101 Patchwork Patterns - Block 1

Welcome to block 1 of the Ruby Short McKim’s 101 Patchwork Patterns quilt. We will not be doing all 101 blocks. The quilt will feature 70 blocks and we are starting in the middle. There is a very nice example of a quilt at the Michigan State University Museum. They also host the Quilt Index that is a fabulous resource for anyone interested in quilts. There are over 75,000 quilts in the database and it is searchable in various ways. State Quilt Documentation Projects, Museums, private collections and other quilts have been added with photos and documentation. Take a look around and you’ll be amazed at this resource.

The block we are making this week is an easy one to start with. The pieces are all squares and rectangles. The pattern is available as a pdf for you to download. The following brief tutorial shows some of the steps to assemble the block. While this is a beginning level block I have not written basics such as rotary cutting and strip piecing. There are lots of websites with this kind of information available. Several that I find helpful:

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/quilting/

http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/how-to-quilt

http://www.mccallsquilting.com/lessons/index.html

and of course there is YouTube. If you are better seeing a demonstration than following written instructions there are hundreds of beginner quilting videos to choose from.

Now, for the block Burgoyne’s Quilt or Burgoyne Surrounded Tutorial.

Download the pattern as a pdf.

Original Block from 101 Patchwork Patterns.

NOTE: If you are working with fat quarters you will need to cut enough strips to measure the length indicated in the cutting instructions. Fabric yardage is approximately 40” to 44” wide and fat quarters measure 18” x 20 to 22”. I’ve given the total length of strips needed. 

1. Make 4, 4-Patch units:

To begin, take a 1-1/2” x 6-1/2” background strip and a 1-1/2” x 6-1/2” yellow strip and sew them together using a 1/4" seam allowance. Make 2.

Press the strips to set the seam.

Press the strip set open with the seam allowance towards the darker fabric.

Place the strip sets right sides together with the colors reversed (shown above offset to show colors).

With the strip sets even, trim a straight edge while lining up the ruler marking with the sewn line.

Turn the strip set half way around so that the trimmed edge is on the left. Cross cut at 1-1/2” increments. I add up the total needed and start there. For this specific situation we need to cross cut 4 sets 1-1/2” wide. So I place the ruler with the 6” mark on the left had trimmed edge, cross cut, slide the ruler to 4-1/2”, cross cut, slide to 3”, cross cut and you’re done.

I use Elmer’s school glue to glue baste my pieces, rather than using pins or nothing.

(tip shown came in a package of 2 from www.pileofabric.com)

I put a very little bit of glue in the seam allowance, place pieces together and press for 15 seconds.

The iron sets the glue but you can pull it apart if needed. I open and check the center alignment.

Next, sew the pairs together along the glue basted edge. No pins to pull and nothing shifts.

From the wrong side, give the center intersection a little tug. 

The spot where the seams come together will form a pinwheel. Press flat. No more lumps in the middle!

2. Make 4, 9-Patch units:

Sew 2 strip sets as shown. Strips are Yellow/White/Blue 12-1/2” long and White/Blue/White 6-1/2” long.

Cross cut 8 Yellow/White/Blue pieces at 1-1/2”.

Cross cut 8 Yellow/White/Blue pieces at 1-1/2”.

Cross cut 4 White/Blue/White pieces at 1-1/2”.

Sew units into 9 patch blocks as shown.

3. Make 4, Center Edge Units:

Sew 1-1/2” x 27” blue and white strips together.

(sorry, forgot photos)

Cross cut strip set at 2-1/2” to yield 8 units.

Cross cut remaining strip set at 1-1/2” to yield 4 units.

Assemble as shown to create 4 center edge units.

4. Make Units:

Make 4 corner units:

Add a 2-1/2” x 3-1/2” background rectangle to the 4 patch made in Step 1.

Add a 2-1/2 x 3-1/2” background rectangle to the 9 patch made in Step 2.

Make 4 side units:

Using the center edge units made in step 3, add a 3-1/2” x 5-1/2” background rectangle to the pieced unit.

Using 4, 2-1/2” yellow squares (E) and 2, 1-1/2” x 2-1/2” background pieces (C) and a 1-1/2” x 5-1/2” background piece (F), make the center unit for the block.

5. Make Block

Using the 9 units created in the previous steps, layout your block and sew it together. Be sure you have the units rotated the right way – I did not on the first try!

WRONG!

RIGHT!

Thank you for visiting and I hope you will make this block. Please contact me if you have any questions. 

Mary