I've been working with another of last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. Simple 16-patch blocks were my first-ever RSC blocks. I dug into my bin of scrappy 2 inch squares and strips and pieced a year's worth of rainbow blocks. I knew from the beginning I wanted to set the 16-patch blocks with hourglass blocks, and in the early months of the challenge I also cut the hourglass triangles as I went along. The triangles fell by the wayside as the year went on though, so I have some catching up to do.
When I'm piecing a quilt by the seat of my pants I always wish I had a reference book with instructions on how to cut the blocks or block components I need. I have a few books with great instructions for certain blocks or borders, but no one reference with everything in one handy place. Wouldn't a Dorling-Kindersley type book on quilt block construction be great?!
The hourglass blocks were easy. They're really just quarter-square triangles, and there are lots of methods for constructing those. From my old standby Template-Free Quilt Making, I know quarter-square triangles can be made by adding 1 1/4 inches to to the size of the finished block. Since my 16-patch blocks finish at 6 inches, I cut 7 1/4 inch squares and then cut the squares on each diagonal to make 4 triangles. Match the appropriate color triangle to its adjacent 16-patch and the hourglass blocks are ready to go!
Since I had already cut batches of triangles, my method of choice for making flying geese blocks (for the end rows) was limited. Fortunately, I had bookmarked a great flying geese tutorial on Marcia Hohn's wonderful website, Quilter's Cache.
Geese are under construction. I only need to make 10 more of these!
That's OK, it gives me the opportunity to also make the 8-patch rectangle panels as a leader-ender project.
These are a no-brainer to construct, but I think we can all thank Bonnie Hunter for raising our awareness about leader-ender projects!
When it comes to Design It Yourself quilt projects - do you have any favorite reference books or websites? I'd love to hear about them. I'd love to compile a list and share it with everyone!
