101 Patchwork Patterns Block 12

Today is the start of The Road Home Row Along. You can see the full schedule here. From what I've seen already today these rows are fabulous. And it's so interesting to see places like Adelaide, Australia, where I never expect to visit. The row along is like the Row by Row Experience, but without all the driving. Visit the 4 or 5 bloggers each Tuesday and Thursday and download their rows. They will remain free until the end of the row along October 11th. Lots of great prizes too. I hope you'll visit and have a tour of "The Road Home." My post will be on September 15th and I've designed a row for my hometown, New Milford, Connecticut.

Now, on to this week's block. This is called the Beggar Block. In looking for any history about the block I found several different blocks with the same name. Also, one theory is that the name comes from quilters begging scraps from friends. It is a block that would lend itself to a scrappy approach.

 Download Beggar Block Pattern

I had a little trouble with making this block. The first time I made the blue pieces from a square and two half square triangles. When sewn together they looked like this:

Next, I put the block together with the pink strips and the beige center square. Unfortunately, with so many seams, the block came out a little off square and too small.

Oh well. So I started again with placing beige squares on each end of a blue rectangle, sewing the diagonal, and trimming.

This approach eliminated 2 seams in each 1-1/2" x 3-1/2" piece, and the block came out much better. I know you end up with a pile of little triangles from trimming, and if they were bigger I would save them, but not these!

One more block to go and we'll be able to put the center of the quilt together. I can't wait to see how it looks. I hope anyone making this quilt will share their blocks. There is a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SeacoastQuilter/ and a Flikr Album at www.flickr.com/photos/seacoastquilter/. 

Steady Betty

You may have noticed that I got a new pressing board. I've been using a Steady Betty ironing board that I purchased just before my quilt shop closed in June 2011. As you can see below, it was past time to replace it.

It somehow had a small slice out of it, and the edges were worn down to the board. The surface is a nice foam material that grips your pieces when you are pressing and keeps them from shifting. I think the brown discoloration is from years of starch buildup being ironed into it.

My original board had "Patent Pending" on the label! 

I'm using a pressing cloth when I starch so hopefully it will stay nice for a while and last as long as the first one did. I love ironing, which may be weird, but I do.

Hope you get time at your sewing machine today!

Mary