Fabri-Quilt New Block Hop & A Giveaway!

Hello Everyone and welcome to my stop on the Fabri-Quilt New Block hop! Fabri-Quilt was very generous to sponsor this hop and provide all of the participants with the fabric free of charge. When it came time to design a block, that turned out to be much harder than I thought. Oh the choices! Lucky for me I have EQ7 and after playing around a bit I've decided to show you how to make 2 blocks!

The one on the left is a paper pieced block and the one on right is standard pieced block. Let's get started, shall we?

DUTCH WINDMILL BLOCK

I'm calling it the Dutch Windmill Block because the large triangles look like the sails on a windmill. What I really like about this block, though, is the secondary pattern the emerges when you make an entire quilt with them. I love that it gives you the illusion of curves.

This block is paper pieced but it's a pretty easy one. Anyone who's followed me for a while knew that I had a fear of paper piecing less than a year ago, and look at me now -- opting to create a paper pieced block! Who knew, right?  If you are a seasoned paper piecer skip the rest of this post and find the PDF pattern here (it's no longer housed on Craftsy print out the Windmill Block pdf on Craftsy to get started .  Be sure to print out 4 copies as you will need 4 smaller blocks to make the full 12.5" block).

Since there are so many great tutorials online, I'm not going to reinvent the wheel by making another one. I recommend these two tutorials - they are the ones I used  to learn paper piecing.

The Ellison Lane Paper Piecing Video Tutorial by Jennifer Mathis
Fresh Lemons Paper Piecing Tutorial by Faith Jones


Supplies
You'll need the typical supplies for quilting such as a sewing machine, thread, iron, rotary cutter, scissors, and a quilting ruler with 1/4 inch markings. I also recommend the following:

• A rotary cutter used for paper only (helpful when trimming your block to size)
• Paper scissors to cut your pattern down to size and to make templates
• glue stick, to stick down that first piece of fabric to the paper
• Add-A-Quarter straight edge. Definitely not required, but it's awesome for paper piecing.

Remember, In order to make one 12.5" block, you need to make 4 smaller blocks and sew them together. 

Helpful Tips

• Print out 5 copies of the Windmill pattern. When printing, be sure to set your printer to 100% (not scale to fit), so that it prints out to the proper size. You might also need to set it to print in landscape.

• Make a template. The pattern states to print out 4 copies but I always print out an extra and cut out each individual number, making sure to include the seam allowance line where applicable. I use these as templates to cut out my fabric so I don't accidentally have a piece of fabric that is too small. 

• Another thing I like to do is on each pattern template, I write the color of the fabric that I intend to use, just so I don't make any mistakes when piecing.

• Remember when sewing, shorten your stitch length to make it easier to remove the paper later.

• As you're stitching and you reach the seam allowance line, it's okay to sew into that area. In fact, I encourage it. That insures that you won't have any loose stitches by the time you actually sew those seams together.

• My last advice when paper piecing - don't trim your outside edges until your block is completely constructed. That way you can trim it down to size, just to be safe.

Fabric Cutting

I like to cut out all my fabric at once, so the numbers below are enough for all 4 printouts. 

Template A1 (white) = 4 pieces, triangular in shape

Template A2 (coral) = 4 pieces, approximately 3" x 5"

Template A3 (aqua) = 4 pieces, approximately 3" x 7"

Template A4 (lapis blue) = 4 pieces, triangular in shape

Template A5 (white) = 4 pieces, triangular in shape

The dimensions on the rectangular shapes are very generous, but that is how I ensure I have enough fabric.

Here is what one of your finished sections will look like:

Make 4 more of these blocks. Once you sew 2 of them together it will look like this:

Finally, once you sew all 4 block together, you'll finish with this:

Here is another color variation with the other Fabri-Quilt fabrics:

Now, if you're still with me, ready to tackle the second block I made? Great!

PARASAIL BLOCK

I'm calling this one the Parasail Block because while we were on a recent cruise, I saw so many parasailing chutes that were coral, green, and white They just stood out against the brilliant blues of the Caribbean.  They were close to these same colors, I wish I would have taken a photo of them. Here's a few examples of what this would look like in a quilt. This first one has every other block rotated:

This second variation has every other block rotated and flipped (meaning that you actually sew one of the strips upside down). I like this one because of the basket weave effect it has.

A few things to note before we get started -- all of my seams are a scant quarter inch and for this block I pressed them all open. Okay then, let's do this!

Parasail Block Tutorial

Fabric Cutting
This will make one 12.5" block (12" finished).

Aqua:  4 squares 3.5" x 3.5"

Turquoise:  2 rectangles 9.5" x 3.5"

Coral:  2 rectangles 6.5" x 3.5" 

White: 1 square 4" x 4"

Chartreuse: 1 square 4" x 4"

Sewing

Step 1: Half Square Triangles
Place one white and one chartreuse square right sides together.

Draw a line diagonally from corner to corner.

Stitch a scant 1/4" on both sides of the draw line.

Cut on the drawn line.

Press and trim each HST down to 3.5" square.

Step 2: Construct Center of Block 

Sew 1 aqua square to each of the half square triangles, sewing along the white edge.

With solid aqua squares opposite of one another, place both pieces right sides together and sew. 

You're almost finished with the middle section of the block. Add the coral rectangles on either side and then you have this:

Step 3: Construct top and bottom rows of block

Take your last 2 aqua squares and sew them to the turquoise pieces.

Step 4: Attach top and bottom to middle section

Lay out the block so that you have the aqua squares in the upper left, and the lower right corners. 

Sew, press, square up, and you're done!

GIVEAWAY

Want a chance to win your very own half-yard bundle of Watermelon Summer fabrics? Be sure to head over to the Inspired by Fabric blog and today's host Yvonne's blog Quilting Jetgirl for 2 chances to win. 

If you are one of the lucky winners, I want to recommend that you prewash your Fabri-Quilt Prairie Cloth Solid fabrics with like colors.

Also, don't forget to visit all the other participants of the hop:

Monday, August 31st
Host – Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl
Kelly @Quilting it Out
Martha @Once a Wingnut
Irene @Patchwork and Pastry
Cassandra @The (not so) Dramatic Life
Andrea @The Sewing Fools
Bernie @Needle and Foot
Silvia @A Stranger View
Wanda @Wanda’s Life Sampler
Sandra @Musings of a Menopausal Melon
Vicki @Orchid Owl Quilts
Jess @Quilty Habit
Diana @Red Delicious Life - that's me!
Chelsea @Patch the Giraffe
Margo @Shadow Lane Quilts
Renee @Quilts of a Feather

Tuesday, September 1st
Host – Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Wednesday, September 2nd
Host – Stephanie @Late Night Quilter

Thursday, September 3rd
Host – Terri Ann @Childlike Fascination