Blocks 13 and 14 - Log Cabin and Courthouse Steps

These 2 blocks are some of the most time consuming easy blocks that there are. There's no shortcuts, each strip has to be sewn on individually. Between cutting each strip to size, organizing so that the right strip got sewn on to the right side at the right time, sewing and pressing I could have made dozens of other blocks. I'm not sure that I'd have the patience to make a whole quilt of blocks like these but I do love the way that they look.

The first block is Log Cabin and it finishes to 10 inches and there are 19 pieces of fabric in the block. The center is cut 2 3/8 inches square and each log is 1 3/8 inches wide. This is one of the reasons it took longer. It is harder for me to cut to eights as it is quarters. I have to concentrate and triple check before cutting.

I would alternate blocks. First, sew a strip onto block A, then block B. Then iron block A and sew on a strip. Then iron block B and sew on a strip. The weirdest thing happened. Block A would be the perfect size and block B would be a little small. The more I concentrated on getting the 1/4 inch seam allowance right, the more off it got. But, I cheated! I cut the outside strips big so I could trim down if needed. On block B, I needed.

The next block is Courthouse Steps and it also finishes to 10 inches with 21 pieces of fabric. It's similar, yet different.

For this block the center is cut 2 1/8 inches square and the strips are the same size 1 3.8 inches wide (except for the outer blocks which I cut wider so I'd have some extra fabric around the edges). This block goes a little quicker because you can sew to strips on between ironing but it's still time consuming.

Comments

It's about time - the big reveal

My bright quilt was finished in June but I wanted to wait until both were done before sharing the pictures. Quilting the blue quilt didn't take long but finishing the binding sure did. I did procrastinate a bit as it was too warm to have a huge quilt on my lap for most of the summer. After this, I'll probably do all the binding on my sewing machine (and stick to smaller quilts). Notice the cut-out corners? That was a challenge. I found instructions here and it looked easy enough but I wished I had practiced some. After a lot of finessing I finally got good miters but I could have done much better. The cut-out corners allow the quilt to hang nicely over the edges of the mattress and it's a perfect match for a full sized mattress. But, the top edge isn't even close to the pillows. I wonder how the quilt fit on the bed it was made for. Here, at last, is the original quilt that I was copying. I just noticed - all of the baskets are

More Wildflowers of America

Since I have framed the stitched Bleeding Heart from Curtis Boehringer's Wildflowers of America I decided to track down the other 3 wildflowers that had I stiched earlier. I chose these flowers because they reminded me of the forests of Ohio where I grew up - Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Wake Robin and Bloodroot. The Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Wake Robin where both finished with fabric frames. This was a favorite finishing technique of mine for a long time. On the back they are dated 1999 - that was a while ago. I remember the quilt store where I purchased the fabric, but not its name. It's gone now but it was in an old Victorian house in Old Colorado City. The turrets where lined with bolts of fabric and hey had a great selection of plaids. I had never heard name Wake Robin before and it means nothing to me, but the flower is definitely a Trillium. Back then, I dutifully followed the pattern. Now I would have used the name Trillium or omitted the letters altogether. I do miss

Diverted by Dorset Buttons

I learned how to make Dorset Buttons yesterday at our monthly EGA meeting . These little buttons are so much fun to make! We only got three rings so that's how many I made. If I would have gotten more I'd probably be still making them. One nice thing is that they are very forgiving. I made countless mistakes on my first one and you can't tell. A quick google revealed lots of websites with historical information and tutorials on how to make them so I'm not even going to try to describe the process. Some people made their buttons with yarn, others used perle cotton. One of the examples had beads on it, so once I got home I had to find some beads to sew on. That's it for now. I'm going to be keeping my eye's open rings to use. I'm also going to have to go through my yarn stash. Using yarn gives a totally different result and I want to try some yarn ones too.

Erica's Stitches

Search This Blog