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Friday, January 11, 2013

Pocket Patchwork ~ Orphans & Scraps ~ Part Two


We meet again!!  Hope I didn't loose anyone with the small Flying Geese and I sure hope you enjoyed making the block.  Did you have orphan units lying around to use?  I hope so.  They needed a home.

Please read today's post in its entirety before cutting.  This is a very fun technique that may be new to you, and is wonderful to use, especially for small blocks.  If we made the units in the traditional way, oh boy, the Four Patch pieces would the be soooo small!!  The squares in the Four Patch would finish to 11/16ths....yikes!  Here's the stuff you need to know for making this weeks' block:

We are starting with Quarter Square Triangles.  Yup...not a typo!  If you have orphan Quarter Square Triangle units, great!  They need to be 2 1/2 inches unfinished.  If not, follow the cutting instructions below to make your QST's.

*Cutting Instructions:

*From assorted prints, cut (8) light and (8) medium/dark squares 3 1/4".   



Use your favorite method to sew (4) assorted QST's that would now measure 2 1/2" unfinished. 
You will definitely have leftover units, or more orphans, for another project!
 
 
 
We're gonna take those QST's and turn them into on-point Four Patches.  This is so fun!!

*Cut (4) 1 1/2" matching squares from (4) assorted medium/dark prints.  Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of all of the squares.




Position a square in opposite corners of the Quarter Square Triangle unit.  Sew on the drawn line; press and trim. 


Repeat with the remaining corners.  See the Four Patch emerging?


And...there it is!!  I love this technique.  It's not always easy to sew triangles to the sides of a plain square or pieced block.  It seems like something always goes awry on at least one corner.  With this technique, connector corners solve that issue, you're never sewing with any bias edges exposed, and you can make a very tiny Four Patch, but never sew with any tiny pieces!!  Love, love, love it!!  Repeat the process with the remaining (3) QST's.  All should measure to 2 1/2" unfinished.


Arrange the units for the block as shown, paying specific attention to the position of the Four Patches.  The lights alternate direction. 


 
 


Sew the units into rows, then sew rows together.  Press seams open in each step.  Your block should measure 4 1/2" unfinished. 

I'd love to hear your comments on what you think about this technique.  Have you ever done it before?  Do you like it?  I'll randomly draw a winner and give a special little give away if you leave me a comment.   Winner announced on Monday.

That's all for now....another fun block coming next Friday.  Enjoy your weekend!!  Pam



 

68 comments:

  1. I have used techniques like this when working on miniatures. It sure does simplify the process, thanks for sharing.

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  2. WOW what a great technique Pam, i can't wait to use it!! i'm really enjoying this mystery sew-along, i'm hanging out for each Friday LOL!!! :))) cheers...Marian

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  3. That is just amazing!!!! I had to read it twice & look at the pictures to understand how you were getting the 4-patches. Love it!!!!! Thanks so much for sharing the technique with us.

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  4. I am going to try this..Looks like fun. i found a box of orphan triangles in my sewing room today as i was sorting out.

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    1. i did it, it works great.. thank you another trick up my sleeve

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  5. HOw Cool is that? I'm currently sewing a few projects one of which will possibly be having some orphaned square triangle units. I'll have to save this to see how it works out.

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  6. Genius! I will be trying to make mine later today...big party tomorrow at this house and lots of errands to run.
    I know who hard cutting 11/16ths can be. The quilt that was stolen from me had many pieces cut at that size and it was very time consuming to say the least!

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  7. I have seen this technique, but never used it. I had some (lots) left over QSTs and 1.5" strips so this went very fast.

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  8. This is a method that I am most definitely will try. I can see many uses for it.

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  9. Interesting - this is a "must try" project. I haven't started my first block yet, but hope to get both blocks one and two completed by this afternoon. I have the whole day to myself (except for the usual household chores - laundry, picking up, cooking -ick!) Thanks for this fun sew-along!

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  10. I have never seen this technique, but I can't wait to try it. Thanks for the tutorial.

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  11. I have never used this. technique. This is the first time I've seen it. I will have to give it a try.

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  12. I've never seen this technique before. It was a little confusing but after reading it again and looking at the pictures I think I get it. The finished block is very nice.
    Grandma Rita

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  13. No, this is a first for me...I will definitely give this a try! LOVE* LOVE* LOVE* your fabrics!!!
    P

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  14. I have NEVER seen this technique used, but it's brilliant and I'll give it a try this afternoon!

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  15. New to me...can't wait to give it a whirl!....jmh

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  16. Have never tried this method, but will today. Seems like it's really easy, especially since I don't like sewing tiny pieces.

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  17. Never tried this one,going to do it now. Love the finsh block!

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  18. I've never tried this method. I can't wait to try it. Love the patch

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  19. WOW!!A great technique!!!!
    Thank you

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  20. Have not tried this method, but will do so today, it looks like fun. I've made the flying geese block and it was easy. Looking forward to more blocks next Friday.

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  21. HI! HOW NEAT! "SAVING THIS PAGE" FOR SURE!
    THANKS FOR SHARING!

    msstitcher1948@yahoo.com

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  22. Have never seen or tried this technique before. Love it but realize I have some issues with my accuracy.. Going to try it again ... thanks for the tut.

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  23. Have made this block using a differant technique but will also try this. Is this tech. in your book??? Really am enjoying these small blocks.
    Carol
    NE

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  24. Ca y est, j'ai tout lu, pour moi, c'est du 'jamais fait'. Je vais me régaler à faire ce bloc. Merci !

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  25. I've not seen this technique before, but what a great idea! Thank you!

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  26. Amazing - it looks to be very easy, too! Thanks so much for sharing, I will definitely try this - when I'm ready with the quilting I have to do the next few days. By now, my walking foot is on my sewing machine and I have to take it away before sewing again... ;)

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  27. What a nifty method. One I am not familiar with but you can bet I will be. I am now two blocks behind. how does that happen so fast? Guess I better play catchup.

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  28. How clever! This is awesome! Can't wait to try it out. Love your fabrics!

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  29. That is SO clever! You're right, when sewing corners onto a 4-patch, no matter how careful I am, something almost always goes a tiny bit awry. I can't wait to try your method. Fun! Thanks.
    - sunshdws at yahoo dot com

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  30. Wow! What a unique way to do that block! I'm sure going to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.

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  31. I think this is a great technique. Off to give it a try tonight. I made my first geese block - love geese. Thanks for sharing this.

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  32. This is new to me. I will be sure to try it when I get back to my machine. Thanks for sharing.

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  33. That's amazing, I have never seen it done that way, but it really works for making small pieces. Thank you for showing us!

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  34. I have not tried this technique before. It looks very interesting. Can't wait to try it next week.

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  35. What a clever idea! I can't wait to try it.

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  36. I can't wait to try it. I probably wouldn't make blocks that little the regular 4 patch way.

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  37. I've never seen this technique before. Have just made the blocks with your technique, WOW it's so accurate when working with such little pieces. Will keep it in mind for other tiny projects.
    Thanks.

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  38. The cutest little block I've ever seen! I love it!

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  39. What a unique technique, the results are stunning! Can't wait to give it a try! awolk at rogers dot com

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  40. How clever! Thanks for sharing Pam! Love learning new things :)

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  41. Nancy: rangerer@sbcglobal.netJanuary 11, 2013 at 10:37 PM

    I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like a really good technique.

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  42. This is so cool! I've never seen it done this way. I can hardly wait to try it. Thank you for sharing it.

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  43. Comme c'est amusant!!! je ne connaissais pas du tout cette méthode .
    Merci . A vendredi prochain
    bonne journée
    Jibé

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  44. Hi from France!
    Thank you for the method. Did'nt know it at all. Can't wait to try it.
    Have a nice quilting day

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  45. This is something entirely new for me. I had a little difficulty understanding the directions at first but now I "get it". Looking forward to Fridays.

    Charlotte

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  46. Wow, how easy! I'm fairly new to quilting, so I love learning new techniques that are so easy. Good thing you told us to read the directions all the way through before starting! I don't have a lot of scraps and orphans built up yet, but now I can make use of what I have before they get ahead of me! Thanks, Pam!

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  47. Wahoo! This was a new one for me and it worked - finished product came out at exactly 4 1/2 inches. Cutest little block I have ever attempted. Can't wait until Friday.

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  48. I thought it worked just great and was much more stable than little tiny pieces. I'm doing several block a thons and it is fun to see them take shape!

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  49. Wow; I'm intrigued and keen to give this a go!! Thank you!!

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  50. I thought I had seen it all in the quilting world! Thank you for sharing!

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  51. It`s fantastic,this is new for me.I want try it.Thanks for sharing!!

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  52. I don't speak much English but the photos are very explicit! I can't wait to try this bloc, it's beautiful, thank you!
    Cathy from Belgium

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  53. I thought you were doing two blocks this week. I have never seen this technique but it works beautifully. And it is just the cutest little block. Thanks.
    Barb

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  54. You just gave me one of those "Duh, why didn't I think of that?" moments. I am glad you did think of it!!

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  55. Hi I like it and try tomorrow Thank you Yolande from France

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  56. Oh, that was too much fun! Love learning new and easier ways to do things-quilters are so good at sharing! Thanks Pam.

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  57. This is too cool! I'm sold!
    Thanks for passing along this brilliant idea!

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  58. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  59. Cool idea; have quilt a few of these orphan block laying around.
    Great idea!

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  60. I had not seen that before--fascinating!

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  61. This is awesome!!! I found you from Raewyn's blog, too cute, got to try this method! Thanks for sharing.

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  62. A day late, but it's done. :) You can see my block here:
    http://rainbowpincushion.blogspot.com/2013/01/orphans-scraps-part-2-finished.html

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  63. I love to work with little quilts. Will have to try these techniques out. Thanks for the input.

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  64. Amazing AND Fun! Just found your blog this week and I'm hooked! Dumped my scraps all over to play along. I now am the proud owner of four tiny blocks, ENTIRELY from my scraps! WOOHOO!! So excited for tomorrow :)

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  65. Thank you very much for the tutorial! This will be my first mini. Love your fabric combinations.

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  66. This is so awesome! And I think you are so generous for sharing all that you do. Thank you sew much! 😊

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