Tricia's Favorite Block Tutorials -- Block 7 OHIO STAR

Hello Again, Dear Friends!

I hope everyone is having fun with these quilt block tutorials.  In case I didn't mention it before, I plan to do 12 block tutorials and then I will do a tutorial on putting the 12 blocks together into a throw-sized Sampler Quilt!  So stick with me and you'll have a pretty nifty quilt when we're all done.

Here are the links for the first 6 blocks if you're just joining us:

1.  Shoofly

2.  Courthouse Steps

3.  Flying Geese

4.  Rail Fence

5.  Electric Fan

6.  Eccentric Star

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's jump right into our next block: 

OHIO STAR

  Did you know the Ohio Star Quilt Block is connected to John Brown, the abolitionist??????  

Hop over to Suzy Quilts to read more.

 

Here's what you need for one 12" (finished) block.

Dark Fabric:  1 square 5 1/4" x 5 1/4", cut on both diagonals to yield 4 triangles

Medium Fabric:  2 squares 5 1/5" x 5 1/4", cut on both diagonals to yield 8 triangles

Light Fabric:  1 square 4 1/2" x 4 1/2"

Background Fabric (white):  4 squares 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" and 1 square 5 1/4" x 5 1/4", cut on both diagonals to yield 4 triangles

Let's Sew it Together! 

1.  Sew a light triangle to a dark triangle.  Make 4.

2.  Sew a background triangle to a medium triangle.  Make 4.

3.  Sew the units from steps 1 and 2 together to make an Hourglass unit.  Make 4.

4.  Sew a unit from step 3 together between 2 white squares.  Make 2. 

5.  Sew a light square between 2 units from step 3.  Make 1. 

6.  Sew the rows together into an Ohio Star block.  SEW SIMPLE!

That wasn't too hard, was it????

Stay tuned for our next Block Tutorial in a couple weeks.

Know a friend who might enjoy this tutorial?  Please share.

Tricia's Favorite Block Tutorials -- Block 5 ELECTRIC FAN

Here are the links to the first 4 blocks in this series if you missed them:

Block 1 -- Shoo Fly

Block 2 -- Courthouse Steps

Block 3 -- Flying Geese

Block 4 -- Rail Fence

 

Our next block is the Electric Fan!

I think this block looks complicated, but it really isn't.  If you look closely, you can see that it is a 4 patch block in disguise -- 4 Hour Glass blocks turned this way and that.

This quilt block was included in a booklet called Practical Needlework:  Quilt Patterns in 1906.  The design was contributed by Clara Stone. (This information from The Electric Quilt Company BlockBase.)

What You Need:

2 white squares 7 1/4" x 7 1/4"

1 dark blue square 7 1/4" x 7 1/4"

1 medium blue square 7 1/4" x 7 1/4"

Here's What to Do:

(Please note that there are several ways to make Hour Glass units.  You can find many different tutorials online.)

1.  Cut all 4 squares on both diagonals. 

2.  Sew a dark blue triangle to a white triangle.  Make 4.

3.  Sew a medium blue triangle to a white triangle.  Make 4.

4.  Sew a dark blue unit to a medium blue unit to make an Hour Glass unit.  Make 4 units.

5.  Sew the 4 Hour Glass units together, turning as shown.

 And that's it!

 

Here's a quilt made with 20 Electric Fan blocks.  Isn't it great?  I love how crisp it looks with just 3 fabrics.  Wouldn't it be fun to scrap it up, though?  This would be an awesome scrap-buster!

 

 Go forth and make Electric Fan Blocks!

Tricia's Favorite Quilt Block Tutorial -- Block 1 SHOO FLY

What's your favorite quilt block?

I have quite a few favorite blocks, actually.  Maybe you do too.

Most of the blocks that I am a fan of are quick and easy to make.  I really love quick and easy because then I can spend more time playing with my fabric.

I thought it would be fun to show you some of my favorite blocks and how to make them along with a few ideas on using them in your projects.  AND I will turn my favorite blocks into a SAMPLER QUILT so hold on to your blocks until the end of the series for a fun Sampler Quilt setting.

 I LOVE the Shoo Fly block.  

When I was a new quilter, I cut out bunches of squares and triangles and hand-pieced them, eventually having enough to make a twin-sized quilt.  To be honest, the quilt didn't turn out very well because I didn't know then what I know now about quilting, but the important thing was that it got me excited to make MORE QUILTS.

According to the website Quilting in America, the block was "named after a wild plant with domed flowers called clover broom or shoo-fly, this 9-patch block originated around 1850 and became popular in the late 1800s."  For more history of the Shoofly block, visit Quilting in America.

Let's make a 12" finished Shoo Fly block!

What you need:

Medium/Dark fabric -- 2 squares 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" and 1 square 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" 

Light Fabric -- 2 squares 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" and 4 squares 4 1/2" x 4 1/2"

Here's what you do:

1.  Layer a 4 7/8" medium/dark square right sides together with a light 4 7/8" square.  Draw a line from one corner to the opposite corner diagonally.

2.  Sew 1/4" away from both sides of the drawn line.

3.  Cut apart on the line.   Voila!  You have 2 half square triangle blocks (HSTs).

4.  Repeat steps 1-3 to make a total of 4 HSTs.

Now here's the easy part -- the Shoo Fly block is simply a 9 Patch block in disguise!  Tehehehe!

5.  Sew a light 4 1/2" square between 2 HSTs as shown.  Make 2 rows.

 

6.  Sew a medium/dark 4 1/2" sqaure between 2 light 4 1/2" squares.  Make 1 row.

 

7.  Sew the row from step 6 between the rows from step 5, flipping the unit on the bottom to make a Shoo Fly block.

 

And there you have it -- one 12 1/2" Shoo Fly Block!  Yay!  Go you!