RJR Supreme Cotton Fabrics

HST Sampler Quilt | Block #9: Wind Blown Square

PATTERN SHEET: HST Sampler Quilt -BLOCK9

Hello & Good Afternoon!

Whew! Summer sure has landed in Sydney today! My suburb reached over 41+ degrees in the shade today, accompanied by an uncomfortably warm wind blowing through the house! The remedy for such hot and steamy weather: a cooling afternoon swim in the pool! Ahh, it was bliss!

But now that the day is cooling down, it’s time to get back to work and get the last block in our Quilt-Along uploaded and ready for you to make! The 9th and final block that we’ll be piecing together is the Wind Blown Square. I’ve never made this block before and I have to say, I absolutely love it! Although a few of my points are a little shaky and not quite perfect, I’m still really happy with how it turned out!

TIP: When making your block, try your best to use two contrasting fabrics for the HSTs in the centre and around the edges. This will really help to make the centre HSTs stand out and add to the movement that they bring to the block. 🙂

For all of the measurement and cutting details, along with the fabrics* I’ve used to piece this block together and a diagram of the block layout, click on the pattern sheet linked at the top of this post. If you would like to use the same 12.5″ set square as me, you can find it here:June Tailor Get-Squared 12.5″ Ruler.

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So now that all nine blocks in the series have been made, it’s time to move on to sashing them all together and getting the quilt top bordered up and finished ready for basting and quilting! I’m so excited to see how all of your blocks come together and what your final quilt tops look like!! Yay!

So that tutorial will either be out on Wednesday or Friday… I have one last dental appointment on Monday to remove the last of my wisdom teeth (plus a filling), so it just depends on how I’m feeing after all of that! 🙂

Like I mention in the video, don’t forget to share a photo with me featuring all of your completed blocks together! I would love to see your progress so far! Here are mine:

Until next week, have fun making your block and I hope you all have a splendid weekend!!

Happy Sewing, Friends!!

*A big thanks to Australian wholesale supplier and fabric distributer Dayview Textiles for supplying me with such beautiful fabrics! If you want to see all of the fabrics I’ll be using in this Quilt Along, check out this post where I share them all with you!

HST Sampler Quilt | Block #8: Open Window (variation)

PATTERN SHEET: HST Sampler Quilt – BLOCK8

Hello Friends!

A big thank you to all of you for your patience in waiting for me to get this tutorial up and running! I’ve been scrambling the past two days to get everything edited, written and finalised ready for todays block! And speaking of blocks, the eighth one in the series is a fun and beautiful variation of the Open Window block!

You may remember me doing this block quite recently for this quilt (accompanied with this tutorial). The block we’re making this time has a few elements that are different in comparison to the last. For starters, this version is made completely using HSTs (16 to exact!) and has a slight twist in the design layout. Either way you make this block, it’s still a little beauty and can be used for all sorts!

As always you’ll be able to find all of the measurement and cutting details, along with the fabrics* I’ve used to piece this block together as well as a diagram of the block layout, in the pattern sheet linked at the top of this post. If you would like to use the same 12.5″ set square as me, you can find it here:June Tailor Get-Squared 12.5″ Ruler.

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So the final block that we’ll be making for this quilt will be coming out this Friday! It’s a block that I’ve never made before but have been seeing it everywhere lately and think that it’s just simply devine! The block is called Wind Blown Square that features another full design of HSTs placed all in different angles, achieving a ‘wind blown’ type movement to it! I’m so excited to get piecing it – I think it’s the perfect block to ‘finish’ with!

Don’t forget to keep sharing your blocks with me! If you’re sharing on Instagram don’t forget to tag me: @3and3quarters or #3and3quarters!

Can’t wait for Friday!!

Happy Sewing, Friends!

A Block Review // FPP Jack-O-Lantern

The other day, while wasting time on Facebook, I came across a link that was shared to this awesome little FPP Jack-O-Lantern pattern by Sonja Callaghan from the blog Artisania. And with Halloween coming up very soon, I just knew that I had to print it off and give it a go!

Firstly, I printed off the pattern at a scale of 90% so that I was sure the pattern would fit comfortably on a A4 piece of paper. Then I sat down for a bit, trying to figure out the best way to make it as I’ve never attempted a FPP pattern this intricate before!

Once confident of how to start and what steps I had to do to be successful at the end, I picked out some fun autumnal RJR Supreme Cotton Solids and jumped straight into making!

Here are a few tips that I think might help you when making the block yourself…

No. 1 – The block is divided into six sections labelled A to D. So you need to carefully cut the paper pattern into the sections before you can start any sort of piecing! (See Photo #2) I also cut an extra 1/4″ seam allowance around the outside line of the pattern so that I wouldn’t get caught out not having enough fabric to cover each section. (See Photo #1)

Cutting a 1/4" seam allowance out from the edges of the paper pattern. — Photo #1

No. 2 – Another prep step before starting: Using a Clover Serrated Tracing Wheel and a ruler I perforated all of the lines in each section that I’ll be sewing on top of. (See Photo #3) Doing this simply helps to ensure that the paper will rip away smoothly from the back once the block is finished.

No. 3 – I found it really helpful to initial each numbered section of the colour that was to be used so that I wouldn’t get confused!

W=White, O=Orange, B=Black and G=Green.

No. 4 – I was really relaxed with sizes of fabric I cut for each section. I found, that because a majority of the numbered sections were quite small, I was able to use quite a lot of fabric pieces from my little scrap pile I was creating from the other sections I had finished piecing. And due to that, the block came together really quite quickly!

No. 5 – As you piece each section together, make sure to leave enough fabric over the edges so that you can trim the block down with a 1/4″ seam allowance around each side. For this pattern to come together perfectly at the end, you need to cut a 1/4″ out from each edge on all six sections (excluding the edges you cut around before on the outside of the pattern)…Hopefully Photo #4 will help you understand a little better…

No. 6 – Once you’ve come to the part where you’re ready to piece each section back together, I found doing it in this order the easiest…

Sew section A to section B, then section C to the other side of B. Remove the paper from the back and press the seams either to one side or flat open. Then sew section D to section E and then section F to the other side of E. Again, carefully remove the paper from the back and press the seams in the same way as before. From here, piece the two sections together to finish the block.

TIPS: When piecing each section together make sure to line up the seams around the outside of the pumpkin and around his mouth to achieve clean crisp lines. It may take a little bit to get these parts aligned and sitting perfect but trust me, it’ll be worth it in the end!

Finished block size: 7.5″x9.5″ (19cmx24cm)

So to sum it all up, despite a few mistakes on my part resulting in the seam ripper to make an appearance more than once, this was a really fun FPP pattern to piece together! Believe it not, I did learn a few new things and expanded my knowledge on the way I should tackle these types of tricky pattern designs! I also felt like a slight rebel making this little guy as Halloween isn’t widely celebrated in Australia as it’s seen as more of an ‘American’ tradition. But I like Halloween – it appeals to the crafty and creative side to me! Hence why I loved this making little guy!

If you like the look of this guy and would love to make him yourself but don’t know a thing about Foundation Paper Piecing (FPP), then check out this tutorial I made a little while ago taking you through the steps of how to do it!

Of course, if you have any questions about this block or are stuck on any step, please don’t hesitate to ask! I’m always here to help!

Best of luck to all of you who are going to print this little guy off and give him a go! Don’t forget to share your photos with me!

Happy Paper Piecing, Friends!!

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