STATE BLOCK CHALLENGE DELAWARE

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know it has been a while since I posted the blocks. I told you that we got puppies in October. I'm not as young as I used to be. They are wearing me down. I fall asleep at all hours during the day. If I am not moving or doing something, as soon as I sit down I end up taking a nap! I've got to figure a way to get them to sleep longer at night.

I went to Texas last week to teach at two guilds. I had such a good time. I stayed with two wonderful quilters who treated me like family. Here is a photo of the finished blocks from my Parfait class in New Braunfels. This class is from my new Kaleidostars book. Everyone looks happy!

I also got a chance to visit with my son in Austin. He took me to the Alamo and the River walk in San Antonio. It was a beautiful day and I had a great time with him. I don't get to see him that often. (Don't I look happy!)

I think I am behind picking winners for my blocks. I have decided to just draw names instead of having quilters vote because it seems that the same people are picked and I don't want to leave anyone out. So those who finished my Connecticut blocks, if you haven't sent the images to me, please do so I can draw a name next week. Please email them to me instead of sending them through Facebook or Messenger. It is easier for me to put your name to it when you do that. Send them to tlischko@yahoo.com.


Just thought you would like to see a recent photo of my puppies. In a month they have doubled in size!

This week's block is Delaware. I had some problems finding a second block but with perseverance I did find it.

Block A

This is a simple 9-patch with a Snowball block. I used the dark focus fabric, one light and one medium print. I cut up the large Snowball instead of having one large piece. That is what is fun about doing these blocks. It is a challenge for me to figure out where I want to fussy cut a simple block.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

Focus fabric 1 :
* Cut two sets of four repeats with template C.
Light fabric 2:
* Cut (10) 2-1/2" squares (or use template A)
Medium fabric 3:
* Cut (8) 2-1/2" squares (or use template A)
* Cut (4) 2-7/8" squares; cut each once diagonally into (8) HST (or cut (8) template B).

PIECING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sew the four Focus fabric 1 Template C together, then sew on Fabric 3 HST (template B) on each corner. Press to corners. Make 2.

                          

2. Sew the (5) Fabric 2 light squares (A) and (4) Fabric 3 medium squares (A) together to create a nine-patch. Press patches to medium fabric, then press rows to center. Make 2.

3. Sew the nine-patch squares to the Snowball squares. Press to Nine patch.

Block B

This block is a little more challenging. It's like a nine-patch that was cut on an angle. I chose the dark focus fabric for two different sections of the block. If you want to fussy cut just the center then that is okay. I also chose a light and a medium dark.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

Focus fabric 1:

* Fussy cut four repeats with template C.

* Fussy cut four repeats with template B right side up. Place a small pin or use a marking tool to identify the straight of grain edge. (Marked on the template.)

Light fabric 2:

* Cut four template B with the template turned wrong side up, and cutting one layer at a time or have all four layers face up. (There is a left and right side of B so you need to make sure that 4 are cut with the template face up and 4 with it face down.) Place a small pin or use a marking tool to identify the straight of grain edge.

Medium Dark fabric 3:

* Cut four template A. Place a small pin or use a marking tool to identify the straight of grain edge. (Marked on the template.)

PIECING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sew the four template A patches together.

 

                                  












2. Sew the light template B template C sections together. Make sure that the side with the pin on it is on the outside. Make 4. Press to C.

3. Sew the fussy cut template B to each end of step 2 as illustrated. Pay attention to the straight of the grain edge on template B. Make 2. Press to fussy cut B.

4. Sew the sections from step 2 to opposite sides of the center section, matching seams. Press to center square.

5. Sew the sections from step 3 to the other two sides. Press to center square.

I hope you have fun making these blocks. I really did. Here are the templates. Remember, save them to a folder then open them. Please let me know if you have any problems opening them.

Delaware Block A templates
Delaware Block B templates


Please feel free to share your blocks with me. This is the final block that I will do this year. (I'm sure you will need a break with the holidays coming up.) I will start up again on the first Monday in January. Thank you for participating.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy New Year!

As always: Do what you love and love what you do.

STATE BLOCK CHALLENGE CONNECTICUT BLOCKS 7A AND 7B

I love when the air gets cooler and I get to get my sweaters out! I especially like those new type fabrics that have a very soft feel against my skin. As I get older I can't stand anything scratchy on my skin. I have to cut off the tags on the inside of the neckline on anything because it drives me crazy!

I have been getting very little sleep lately. The puppies are keeping my husband and I very busy! I forgot what it is like training a puppy and we have double the trouble. The great thing is they are very smart and learn quickly. We almost have house training done. They still have an occasional accident but that is more due to us not paying attention to the signs. (This is a short video. Please let me know if it works.)

So on to the next blocks. But first the winners of Blocks 5A and 5B.

Block 5A was won by Rosemary Krupski again! Congratulations Rosemary!

Block 5B was a tie! Jeannie Schultz and Rosemary Krupski both got the same number of votes. So they both get a pattern. Congratulations ladies.

                 

To encourage more people to send me images of their blocks I am going to do a random drawing instead of voting. That way more people have an opportunity to win one of my patterns and increases the odds of other people winning.

This week's block represent the state of Connecticut. Neither of the blocks are difficult to piece but block A has more fussy cutting in it.

BLOCK 7A

For this block I chose just two fabrics. The focus fabric and a contrast. I fussy cut all of the light sections of the block, the half-square triangles, flying geese and diamond in a square. You can use some of the templates that you made for some of the previous blocks.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

Focus fabric:
*Fussy cut (4) template A from one design, (4) template A from another design, and (4) template B.
You can always cut more or less of a design than I did.
Contrast fabric:
*Cut (16) template A OR (8) 3-7/8" squares cut once diagonally into (16) HST.

PIECING INSTRUCTIONS

Center section
1. Sew the (4) fussy cut template A pieces. Press seams in a clockwise manner.

2. Sew a contrast fabric HST to each side. Sew opposite sides first. Press to contrast fabric. Section should equal 6-1/2" square.

     

 

     

Flying Geese Units
3. Sew a contrast fabric HST to the short sides of the focus fabric template B. Press to contrast fabric. Make (4). Sections should equal 3-1/2" x 6-1/2".

Half-Square triangle units.
4. Sew a contrast fabric HST to a focus fabric template A. Press to contrast fabric. Make (4). HST should equal 3-1/2" square.

5. Layout the (4) HST units, (4) Flying Geese units, and center units as illustrated. Sew across. Press to Flying Geese units. Sew rows together. Press to Flying Geese units.

BLOCK 7B

For this block I chose a dark and light focus fabric and then a dark and light contrast fabric. You can use the same template A from block 7A for this block.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS
Focus fabric light
*Cut (2) template D.
Focus fabric dark
*Cut (2) template D.
Contrast light
*Fold fabric wrong sides together and cut (2) B and (2) C. (B and C will be cut at the same time.)
*Cut (2) template A. 

Contrast dark
 *Fold fabric wrong sides together and cut (2) B and (2) C. (B and C will be cut at the same time.)
*Cut (2) template A. 


PIECING INSTRUCTIONS
1. Sew a light contrast B and C to a dark D and a dark contrast B and C to a light D. Press seams in the same direction. (Both left or right.) Make (2) of each.

2. Sew a light template A to the light matching sections and a dark template A to the dark matching sections. Press to HST. Section should equal 6-1/2" square.

3. Sew the four squares together. pressing seams in the same direction as the sections. All seams should go either clockwise or counter clockwise.

Here are the links to the template PDFs. Don't forget to save it and then open with Acrobat Reader.

Template 7A

Template 7B

Remember; Always do what you love and love what you do. Please share your finished blocks with me. No matter what they look like, I love to see what everyone is doing. Plus you will be eligible for a drawing for one of my patterns so the more you do and send me, the better your chances.

STATE BLOCK CHALLENGE COLORADO 6A AND B

First I want to thank everyone for their patience with my postings. I did not realize how time consuming doing this challenge would be! It is good though because it does force me to write my blog more often. Also thank you to those who sympathized with my loss. Every pet owner knows what that is like and how it affects us.

First to the winners of the Arizona blocks. 

Mary Steimle won again with her wonderful Block 4A. Her use of fabrics is amazing!

Block 4B was won by Rosemary Krupski. She is using a Tula Pink fabric collection and really knows how to use them.

The state this week is Colorado. I had quite a time looking for blocks for this state! I found one but that second one was more difficult to find. Neither of the blocks were very difficult so if you don't do both blocks each week, either block should not be a problem to do. The more blocks you make the more you will be using some of the same size templates. So check with your previous templates to see if you already have one the same size as in the new blocks.

I hope more of you send me your finished blocks. I started getting quite a few at first and now it is down to only 3 per block. Remember you will get a chance to win one of my pattern downloads if yours is picked. Don't ever think that it is not good enough. You never know if your block will be picked. If you would prefer that I randomly pick a winner instead of a vote, I will be happy to do that in case you are too intimidated to enter yours. I will hold off picking a winner for Blocks 5A and 5B until Wednesday so I can get more entries.

BLOCK 6A

For this block I chose only the focus fabric and a light background. The whole block is made up of only half-square triangles. I cut two different areas in my focus fabric for the opposite sides of the block. It is difficult to see but if you look close you will see an orange flower and a blue flower. You can cut them all the same or two different areas. The inside pinwheel had to be cut in a different way in order for them to match the other triangles and I will show how to do that in the following illustrations. You do not have to be this fussy if you do not want to.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

Fabric 1 Focus fabric with Template A:
*Fussy cut either (16) of the same designs  OR
*Fussy cut (8) each of two different designs OR
*Fussy cut (6) each of two different designs and (2) each of coordinating designs.
Fabric 2 light background:
*Cut (16) Template A OR (8) 3-7/8" squares cut once diagonally into (16) HST.

To figure out how to cut the inside pinwheel pieces I laid the original cut piece on top of the template as illustrated:

Here is what the original cut looks like:

Here is what I did with that piece to determine how to cut the pinwheel section:
Can you see how I put the original triangle on the template sideways to match the fabric design underneath? You have to look really close.

Here is the resulting placement for the cut:

Background fabric with Template A:
*Cut (16) triangles.

PIECING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make (16) Half-square triangle squares. You will press (6) of the regular cut squares to the background fabric and the remaining squares to the focus fabric.

2. Layout the half-square triangle squares following the illustration paying attention to the pressing of the triangles.

3. Sew sections together. Press rows in opposite directions.
4. Sew rows together. Press the top and bottom seams to the center and the center seam in either direction.

BLOCK 6B

For this block I chose two different colors of the focus fabric flowers, a light background, and two different dark fabrics. You could use the same dark fabric for the center as you did for the strips sets and you can cut the same area for all of the quarter-square triangles.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS
You will only need to make a template for the quarter-square triangles, but of course you can make them for all the patches. I include cutting with or without the templates. 

Fabric 1 Focus fabric:
*With template A fussy cut (8) each of two different designs or (16) of one design.
Fabric 2 light: 
*Cut (8) template B OR (8) 4-1/2" x 1-3/4" rectangles.
Fabric 3 dark #1:
*Cut (4) template C OR (4) 4-1/2" x 2" rectangles.
Fabric 4 dark #2
*Cut (1) template D OR (4) 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" square.

PIECING INSTRUCTIONS.

1. Sew the quarter-square triangles together. Make (4).

2. Sew a 4-1/2" x 1-3/4" Fabric 2 to each side of a 4-1/2" x 2" Fabric 3 strip. Press to dark fabric. Make (4).














3. Layout the four quarter-square triangle sections, four strip sections, and the 4-1/2" Fabric 4 square as illustrated.

4. Sew sections across. Press to strip sets.
5. Sew rows together. Press to center.

Here are the templates for the two blocks. Click on the links. Then save the files to your folder and open with Acrobat Reader. Check the 1" box to make sure that the scale is correct after printing with "no scale" or at 100%. The lines on the templates are fairly thick so check to see if you need to cut them out on or in the lines.

Block 6A
Block 6B