Civil War Tribute Quilt

Civil War Tribute Quilt
Another UFO

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Setting Block

I thought I would post the directions for the setting block for this quilt. You will need 13 of these. The directions are for one. If you vary the colors in the block, you will get a scrappier look.

From the Background Fabric - Cut 4 - 4 1/2" Squares and 8 - 2 1/2" Squares.

From Fabric A - Cut 1 - 4 1/2" Square

From 8 different Medium-Dark Fabrics - Cut 1 - 2 1/2" Square

Make a 4 - 4 Patch units using 2 Background Fabrics and 2 of the Medium-Dark Fabrics. The Background fabrics should be opposite each other.

Piece the Block as a 9 Patch. Place the 4 Patch untis in the corners and Fabric A in the center. I tried to put a different fabric in each of my blocks in the center.


This is what the setting block looks like. I used several light fabrics for my Background Fabrics.







You will also need to make Corner Stones to finish the quilt. You will use 2 - 2 1/2" squares from your Background Fabric and 2 - 2 1/2" squares from you Medium-Dark Fabrics. You need 36 of these. In the phote on the right, these are incorrect. The photo shows these as all Medium-Dark Fabrics. I think it will look better if these are done this way instead.

Sashing pieces are cut from your Background Fabric. They are 4 1/2" x 12 1/2" rectangles. You will need 60 sashing strips.

Quarter Square Triangle Ruler

This post is on how to cut Quarter Square Triangles using strips of fabric and a Quarter Square Triangle Ruler.
You need to determine the height of you Quarter Square Triangle (QST). If you are making an Hourglass Block and the finished size is 4", your QST will be half that size. So, it will finish 2". You need to add 1/2" to the finished size to get the unfinished size. Your unfinished size is 2 1/2". Cut a strip of fabric 2 1/2". Before I cut a QST, I cut off a Half Square Triangle (HST) to get started. You can see that in the picture. I have a 2 1/2" strip that I cut a HST from.




Place your ruler with the point side down and lay on your fabric strip. The point is actually blunt to allow for the seam allowance. Make a cut along the right side of the ruler. That is your first QST.








Turn your ruler around to make your next cut. Continue turning your ruler to make additional cuts until you have the number of QST you need. If you are cutting a lot of QST, you can layer your fabric strips to cut several strips at once.






After I have all my QST cut, I use my HST ruler to cut the tips off, as pictured below. This saves you time later. You will not have "dog ears" to cut off after you have sewn these together.








I cut QSTs from my background fabric to make this block. Cutting these triangles this way keeps your straight of grain on the outside edges. Your bias in in the middle where it should be.



I hope you will try the QST Ruler. It will save you fabric and time. I love doing QST this way. They are much more accurate when piecing.


Have a Quilty Day!

Star of Hope - Block #5

This is the next block, called Star of Hope. It is not very difficult. We are going to introduce a new ruler this month. It is a Quarter Square Triangle Ruler (QST).





For this block, you need to cut:


Fabric A (Dark #1, I used Blue) : 1 - 4 1/2" strip. From this strip, cut 1 - 4 1/2" square and cut 4 - 4 1/2" Half Square Triangles


Fabric B (Background) : 1 - 4 1/2" strip. From this strip, cut 4 - 4 1/2" squares
Cut 1 - 2 1/2" strip. From this strip, cut 4 Quarter Square Triangle

(see directions for using the Quarter Square Triangle Ruler)



Fabric C (Dark #2, I used Red) : Cut 1 - 2 1/2" strip, from this strip, cut 4 Quarter Square Triangles.


Piece Fabric B and Fabric C Quarter Square Triangles together.
You need 4 of these. They will look like the Cream and Red Triangle in the picture.








Piece the QST unit to the Fabric A HST to make this unit. You need 4 of these.









Lay your block out like the one in the picture. It is now like a 9 Patch. Piece the rows together. The first row and last row will have a Fabric B square-QST &HST unit-Fabric B square. The second row will have QST & HST unit-Fabric A square-QST &HST unit. Sew the rows together.





Now, you have finished another block. Congratulations!

Where has the year gone?

Where has the year gone? My last post was in April! I had good intensions to post the Block of the Month here every month, but...what happened? I am going to blame Track. Track season started and then I had no time! If you don't know, I am a High School Track Coach. This year we had 8 kids qualify for the State Track meet. That is more than we have ever had since I have been coaching Track here. So, our season went to the end of May. Then it was summer. It was a busy summer. I say "was", because it is almost over. School starts next week and, so, it is almost over. I am enjoying my last week sewing and quilting. Summer started with having to clean out the basement. We had a water line leak and so I had to go through all the boxes that have been waiting down there for 4 years to be unpacked. After that, we started to put the pool up. We had one problem after another. Finally got it ready to put water in and a storm came through that night and folded it up. End of that pool. We ordered another one and it came the week we were to leave on a mission trip. We got it up though. But, the water they hauled in was dirty. We had to wait until we got back from our trip to get it clean. Finally got it clean and running Sunday. Sunday night and all day Monday it rained, so we haven't had a chance to swim yet! Out Mission Trip was to a very small country in Europe called Moldova. It is close to Russia. In fact, it was part of Russia at one time. We had a Dental Team, a Construction Team, a Medical Team, and a Day Camp Team. I serve on the Day Camp Team. We work with a Baptist Church in Cantemir and we usually go out to a village nearby to do work. The Construction Team helped with a new roof for the church in Cantemir. This year we went to Plopi to do work. We offer free dental and medical services. The Day Camp Team works with children in the village and does like a Vacation Bible School. The Day Camp Team went to two other villages, also. We were in Plopi on Monday, Taraclia on Tuesday, and Hirtop on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday we were in Cantemir. We saw 201 children over the week. Just a side note: If you have ever given to the Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes at Christmas time, they received Shoeboxes last Christmas. Thank you.) The people in the villages have very, very little. Most of their adults are in other countries working. Some of the children live with their Grandparents while their parents are some where else working. So, anyway, we got home Sunday, July 31st. So, that was my summer and that's where the year went. Always very busy, as I'm sure all of you are. too.
Now to get back to posting all the back blocks for the Block of the Month.