

Sizes		Fabric Requirements rounded up to the nearest 1/4 yard
# Blocks	Finished Size	Red	White	Blue
36 6 x 6 grid	86" x 86" Twin/Full	1 1/4 yard	2 1/2 yards	4 3/4 yards
16 4 x 4 grid	62" x 62" Throw/Crib	3/4 yard	1 1/4 yards	3 yards
64 8 x 8 grid	110" x 110" Queen/King	1 1/2 yards	4 1/4 yards	7 yards

• If you choose to make "Maple Leaf Stars" please take a picture and add it to the Tops to Treasures Flickr Group.  I'd love to see your quilt.

The Block: "Maple Kindling"

• Finishes at 12" square (actually measures 12 1/2" x 12 1/2")
• 4 Patch construction
• Made from
• 3 square patches
• 2 half square triangles
• 2 half goose patches

FQG:  I took a brief survey and Christmas was chosen as our color scheme.   This month's kit features Let it Snow! by Karen Cruden for Windham Fabrics.  I purchased it from Fort Worth Fabric Studio.

Please add a coordinating Christmas reds and greens for the traditional portions of the block, and white (tone on tone or solid) for the background.  The fabric in your kit is for the Oops patch.

 

To have a little more fun with this block, let's be specific on where the reds and greens go.  Check out what our quilt is going to look like....

 

Like it?!

 

 

Cutting Directions: (9 pieces in blocks)

• Background (white, tone on tone or solid)
• cut 4, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" squares
• cut 1. 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" square 
• Traditional (Christmas reds and greens)
• cut 2, 4 1/2" x 8 1/2"  red rectangles
• cut 1, 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" green square
• Oops portion of the block (black print)
• cut 1, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" square

Sewing Directions:

• Half Square Triangles (HSTs)
• Gather:
• 1, 4 7/8" background squares (white)
• 1, 4 7/8" traditional portion squares (green)
• Draw a line diagonally across the wrong side of each background square
• Layer background square with traditional portion square, right sides together
• Sew 1/4 to each side of the diagonal line. (YUP, sew twice! Once on each side and 1/4" from the diagonal line)
• Cut on diagonal line.
• Open resulting triangles into squares
• Iron seam allowances open.
• Trim HSTs to 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" square
• Half Goose patches - Note that these patches are mirror images of each other.  You can NOT make them both the same way. 
• Gather
• 2,  4 1/2" x 4 1/2" background squares
• 2,  4 1/2" x 8 1/2" traditional rectangles (red)
• Draw a line diagonally across the wrong side of each background square
• Make one patch at a time to make sure that you end up with mirror images.
• Layer background square with traditional portion rectangle, right sides together, so that the line bisects a corner of the rectangle.  Note which corner you are working with.
• Sew slightly to the outer corner side of the line.
• Press square in half along seam line.
• Trim back to 4 1/2" x 8 1/2"
• Trim seam allowances to 1/4"
• Repeat process for mirror patch only place diagonal line in adjacent corner.  90 degrees from original placement.
• Maple Kindling It block
• Gather
• 2, half square triangles
• 2, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" background square (white)
• 1, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" oops square
• 2,4 1/2" x 8 1/2" half goose patches
• Make a small 4 patch block with hsts and background squares.
• Iron seam allowances in a twist.
• Assemble remaining pieces as shown in the drawing
• Iron flat
• Trim block to 12 1/2" x 12 1/2"

FQG:  Return your completed block(s) to me by October 22nd, 2013, or bring it to the general meeting on that night to be eligible to win.  The prize package will contain all of the complete blocks, unfinished kits, and a coupon for free edge to edge quilting.

And the Winner is...

 

 

Angie Agens

won

22 finished blocks

5 kits returned

a remnant of focus fabric

and

a coupon for free edge to edge quilting from

Tops to Treasures

 

 

Well done Frisco Quilt Guild.

27/30 blocks were returned.

If you are in possession of one of the 3 missing blocks please forward it to Angie.  She is in the book.

 (I'm sure she would love to get them back finished.) 

CQF Month 10 - April 2013 - Boxed Star

 

You've seen this block before, almost.  Last November (CQF 5 - November 2012 - Pow Wow) we made a block that is very similar.  The difference is in the center block.  Where Pow Wow had a simple patch, Block Star has a pieced square in a square.


General Description of Block:  Boxed Star redresses our old friend  in a tonal theme that moves the emphasis from the star to the boxes in the middle.  The result is new and fresh.

FQG: Your kit contains fabric for the dark purple in the center and corner blocks.  There will be more than one piece of fabric in the kit.  Please be careful to choose the right piece for the right job.  You need to add coordinating fabrics for the rest of the block. Let's try to position the colors like they are in the picture above.

Cutting Directions: (57 pieces, but some will be strip pieced to make it easier.)

• Dark Purple  (FQG Kit fabric)
• 1, 5" x 5" square (FQG this is already cut for you)
• 2, 2" x 8" rectangles 
• Medium Purple
• 3, 2" x 8" rectangle
• 1, 6 1/4" x 6 1/4" square
• sub-cut twice on the diagonal to make 4 small triangles
• Palest Purple
• 1, 6 1/4" x 6 1/4 square
• sub-cut twice on the diagonal to make 4 small triangles
• White
• 4, 2" x 8" rectangles
• 2, 6 1/4" x 6 1/4" square
• sub-cut each square twice on the diagonal to make 8 small triangles
• 4, 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" squares

Piecing Directions:

 



• Corners:
• Gather
• 9, 2" x 8" rectangles
• Sew strip sets:
• dark purple, white, medium purple
• white, medium purple, white
• dark purple, white, medium purple
• Iron seam allowances
• towards the center when the center strip is medium purple
• away from the center when medium purple is on the end.
• Cut each strip set into 4, 2" x width of set segments
• Sew one segment from each set together along the long edge to make one 5" square. It should look like the picture at the beginning of this section.
• Iron seam allowances open
• Trim block to 5" x 5" square
• Repeat 3 times to make 4 identical blocks.

• Edges:
• Gather
• 16 small triangles
• Sew 4 pair palest purple/white triangles,
• Sewing from the right angle toward the point with the white triangle on the bottom.
• Sew one white and one palest purple small triangle together along the short side.
• Iron seam allowance toward the white triangle.
• Repeat 3 times for 4 large palest purple/white triangles
• Sew 4 pair medium purple/white triangles
• Sewing from the right angle toward the point with the white triangle on the bottom.
• Sew one white and one medium purple small triangle together along the short side.
• Iron seam allowance toward the white triangle.
• Repeat 3 times for 4 large medium purple/white triangles.
• Sew palest purple/white triangle to medium purple/white triangle along the hypotenuse
• be careful not to stretch the pieces
• snuggle seams together at center.
• Pop center seam and iron seam allowances in a swirl.
• Repeat 3 times for 4 blocks.
• Trim blocks to 5" x 5" square

• Center:
• Gather:
• 4 white 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" squares
• 1 dark purple 5" x 5" square
• Draw a diagonal line on the back of each white square
• Align white square with corner of dark purple square with drawn line parallel to the corner, right sides together.
• Sew next to and to the outside of the drawn line. 
• Iron so that the white square gets folded in half along your stitching line creating a dark purple square with one white corner.
• Repeat process on next three corners in succession to make one dark square with four white corners.
• Trim block to 5" x 5"

• Assemble block:
• Iron seam allowances toward edges made from large triangles.

Bring your finished block(s) to the April meeting of the Frisco Quilt Guild to be eligible for the drawing.

The winner of the drawing will receive all of the blocks submitted and be able to make a quilt that looks something like these....

 

Made from 16 blocks with two borders.

 

Made from 30 blocks.

 

CQF Month 7 - January 2013 - Respectible

General Description of Block:  This one will surprise you when it replecates.  The dominant red cross and Jacob's Ladder-esque center dissappear. 

 

Well, the red cross doesn't, but I am thinking that once we scrap-o-late it it will.   (Like that word?  I just made it up.)  What I see is a respectible arrangment of traditional pieced shapes culminating in big bulls eyes.

 

This is a nine patch block, constructed from nine 5 nine patch blocks and 4 squares in a square.

 

 

FQG:  Your kit contains fabric for the black pieces.  Where you see red in my directions substitute any color other than black, or white that you find in the kit fabric.  Where you see white, use white.  Where you see beige use a low volume (LV) or  text print.

 

"Low volume" is a trending phrase at the moment.    At it's simplest, it refers to fabric that is neutral (white, beige, or grey) with a graphic print on it.   Any of the fabrics in the photo below would be an example. 

   

 

For our purposes please select a LV fabric that coordinates with the colors in the kit fabric.

Cutting Directions: (61 pieces, but some will be strip pieced to make it easier.)

• White
•  3, 2" x 8" rectangles
• 4, 2" x 2" squares
• 4, 5" x 5" squares
• Red
• 4, 2" x 2" squares
• 1, 2" x 8" rectangle 
• Black (Kit fabric)
• 3, 2" x 8" rectangles
• 1, 2" x 2" square
• Beige (LV)
• 2, 2" x 8" rectangles
• 16, 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" squares

Sewing Directions:

Center:

 

• Gather all little squares
• 4 white,
• 4 red
• 1 black
• Sew 3 sets of 3
• 2 - white, red, white
• 1 - red, black, red
• Iron seam allowances towards the red.
• Assembles resulting rectangles to make one square as pictured above.
• Trim to 5" x 5" square

 

Corners:

 

• Gather all rectangular pieces
• 1 red
• 3 white
• 3 black
• 2 beige (LV)
• Sew 3 sets of  3
• 1 - red, white, black
• 1 - white, black,  beige (LV)
• 1 - black, beige (LV), white
• Iron seam allowances towards the black.  Where black is on the outside edge of the set iron both seam allowances away from the center strip.
• Cut each set into 4, 2" x 5" rectangles
• Assemble pieces to make 4 identical squares as pictures above.
• Trim each square to 5" x 5"

 

Edges:

• Gather
• 16, beige (LV) squares
• 4, white squares
• Draw one diagonal line on the wrong side of each beige (LV) square.  This is your sewing line.
• Progressing one corner at a time
• Aline one beige (LV) square, right sides together, with the corner of a white square so that the drawn line is parallel to the corner.
• Sew on line.
• Pressing from the top of your piece, press the beige (LV) square in half towards the outer corner. (There will be 3 pieces of fabric there, leave it that way)
• Repete 3 times to make 4 white squares with one beige (LV) corner.
• Repete process with adjacent corner, 4 times to make 4 white squares with 2 beige (LV) corners.
• Repete process with adjacent corner, 4 times again to make 4 white squares with 3 beige (LV) corners.
• Repete process with remaining corner, 4 times to make 4 white squares with 4 beige (LV) corners.
• Trim each square to 5" x 5"

Assemble Block:

 

• Use the picture above to position pieces
• Iron seam allowances towards the 9 patches.
• When you assemble the whole block you will need to clip the seam allowances to allow them to lie toward the 9 patch blocks exclusively.  Proceeding in this manner allows you to minimize the amount of bulk in any one spot.

 

This is sort of what it will look like - only more colorful.  the +s and blocks will be all different colors.
 The stars show up better in person than in my photo

 

Bring your completed block(s) to the January metting of the Frisco Quilt Guild, (Tuesday January 22, 2013) to be eligible for the drawing.

I can't wait to see how this one turns out.

And the winner is.....

The winner of the September 25, 2012 Frisco Quilt Guild block of the month lotto is

Ginny Miller

Ginny won 14 completed blocks, 5 kits (returned from players who didn't get to it. Well done on that people! I am proud of you), and 2 IOU blocks (completed but not turned in).

As there was no fabric left over I threw in an extra surprise.....

 

 

....a one block mini. I had to figure out how to make the block, didn't I. Well, this was my test block, embellished with some machine embroidery, and hand quilting.

Ginny also received a coupon good for free labor from Tops to Treasures on any quilt with edge to edge quilting.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In other news check out these items from last night's show and tell.

 

December 2011 lotto winner Vicky Shortino had this to share. I love the throw made from Dancing Tulips.

 

March 2012 winner Marilyn Pitrone had a finished Brain Dead quilt to show us. (This photo is from its time with me getting quilted.)

It was awesome seeing my their quilts finished.

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Welcome....

 

So if you are thinking...."Welcome? Why is she welcoming me? I've been here for a long time?" ,,,read "Welcome" as "Thank You for sharing the journey with me."

 

Today marks my third publication as a Moda Bake Shop Chef....and the first as an of shoot of Quilty Friends. How cool is that?!

 

I'm so glad you found me....

Feel free to sit and browse a bit.

 

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