Violet Blossom – a Mashup of a setting idea …
During the sneak peek, Jude shared a link to this design idea.
This is a commercial pattern called Flower Garden; if you’re interested, you can learn more about it here.
The flower in this block is similar to our Violet … and it has some similarities to a block Kate designed, which was our lotto block for April 2011 shown here.
I called it Modern Clover. Keep reading and I’ll show you why …
Jude’s message and the link to this little quilt started me thinking about the Modern Clover block and quilt design ideas for this month’s violet block.
You could just substitute a Violet block for the half-square triangle (HST) that forms the flower in the Modern Clover block and make 12 inch blocks, or add 3 inch HSTs and squares and create 9-inch blocks that looked almost like those in the little quilt, but WHAT IF … you changed up the scale and made leaves from 4-inch HSTs for a block that would be 10 inches, like this.
To make this 10 inch block, which I am thinking of as a mashup of the Violet and Modern Clover (Blossom) blocks or “Violet Blossom,” you’d start with a 6-inch Violet block, then add:
One 4 1/2-inch background square with a 1 inch strip of Leaf fabric inserted diagonally.
One pair of 4 inch (finished size) HSTs made from background + Leaf fabrics
Two 2 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch rectangles of background.
You might notice that in my block, the leaves are proportionally larger than the quilt in the link from Jude (and there is less background). I prefer these proportions, but your mileage may vary …
If you win this month and like this “violet blossom” idea, you could make the quilt below, by turning your 41 of your six-inch violet blocks into ten-inch blocks like these, adding sashing strips, cut at 2 inch, and setting triangles and put them on point. Add a 5 inch border and your quilt would measure 81-inches square.
Circling back … the reason I wanted to call Kate’s design Modern Clover way back when was that it seemed to me a simplified version of a traditional block called Clover Blossom. That block is also known as English Ivy. I had just gone to New York to see the red and white quilts in the show Infinite Variety and there was a quilt with a large Clover Blossom that had been one of my favorites.
It looks like this:
In case you don’t recognize them, this test block made from 9 of the bonus HSTs from the violet blocks I made for my Old MacDonald’s Mystery Sampler. It measures 4 1/2 inches square (finished size).
I don’t know why those tiny triangles fascinate me so, but they have managed to pull me out of my non-quilting rut and I am having fun with them. Stay tuned …
And that’s how one thing leads to another and often a quilt design idea or three in my head …
Birds in the Air – Paper Pieced
For those who love/prefer paper piecing, Cath Hall of Wombat Quilts shared a paper foundation pattern for Birds in the Air earlier this week.
Clicking the link or the image should take you to her blog post about it. I think the addition of a third fabric is kind of interesting, too.
11 Violets for Old MacDonald
11 violets for my Old MacDonald sampler. I’m thinking I might have to change out that light pink one later on because it sure looks out of place. I’ll wait until the end to decide. I’m using green as my ground cover.
Bonus Triangles – Keep or Toss?
If you have made some violet blocks, you likely have a pile of triangles that look something like this. These are the 88 bonus triangles you’ll have if you make 11 blocks for Old MacDonald’s Mystery Sampler.
Do you sew them up into half-square triangles and use them or save them or … toss them because they are too small?
When you make 6 -inch blocks, if you sew up the bonus triangles, you’ll have half-square triangles (HST) units that will finish at approximately 3/4 inch … unless you need to square them up to a uniform size, which I did a couple years ago. I used the tiny 1 inch pinwheels as cornerstones in this scrappy pinwheel quilt.
The larger pinwheels in this small quilt (25 1/2 by 31-inches) were made from the bonus triangles from another project and the string pieced borders were made from the leftovers of a novelty fabric swap. Aside from the white background used for sashing and setting triangles, this quilt was entirely made from the bits and pieces that many quilters rightfully toss.
It is pretty logical to toss something so small, unless those tiny triangles charm you into making them into something. The fabrics in my blocks for the Block Lotto and for my scrappy graduated sampler seemed compatible, so I sewed them up into pinwheels–each of the pinwheel blocks is 1 1/2 inches (finished size). I think I must has tossed the bonus triangles from my first block and one of these is really muddled and not at all pinwheel-like so I likely will toss it, but I have an idea for a small quilt featuring the remaining 17 teeny tiny pinwheels.
Are you a keeper or a tosser? If you keep the bonus triangles, how small is too small? My limit used to be larger (at least 1 inch finished size) … until I made the Pinwheel HSTeria quilt. Now I see the value in blocks as small as these.
Samplers on Sunday
I’ve been making violets this weekend … and apparently also continuing to incorrectly say that violets aren’t spring flowers. Mother Nature (and commenters on my blog) have gently shown me the error of my ways.
These (and many many more like them) are growing and blooming in my front yard. I know if I post a photo, someone will tell me if they aren’t actually violets, but some other flower. The challenge of moving around a lot is learning all the local varieties of plants and flowers and I am pretty hopeless when it comes to the flora and fauna in New Mexico.
Here are my blocks for the Old MacDonald’s Mystery Sampler (OMMS), along with my Snail’s Trails. I used 11 different purple batiks for the flowers … and was kind of surprised to find that I had that many in my stash.
They are not laid out as they appear in the quilt … Béa did a good job of doing that with her blocks–this photo is taken from her blog post about them – Assemblage
Not long after Béa posted her blocks, she slipped and fell on the ice and is now sporting a rather large brace on her leg–as seen on Facebook–let’s all send her some healing thoughts.
For my other sampler, I made the blocks and cut all the rectangles for the bottom two layers of strata in the setting. It’s squished on the right side to fit on my small design wall, but the bottom of that quilt will look something like this.
How is everyone else doing? Have you made your blocks? Are you still thinking about whether or not to jump in? Have you seen something that has you thinking about trying one of the samplers in a completely different color way? Or … are you just planning to sit on the sidelines and watch the eye candy as it is posted?
Pressing Matters … Q & A and Tips for Making Violets
A couple people have asked me about the acceptability of not-quite-matched seams in the center of the block.
As always, I hope everyone STRIVES to make well-made lotto blocks, while appreciating that the intention of the Block Lotto is to remain–now and always–a beginner friendly activity.
The violet block is a great example of how much pressing your seams will help you make better blocks. All the seams around the centers of my blocks aren’t perfectly matched, but they are all pretty darn close … and no pins were used in putting them together, but I did PRESS the seams as I sewed them. Here are a couple of my blocks, as seen from the back. (They could be pressed flatter, but you can, I think, get the idea).
 |
 |
The block on the left has the background seams pressed toward the Flower fabric; the one on the right has them pressed toward the Background–both ways work. The really important seam are the ones after you add the small center squares. If you alternate the direction you press them, then when you are sewing the four petal units together to form the Violet block, those seams snug into one another nicely (and for me, eliminated the need for pins.)
Another tip/reminder from one of the sneak seekers was to MARK those diagonal lines (and not just eyeball your way from corner to corner). If you don’t want to mark up your fabrics, you can also fold the background squares diagonally in half and press a creased line to use as your sewing line. This will also ensure that your seams will line up in the center, because you have made sure they are precisely marked and stitched.
If you have made the blocks and have any tips to share, please add them in the comments.
My 2016 block lotto challenge – from blocks to tops
My finished top for February made from November 2013 Banded Baskets:
My finished top for March will be from blocks from July 2014 called Spokes.
MacDonald Quilt along
Okay, they still need squaring up but here is what I learned this month. Neat Knick Sisters should stay out of my sewing area or, at least not pile everything helter skelter into cardboard boxes and stuff it in said Sisters closet…tightly. So, I am grateful to Sophie, for issuing me a Fabric test chart I am having to test all my fabrics to be sure I have real cotton…no poly in my Block Lotto endeavors. However, I decided to use up some of the blends in my Sampler…I wish I hadn’t…these blocks are well, springy…they don’t iron well, they are slippery little beggars and move a bit while I am stitching and even a bit puckered…I just might feel like ditching these and making more out of cotton for my Sampler.