I've always wanted to try my hand at piecing a Rocky Mountain Puzzle block.
Still thinking about Christmas gifts, I thought maybe I could make my Denver-residing son something (a pillow?) using the RMP block.
Since the July 4th holiday was fast approaching, I decided to dig into the red, white, and blue fabric stash for inspiration. Using the tutorial linked above, I tried the eight inch size puzzle blocks.
It turns out, the "puzzle" is using partial seams to create the border around the center block. It wasn't difficult to do, but design-wise, it didn't really make sense to me. Unless one uses different fabrics for that border, the fancy piecing doesn't show up. For future reference, I'd just construct the block using regular border-style piecing.
I made two additional blocks, then added sashing and cornerstones so the blocks wouldn't run together. I used invisible thread to quilt around the squares and triangles in the blocks, and a decorative machine stitch in blue thread to quilt the sashing.
The finished mini measures about 18 inches square - a good size to fit an 18 inch pillow form. 😀
The backing fabric was also from my red, white, and blue fabric stash.
Since this was an experiment, it will stay with me and I'll do another version for Dear Son. I have a fun stack of indigo-style blues and browns that might make some great Rocky Mountain Puzzle blocks.
I did a little July 4th decorating on the bureau in my front entry hall!
