What I've Been Up To

Haven't been up to much lately.

A little gardening.

Columbine


Flowering Almond


Tiarella


Practicing the Piano. This is the new one, which we got for Christmas. The old one is in pieces, but that's another story.


Working on the raffle quilt for my guild http://www.nlcqg.org/qs_2009/index.html This is a mock up.


A little applique. This is one of nine blocks that I've been working on for the last 3 years. You can see the others at http://keridesigns.com/pillows.php


And last but not least, a little quilting.

Raffle Quilt Block Instructions

Northern Illinois Quilters' Guild http://www.nlcqg.org/ is constructing a raffle quilt. These are the instructions for sewing the two blocks.

JACOB'S LADDER BLOCK

FOUR PATCHES

You have 10 2" x 4 1/2" strips:

5 Cream

1 Green

2 Blue

2 Purple

Match the cream with each of the colored strips.

Sew with a SCANT 1/4" seam allowance. Press the seam allowance towards the colored strip. Trim ends even, then subcut each into 2" sections.

You should have 10 2-patch units.

Sew these together in pairs to make 4 4-patch units. PLEASE use two different colors in each 4-patch. The 4-patch units should measure 3 1/2" square.

HALF SQUARE TRIANGLE

You have 4 - 4 1/2" squares:

2 Black

2 Dark Pink

Lay a pink square with the diagonal pencil line facing up on a black square. Sew a SCANT 1/4" seam on both sides of the diagonal line.

Cut on the line and press towards the black. Trim each half square triangle unit to 3 1/2" square.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Lay out units as shown. Make sure the 4-patch units have the colors going from bottom left to upper right.

Sew together into rows. Press seam allowance towards the 4-patches. Sew the three rows together, pressing the seams towards the center row. Your finished block should measure 9 1/2" square.

STAR BLOCK

FOUR PATCHES

Follow the instructions above to make the 4-patch units.

STAR POINTS

You have:

4 Cream background triangles

6 Dark Blue star points

Lay out the pieces as shown below.

Lay the left hand star point on top of the background triangle. The trimmed tip of the star point lines up nice and neat. Sew with a SCANT 1/4" seam allowance. Press seam allowance toward the dark blue star point.

Lay the right hand star point on top of the background triangle. Pinning will help you line this piece up correctly. If you have to stretch it a little bit, that's OK. Sew with a SCANT 1/4" seam allowance.

Press seam allowance towards the dark blue star point. Trim top and sids. Star point units should measure 3 1/2" square.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Lay out units as shown. Make sure the 4-patch units have the colors going from bottom left to upper right.

Sew together into rows. Press seam allowance towards the 4-patchs. Sew the three rows together, pressing the seams toward the bottom and top rows.