Susan is an accomplished quilter, but she agreed to take this beginners' class with me. I have never pieced a block before except for simple two triangle blocks, and this one has 16 pieces! We had so much fun learning how to take two eight-inch fabric squares, seam them together, and cut them to make eight units that were easy to piece into the block. In fact, the process is so much fun that it is hard to stop. I finished all sixteen of my blocks the day after the class. The following week, I sashed the blocks and added two borders to make a 54x54-inch quilt that I gave to my daughter as a thank-you gift for hosting us during our week of quilting fun.
I learned so much from teacher Ruth Spangler at this wonderful class. Here are a few tips that this new patchworker found very helpful:
- Spray starch your fabric before cutting.
- Substitute your seam ripper if you don't have a stylus.
- Make a design board from a 4x8 sheet of pink insulation board. Just lean the board against the wall and use pins to tack up your quilt pieces.
- Clip seams at junctions where the seam allowances are opposed.
- Buy a 1/4 inch seaming foot! It is worth every penny.
Ruth is a member of the Casual Quilters of Brighton, MI. Brighton also is home to the Brighton Modern Quilters group that meets at 7 p.m. on the fourth Monday of the month at Creative Quilt Kits in Brighton. Content by Linda Theil, photos by Alisa.
Update 09/05/11: This pattern appeared in the Nov/Dec 2010 edition of Quiltmaker Magazine and is available as a PDF file available free on the Quiltmaker website at:
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