Dakota Gold

Chain and Cross

Flyfoot

Union Square

Rebecca's Bouncing Betty

This is such a cute little block!  But do you know where the name comes from?

  "

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term Bouncing Betty originally gained widespread use as the Allied soldier's nickname for the S-mine, an especially lethal, German, World War 2, Bounding mine."

Rebecca's Star, week 14

I made this a 12 1/2 inch block to go with the other busy star block.  I think the background fabric looks like little moon faces.  I was sorry to use it up!

Rebecca's Queen's X

Rebecca's Leap Frog

Catching up is hard to do!

Rebecca's Chimney

I just love all my blocks! These are all 10 inch blocks. I made one 12 inches accidently so I'm waiting for some more hard ones to make more 12 inch blocks. They are on dark blue, which is how I am going to set them together.

Edited to add: I use EQ6 to resize the blocks. I just love that program! If any of you have the program and need some help, I would love to help you out. www.Electricquilt.com

Rebecca's Bear Tracks

What a great little block!  This would make a great block with the lights and darks reversed too.  

Rebecca's Fancy Stripes

Piece of Cake!  I changed the color placement in the corners and made a three color block instead of a 2 color block.  I made the block in rows instead of four patches and this helped to keep the seam bulk down as I was better able to place the seams the right direction.  I made a ten inch block.  I have picked out some dark solid navy for the sashing to make a quilt.

Morning Has Broken

What a great block!  I made this one at 10 1/2 inches, and I love it!  There is a way to make those corner units (the blue square and white triangle part) with strips, but I couldn't find the book it was in.  I will try to see if I can find a tutorial somewhere.

Rebecca's Lucky Star

Oh my stars!  This was a difficult block!  I used EQ6 to print out rotary cut shape sizes and still some of the points were off.  I can't figure out a good way to paper piece this block without adding a lot of seams, or having a lot of little sections.  After all was said and done, I realized I made this block 12 inches instead of 10 like all the others!  I guess I will be making two quilts then, as I won't make this one again in a 10 inch block! :)

I am trying to find a way to recolor the blocks without changing the original block too much if I don't really care for it.  I draw out the block and then look at it with no color and then play to see how many ways I can think of to color it and then pick the one I like best.  When I look at the block with no color I can see many shapes and sometimes nifty designs show up.  I have been quilting about 15 years, and this is a fun challenge for me.  

Edited to add:  I cut all the pieces out the shape they would be.  The red stripes were cut from rectangles and the ends cut at 45 degree angles.  But they could have been done with hst's.

Paper Piecing Week 6

I am going to paper piece this block. I will post all about it when I get to it. Have any of you paper pieced before?

Edited to include:

This is my finished block, construction time 1 hour 34 minutes, including picking out fabric and taking photos.
Supplies needed: ruler, starch, business card, iron, rotary cutter, and (not necessary) add a quarter ruler.

Starting with the paper foundations printed from EQ6 onto regular copy paper.  If I were doing a whole quilt I would use special paper as it is easier to tear.  I marked where the colors went, and the sequence in which I would sew the pieces.  You could draw out the block full size and cut apart the units and then remember to leave a seam allowance on the outside edges of the block.  You don't need a computer program to make the foundation units.
You place the fabric on the back of the paper and sew on the front.  I pin the first pieces to the paper to keep them in place.  

Hold the paper up to the light to make sure the placement is right.  I am using scraps so that is why I have some triangles already.  If you use smaller pieces to begin with, you will have less waste.
Sew on the printed side of the paper, starting beyond the seam allowance and sewing past the intersection.  Sew right on the line using a small stitch, this will make the paper tear easier.  You sew on the line between the sequencial numbers such as between 1 and 2, or 2 and 3.
View from the front of the block, after sewing the first seam.  You will trim the seams so if it isn't straight to the edge of the fabric it is ok.
Fold the paper back at the seam and trim using a regular ruler, the add a quarter ruler or freehand.


Oops, this one was sewn too close to the edge of the fabric.  I just tore the two pieces of the fabric off the paper and resewed them, I didn't pick out the seam.  If you need to, you can place a piece of transparent tape over the place in the paper you tore.  Then resew the seam.
Iron the fabric open.
Place the next piece of fabric over where you just trimmed, making sure to use a large enough piece to cover the third patch.  Place the fabric over the printed side of the paper to check the size of the fabric and make sure there is enough for seam allowance.

View of the printed side after two seams.
Press the fabric.
Here is where the business card comes into play.  Crease the paper on the next seam. 
Trim using a ruler to a quarter of an inch from the paper.
Front of the block after trimming.  
Use this edge to place the next piece of fabric, after measuring of course.  If the fabric piece ends up too small, sew another piece of the same fabric to cover the area, or pick the seam and try again with another larger piece.
Front of block after all the half square triangles are in place.
You are now ready for the large corner piece.  Fold back the seam with the card, tearing the paper a little where the thread crosses the sewing line.  Trim the excess.
Use this trimmed edge to add the corner piece of fabric.

Use the regular ruler to trim at the seam line, not the sewing line.  Been there, done that.
Trimmed unit.
This piece came up a little short, but that is ok.  The shortage is in the seam allowance and the piece covers the sewing line.
The eight units laid out.
These are the first two units to sew together.  
After sewing the two units together, I picked out the paper.  I ironed the seam open as there was some bulk that needed to be distributed.  This is the time for starch.  Because of the way you place your fabric, you will have bias edges.  Some people leave the paper in and just take it off the seam allowances after the seams are sewn.  I see the benefits of both ways.  But don't starch if you keep the paper in, it will just disinegrate!
The front of the two units.
To tear off the paper, hold close to the seam line and gently tear the paper toward you.  It should tear easily as the stitches were small. Don't be yanking on the paper as it will weaken the stitches and stretch the bias.
All four units together.  
I don't pin much but this is a good time.  Line up the seams.  
The back of the block.  You can see some paper still on the blocks, I don't stress over this.  It won't cause any problems.
Viola!

This is my pile of waste.  The pile on the left is big enough pieces to use in another block, the pile on the right is waste.