A lot of people ask for patterns to make using 2.5" squares. Apart from the basic 9 patch block many newcomers to patchwork quilting are a little daunted by all of the fancy blocks.This article is to help with that.
From my own experience and talking to customers I have found that what seems to be the hardest thing for those people new to patchwork is the lingo... and I must admit that I purposely use non-lingo in my patterns so that they are easy for new quilters.
The second hardest thing is finding the "how to make" easy blocks tutorials.
I guess it is because a lot of people make their income with classes, DVDs & Books, so unless you book a course or spend heaps on books and patterns, then find a quilter to decipher the instructions for you, you are left with trial and error.
It is great to see that particularly a lot of younger quilters are taking the pledge to show their process in their blogs and I sincerely hope that this makes it easier.
I have found some utube vids out there and more are becoming available, so my call is for those of you who have been quilting for a long time to share your basic knowledge, either on your blogs or if you don't have a blog perhaps you could ask someone who does to post your instructions.
If fact- I make an offer for anyone who would like to have their techniques on the internet but do not have the time or knowledge necessary to email me and we can work together to put your wisdom here in the Fabric Funhouse.
Anyway, enough of that- the following blocks are all made by stitching together 9 squares of fabric and then cutting the block to get the end result.
No stitching tiny pieces, just 9 basic squares in a standard 9 pattern.
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| cut into 2 diagonally |
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| cut into 4 squares |
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| cut straight down the middle |
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| cut into strips |
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| cut into 3rds diagonally |
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| These blocks are just a basic 25 square block cut up and rearranged |
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| To form a centre square and a border |
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| Big, little square centre with 1/2 border |
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| reversed |
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| centre cross |
I then went on to make a cushion using only my cut up blocks(I add a few more) in Annabelle by Tina Givens.
It is a 25 square block in the centre cut in 4 to give centre square with full border, with a nine square block cut into strips to give the cross in the centre and another 9 square cut into 4 quarters arrange on the edges.
So far I have added 3 inch strips of lime cushion back fabric to make it bigger. I have bordered the centre square with brown embroidery floss in stem stitch and will take more photos as the project progresses.
I hope that you have found this article helpful and you send me some pics of your marvelous adventurous beginners quilting using these techniques so that I can post them here.
See you soon with a Silly Strips article!
Cheers,
Teesha
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