Block of the Month 2015…
My Block 3 is DONE!
We are working on block three of this quilt…
Here is the comparison with the solid version…
If you’re just joining in, we are doing a ‘quilt as you go’ version of this quilt. You can join in any time…
I colored in my block 3 color diagram to help with color placement and to get a rough draft of my quilting. I kept the quilting about the same as in my solid block this time…
General Notes for getting started:
Press your fabric and get out all those folds/wrinkles.
Square or trim your fabric so you have a straight edge to work with.
Remove selvages before you begin.
Test your 1/4″ seam for accuracy.
Carefully press as you go with a dry iron and avoid dragging your iron around on your pieced unit to keep from distorting any bias edges.
Ok! Let’s get going! Get your pattern and cut all your pieces.
When joining your triangles (A pieces) to the center and corner units, you’ll notice there is a ‘V’ created by the triangles…
When you place that ‘V’ under your presser foot (if it’s centered properly) it should be in alignment with your 1/4″ mark…
Stitch in place and press open.
Your corner pieces should line up nicely at the edge…
When your nine patches are done, trim them up square. I’m using a 4.5″ omnigrid ruler that has a half square triangle diagonal mark that comes in handy.
Join your nine patches and layer your block for quilting (see quilt as you go tutorial) Remember from the tutorial you need to plan the back side of block too.
It’s a good idea to check your bobbin before you begin quilting your block to see if you have enough thread to finish. But if you forget, (like me) just trim any loose threads, and position your needle back a few stitches. Hold the tail of your top thread and drop your needle down into your work, bring it back up and use the top thread to pull the bobbin thread up to the top of your work. Grab the bobbin thread and pull it out a few inches…
Hold both tails taught and off to the side to start, backstitch one or two stitches and continue sewing.
This will avoid those nasty ‘thread nests’ on the back of your work. Tie tails in a knot close to quilt top. Thread lose ends on needle and put needle through top and batting to bury the tails. Come back out of top and trim tail ends close to quilt top.
I marked my block with a water soluble marker
to keep my stitching lines straight.
Then stitched right over my marks.
and gave them a quick spray of water… lines disappear! I love this marker!
When my straight stitching was done I quilted some free motion pebbles… and squared up my block!
A couple close ups…
Done!!
Want to follow along?
Here is the full Power of Nine Quilt Pattern in my shop.
Want to make a single block? Find the Block 3 Pattern here on Craftsy.
Rebecca’ loving the posts, and have almost finished my first block. When and how do you add the pieces in between each block. Do you wuilt them as you go also. I’m thinking of doing them all in one strip and then doing the quilting across them all. Will this work or should I wuilt each square as I go.
Hi Annette,
You could certainly quilt the entire row. My only concern is that sometimes the quilting can distort the shape… perhaps enough that when you square up your long row you could have a little difficulty getting a good straight line to connect to the next long horizontal spacer piece. My next post on this quilt will be the vertical spacers between the blocks. They will be quilted and then we can connect the first row. Maybe hold off till those posts are done so you can decide what you want to do.