Tag: Circles in quilts pattern

Rainbow Sapphire – Block Four of the Rainbow Dreamcatcher Round the Year BOM Quilt

Sapphire Rainbow - Block 4 of the Round the Year Quilt

This “SAPPHIRE” is the fourth block in the Block of the Month quilt `Dreamcatcher Round the Year‘. I have made it only in the Rainbow colourway; the other – Dusk colourway – remains pending, as I am on enforced rest with an acute attack of sciatica.

But don’t worry, the templates and instructions files for Dusk are ready and are being published in a separate post. This is a very simple block to piece and I am sure even beginner paper piecers should be able to manage without step by step pictures.

Like the previous three blocks, this is also paper foundation pieced. The fabric requirements and Instructions for paper piecing and assembly for the RAINBOW colourway for this block can be downloaded as .pdf files from the link at the end of this post. Adobe Reader , which is required for .pdf files, is available for free download online. So here we go!

SAPPHIRE RAINBOW

Finished Block size: 18″ square with 15″ inset circle.

Fabric Requirement and Cutting Instructions


REMEMBER – The Master Template is a mirror image and shows the printed side of the paper templates. You can also use it to try out your own colour schemes; use colour pencils!

Sapphire - Block 4 of the Round the Year Quilt

  1. Take print outs of the Templates .pdf file with printer settings at 100% or actual size in portrait mode. You have the following templates:
  • 8 wedge templates numbered A, D, E, H, I, L,M and P.
  • 8 spoke templates B,C, F,G,J,K, N and O .
  • 2 background templates Q and R for the outside square. Cut 4 of each, the additional fabric margin is kept on the straight long edge.
Sapphire Rainbow - Block 4 of the Round the Year Quilt
Add a margin of 1/2″ to 1″ on the straight edge when cutting fabric for the background template.
2. Take a print out of the Instructions file and keep it at hand for reference.

3. Cut the fabric according to the fabric requirement chart, using the colour code as guide. To summarise:

  Each of the 8 wedge templates will be pieced with
  • 1 HST 5.5″
  • 1 triangle half of 3″x 6″
  • 1 rectangle 1.5″ x 6.5″

Each of the 8 spoke templates will be pieced with

  • 4 HSTs 3.5″
  • 1 triangle half of 2″ x 3.5″
  • 1 QST 3.5″ ( or 1HST 2″ may be used instead)

4 . Pin the fabric pieces to the respective templates to avoid confusion when sewing.

Piecing Instructions

1.   Piece the wedge templates

2.   Piece the spoke templates and arrange according to the master template. Trim to template size.

Assembly

Refer to the Master template as a guide when assembling the paper pieced templates. ( It is a mirror image, remember?)

Each of the wedge templates is joined to a spoke template.

So, you join A to B, C to D, E to F, G to H, I to J, K to L , M to N and O to P. There are markers on the templates to help you align the templates correctly.

Be careful you do not join 2 wedges together, or you will have y-seams to contend with! Like this!

Sapphire Rainbow - Block 4 of the Round the Year Quilt
I joined two wedges together. Here I am adding a spoke to the wedges.
Sapphire Rainbow - Block 4 of the Round the Year Quilt
When I started joining the spoke on the other side, I was confronted with a y-seam!

At the end of this, you should have 8 wedges equal to 1/8 of the circle. I have assembled my circle in quarters, don’t let that confuse you.

Final Assembly

The easiest way to join to the background would be as follows:

  • Join AB to X, CD to Q. EF to R, GH to S, IJ to T, KL to U, MN to V and OP to W.
  • Join BAX to CDQ …etc to obtain 4 squares.
  • Assemble the 4 squares; square up the block to 18.5″ . We are done!
You can BUY the paper piecing templates and instructions  (including fabric requirement) here.
  1. Templates – For paper piecing Block Four SAPPHIRE RAINBOW of the Round the Year BOM Quilt.
  2. Instructions – For Block Four SAPPHIRE RAINBOW of the Round the Year BOM Quilt.

Please note that the downloadable patterns and instruction files for the Dreamcatcher Round the Year quilt blocks are being migrated to my store MadsPatch and will not be available for download for free from 15th November 2020 onwards.

Assemble the Card Trick Quilt Block – Step by Step

The pattern and piecing instructions for the Card Trick , the third of the blocks in my BOM quilt Round the Year were posted by me a few days ago.

Incidentally, there are 26 templates and  14o pieces in this block…just so that you can boast about it!

Assembly

1. First, lay out all the pieced templates using the master template as a guide.

Lay out the pieced templates using the master template as guide
Pieced templates arranged using the master template as a  guide

2. Assembling the Inner Circle

– Pin together each triangular ‘card’ to the corresponding wedge . If one makes a mistake and  joins wrong pieces together at this stage, the ‘trick’ will not work, so follow the master template strictly!

For accurate piecing, I find  the alignment markers and crosses on the printed templates very helpful.

'Vertical' pin pushed through marker before securing the templates
‘Vertical’ pin pushed through marker before securing the templates
All inner templates ready for pinning together
All inner templates ready for pinning together in pairs
Secured with pins...
Secured with pins…

3. Sew to join together, removing pins as you are a stitch or two away.

Fix the thread as you begin
Fix the thread as you begin
...pulling out the pins as you approach them
…pulling out the pins as you approach them
Chain piecing saves time and thread!
Chain piecing saves time and thread!

Remove extraneous paper – from the seams and pieces without alignment markers. When the seams are pressed flat,  some paper at the corners will go under the upcoming seam, and will be near impossible to remove later. Take care of that. Tweezers help, as well as the ripper.

Remove paper from seam ...
Remove paper from seam …
Paper torn off from seam corners, leaving alignment markers intact
Paper torn off from seam corners, leaving alignment markers intact

4. Referring to the master template, join  the segments in pairs, aligning on the markers with vertical pins pushed through. When securing with pins, I ensure that the head of the pin is either on my right ( since I am right handed) or towards me as the fabric goes under the needle. This makes it easy for me to pull out the pin slowly , without any fear of getting poked!

Refer to the master template ...
Refer to the master template …

5. Join segment AI to CK to form a quarter circle.

6. Join segment  EM to GO to form a quarter circle.

This is as good a time as any to flip over to the fabric side to check if  you have got everything in order!  The little coloured piece on the wedge should be the same colour as the adjoining segment on its left.

7. Join the 2 quarters  at edges C and E to make the top half circle.

Top half of circle is ready!
Top half of circle is ready!

8. Join segment BJ to DL to form a quarter circle, and finally

9. Join FN to HP to form the last of the quarter circles.

10. Join these two quarter circles along edges D and F and the other half of the circle is done!

11. Now to assemble the arcs. There are only 6 arcs, so they will be joined in threes for the top and bottom halves.

QRS makes one half of the ring, and TUV makes the other, moving anti clockwise as you look at the printed  side.

Joining the arcs
Joining the arcs

12. Finally, the final step for assembling the circle! Joining the ring half to the circle half. Do not spare the pins at this stage! I put pins on every seam joint and on some alignment markers too!

Pin copiously!
Pin copiously!
Ready to stitch
Ready  to stitch

13. I find it cumbersome to stitch a curved seam with the paper attached !

It is cumbersome to stitch a curved seam with the paper attached
It is cumbersome to stitch a curved seam with the paper attached

Knowing my arc is securely pinned and correctly aligned to the circle, I can afford to tear away  bits of paper on the seam. I also have a 1/4″ stitch on my Hasina, my HQV machine so I am assured of an accurate seam!

You will notice I do not remove all the paper, as I will need the alignment markers on the outer edge of the arc when I join this to the background.

Paper removed from under the seam area eases sewing
Paper removed from under the seam area eases sewing

Here is one half of my circle assembled, the other half awaits its turn!

Time to gloat!
Time to gloat!

14.  Once both the half circles are ready, we can move to the background. Using the template W ( made of 2 paper  pieces glued together) we had cut 4 fabric pieces a bit larger on the long straight edges .  We join these in pairs, W to X and Y to Z.

15. Join one half of the circle to WX and the other to YZ.

16. Join the two block halves together to form the full square block, and trim it down to 1

An alternative method for joining the circle to the background is to join the two halves of the circle and appliqué the circle on to a background square, using your favourite method. If using this method, cut your square about an inch larger and trim to size after appliqueing.

There is also a freezer paper method for joining a circle to a background square, for which  several free tutorials are available online.

I hope you will enjoy making this block which comes up so magically!  Do share a picture of your completed block on my facebook page, the like button is on the side bar to the right!

You can BUY THE PATTERN HERE! Dusk Version Card Trick Block

Happy quilting, till I post the rainbow version of this block some time next week.

You can buy the pattern for the Rainbow Version of the Card-Trick Block here.

Assembling the Evening at the Pond Block

I had posted the instructions for piecing the second block of my block of the month quilt, Round the Year, here
When I left you, this is where we were, 16 templates pieced and ready for assembly, using the master template as a guide.

Evening at the Pond templates ready to be assembled
Evening at the Pond templates ready to be assembled

 

Actually, with this picture, gasping in admiration at what you had put together!

Paper piecing done!
Paper piecing done!

So after you’ve finished admiring your templates, head back to the sewing machine. This will come up really fast, and before you know, your block will be ready!
The order of piecing will be
1. Template A to template I; B to J; C to K….H to P!
Place templates A and I right sides together and push pins to align them. Secure with pins along the seam line and remove the hanging pins.

Pond and flying geese template pinned together
Pond and flying geese template pinned together
Hanging pins removed
Hanging pins removed

Sew all the pairs, AI, BJ, CK…HP. Remove the paper from the seams and the paper pieces that do not have alignment markers.

Press seam line in alternate directions  – as in the corresponding pond template.

And then there were eight!
And then there were eight!

Join these eight segments in pairs to make quarter circles. AI to BJ, CK to DL, EM to FN and GO to HP. If you want you can remove the paper pieces on the pond templates now.

Align the two adjoining segments with pins. I need to be very careful at this stage, as I always end up joining the pairs along the wrong edges – pinning helps prevent that.

Two segments being aligned together with pins
Two segments being aligned together with pins

 

...the hanging pins on the other side
…the hanging pins on the other side

Secure the two sub blocks together with pins and remove the hanging pins. Ready to sew!

Ready to go under the needle
Ready to go under the needle

The quarters are finally ready to be joined to the respective background pieces.

Rainbow against a blue sky!
Rainbow against a blue sky!
The rainbow against a cloudy sky…

The next block is ready to be revealed on the first of the next month! While you get your second block ready, I’ll get my blogpost ready!  Do post pictures of your block on my facebook page Patchwork of My Life!

 

Rainbow Evening at the Pond – Block Two, Dreamcatcher Round the Year, Block of the Month Quilt

Evening at the Pond

This, EVENING AT THE POND, the second block in my Block of the Month quilt ‘Dreamcatcher Round the Year’ , is a favourite of mine! For those of you who came in late, this quilt is being made in two colourways. The first, Dusk is in blues, oranges and yellows of a  brilliant sunset, while the second, Rainbow is a more modern version with rainbow colours set against grey and sky blue.

This particular block went through several reincarnations before acquiring its present form, but that deserves its vey own blogpost!  It was tested for me by Nikhat Syeda Arshia and by Sobana Sundar, who has shared her adventure of testing an earlier version of the block on her blog.

Instructions

 These are instructions for the “Rainbow ” colourway,  including the paper piecing templates, fabric requirement and cutting instructions. These instructions can also be downloaded in a printable .pdf format from the link at the end of this post.

The fabric requirement for the Dusk colourway was posted a few days ago.

The block is paper foundation pieced before being assembled. The finished block size is 18″ square with an inset circle of 15″ diameter.

Fabric Requirement and Cutting Instructions

.

Cut the 2″ X50″ grey strip for the pond into 12 rectangles – 4 strips each of 5″, 4.5″ and 3.5″.

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Take a print out of the template.pdf file at with printer setting at 100% or actual size. You  have the following templates:
  • 8 arc templates numbered I to P for the outer ring of flying geese
  • 8 templates A to H for the inner ‘pond’
  • Template S in 2 pieces S1 and S2 for one quarter of the outside square.

2. Piecing

  • Piece the templates A to H
  • Piece the flying geese templates I to P

3. Assembly

  • Join A to I, B to J, C to K …H to P
  • Join AI to BJ to get quarter circle AIBJ; similarly assemble CKDL, EMFN and GOHP
  • Join the quarter circles to Q, R, S and T respectively to get four quarters of your final block.
  • Assemble the 4 squares; square up the block to 18.5″ – we are done!

Refer to the Master template below as a guide when assembling the paper pieced templates.

You can also use it to try out your own colour schemes; use colour pencils!

I would love to see  pictures of your completed blocks on my facebook page “Patchwork of My Life”  –  a link is on the sidebar!

Downloadable files:

1. Paper piecing template – Rainbow Evening at the Pond , Block Two of  Round the Year Quilt

2 Instructions -Rainbow Evening at the Pond , Block Two of  Round the Year Quilt

BUY PATTERN NOW!

 Please note that the downloadable patterns with paper piecing templates and instruction files for the Dreamcatcher Round the Year quilt blocks are being migrated to my store MadsPatch and will not be available for download for free from 15th November 2020 onwards

Evening at the Pond – Step by Step Piecing Instructions

This post seems to be jinxed! I wrote the whole post, to find that I had overwritten the assembly instructions. Those will follow in another post!

My laptop is back from the service centre with a new hard disk, but I am not able to locate all the pictures! So here are the step by step instructions for piecing the Evening at the Pond block, ( the second block in the Dreamcatcher Round the Year Block of the Month quilt) with the pictures for a few steps missing.

As you may recall, here also the finished block size is 18″ square with a 15″ inset circle. The block is paper foundation pieced before being assembled. This is a really easy block, though you may find piecing the flying geese a bit tedious! I know that I thought the Dahlia block was super easy to piece, not so easy to assemble. This one is really, really easy to assemble, it has no curves anywhere!

So here we go!

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Take print outs of the template.pdf file with your printer settings at 100% or actual size. Cut out the templates, leaving a little margin on all sides. You have the following templates:
  • 8 arc templates numbered I to P for the outer ring of flying geese
  • 8 triangular templates A to H for the inner ‘pond’
  • Template S in 2 pieces S1 and S2 for one quarter of the outside square.
  1. Take a print out of the Instructions File and keep it hand.
  2. Colour code the fabric you plan to use. Follow the instructions to cut the fabric. If your fabric is pre-starched, it gives a nice, crisp, neat finish to your final block!
  3. Pin the cut fabric pieces to each template
    using the colour code as a guide – I always do that or I get confused what goes where!!
  4. Fabric pieces pinned to each template for ease in piecing
  5. Piecing the Pond
  • The templates A, C, E and G are pieced from the outer edge to the centre and the alternate pieces B, D, F and H are pieced from the centre outwards.
  • The adjoining seams facing opposite directions ensures a nice `fit’ when the pieces are finally assembled.
  • Right sides together – ready to piece!
  • Unpin the two fabric pieces to be joined, place them on the wrong side of the template, keeping a seam allowance of ¼” approximately. The remaining two pieces are pinned back to the template so that they don’t get misplaced and mixed up!
  • I chain pieced the templates in alphabetical order, so that my chain looked something like this!
  • Chain piecing the ‘pond’…
  • My fabric pieces are not rectangles like yours will be – this is so that you do not make stupid mistakes like I did! Lesson learnt – Resist the temptation to trim the fabric pieces to size before you sew them!
  • Oops what was that???
  • Also remember to flip over your piece No 2 to ensure that it covers the entire section that it is supposed to! Or you may end up using the services of Jack the Ripper!
  • The perils of not placing fabric pieces correctly 🙁
  • One way to ensure that is to lightly fold the fabric piece to find the centre and do the same for the paper template, and match them when sewing. ( However, this is unlikely to happen to you, because I have made the pieces really long, with a lot of margin of error!
  • Now that all the 8 pond templates have the sections 1 and 2 pieced, we clip apart the templates and head to the ironing table. Trim seam allowance to ¼” if needed. You can just eyeball it and use your scissors to trim the seam – not necessary to use the services of a rotary cutter.
  • Press open piece 2; if your fabric is well starched and crisp, you may just finger press.
  • Seams trimmed to 1/4″ – pressing open the second strip
  • Similarly attach piece 3. Trim seam allowance to ¼” and press open the third piece.
  • Strip 3 sewn and pressed open
  • Attach piece 4, trim seam allowance to ¼” press open. Trim the excess fabric from the sides and our pond pieces are ready! That was really easy, wasn’t it?!
  • Hurrah! Pond pieced!

Do not get confused by this picture! I changed the pattern after I made this block, so your pond templates will add up to an octagon, not a circle!

  1. Piecing the flying geese
  2. The templates I to P will be pieced to make a ring of flying geese. Here chain piecing is not really possible, so this bit of piecing goes a bit slow!
  • Place the first rectangle for the goose (wrong side of fabric touching paper) so that the seam allowance between Goose 1 and Goose 2 extends about a ¼” beyond the seam line, like in the picture below.
  • Hold up the paper against light to ensure correct placement – 1/4″ beyond seam line
  • Place the half square triangle for Piece 2 with the longest side (hypotenuse) aligned to the seam allowance. You can hold it against the light to see that the piece extends approximately ¼” beyond the seam line. You can pin it like I have done. These two pictures show the two sides…
  • Piece 2 is also in order 🙂
    The other side! The triangular sky is placed with the long edge on the seam line
  • Caution : The next few pictures are of a previous version of the block, so please do not get confused by the template numbers or order of piecing.
    Sew on the seam line, extending your seam line to approximately ¼” beyond into the next section.
  • The seam line 1/4″ extends beyond the centre
  • Flip over and trim the excess fabric to leave a seam allowance of ¼” , press open.
  • Trim off excess fabric!
  • Similarly sew the other triangular `sky’ piece, going beyond the centre point, like was done for the previous piece. Now trim the seam allowance to ¼” and press open. The first goose is ready!
  • Piece 3 sewn , ready for trimming and pressing open
  • TIP – Before sewing the sky pieces, do remember to check the placement of the piece so that it covers the respective `sky’ section fully when pressed open. This is especially true of the sky pieces on the outer border of the ring.
    Fold back the paper on the seam line between the just pieced section and the next – that would be the long line of Piece 4. You will need tear a bit of the paper here, to detach the top seam allowance from the paper. No worry!
  • Trim this seam allowance to ¼” on the just pieced portion.
  • Place the rectangle piece for the second goose, right side down on the just pieced section and sew. Press open. Continue to piece as in previous sections.
  • Here is a picture taken by Sobana, who tested the block!
  • Sobana’s arc under construction!
  • And here is a picture of the fully pieced template, trimmed to size
  • One arc done!
  • This is how it looks from the back! You can see how the seams extend into the adjoining section in the centre of the template.
  • Final trimming!
  • And here is the full ring of flying geese made by Sobana! Aren’t they pretty?
  • Ring of flying geese! Love it!

So all our templates are pieced!

Using the master template as a guide, arrange your templates and admire them!

Ready for assembly!

The assembly instructions will be  online soon, while you get cracking on this!

You can download the instructions and templates files here.

1. Paper piecing templates – Evening at the Pond ( Block Two of Round the Year Quilt)

2. Instructions (Dusk version) -Evening at the Pond ( Block Two of Round the Year Quilt)

You can access the pattern for the first block, Dahlia here.

 Please note that the downloadable patterns with paper piecing templates and instruction files for the Dreamcatcher Round the Year quilt blocks are being migrated to my store MadsPatch and will not be available for download for free from 15th November 2020 onwards.