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Make a Greek Cross Quilt Block from Charm Squares

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Today we are going to make a Greek Cross Quilt Block from charm squares.  You will notice how similar it is to a Churn Dash. It is an example of how we can, by varying the fabrics and the direction of each square within the 9 patch,  achieve a totally different block.

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

DARK:  4 x 5″ squares

LIGHT:  4 x 5″ squares

OTHER:  1 x 5″ square trimmed to 4.5″

LET’S SEW!

  1.  Trim the OTHER square to 4.5″
  2.  With 2 x Light and 2 x Dark squares make make HST’s
  • diagonal line
  • scant 1/4″ either side of line
  • cut between the lines

3.   Take the other 2 x Dark and Light squares and

  •   Fold the light squares in half and finger press or draw a line down the centre.
  •   Place the light square and a dark square, right sides together and sew a scant 1/4″ either side of the centre line. (better too scant than not enough)
  •   Cut along the line between the two rows of stitching.

NANNY TIP:  Don’t forget if you are using a Directional fabric, you will need to join one pair of squares in one direction and the other pair in the other direction

4.  Trim all squares to 4.5″ squares

5.  Organise your squares:

6.  Sew your 9 Patch and press.

That leaves us only 6 more blocks to complete for our 9 Patch Sampler.  Have you started to try them out to see how they will look all together? How about sharing a photo of your blocks – I would love to see them!

Until next time

Nanny xx

Make a Formal Garden quilt block from Charm Squares.

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We are now half way through the blocks for our 9 Patch Sampler so I thought I might take the dog for a walk and show you how to make a Formal Garden block from Charm Squares – I love the little paw prints and decided to pair them up with the string or leash – I just know what a little dog would do to a formal garden!

NANNY NOTE:  Our first Nannycraft4u Quilting Retreat that was scheduled for this weekend has had to be cancelled due to the flooding associated with Cyclone Debbie.  We are therefore holding an online ‘Retreat’ on my facebook page and I have decided to publish this post early so that members can complete it during our sew in.  Our overseas friends are welcome to join us!

WHAT YOU NEED:

DARK:  4 x 5″ squares

LIGHT:  4 x 5″ squares

OTHER:  1 x 5″ square

LET’S SEW!

1.  Pair up the LIGHTs and DARKs  5″ squares and make HSTs – you will be HST queens after this!

  • diagonal line
  • scant 1/4″ either side of line
  • cut between the lines

2.  Trim all squares to 4.5″ and press.

3.  Organise your squares

NANNY TIP:  You will notice as you join half square triangles in different ways , it is not always best to press the seams the same way.  Experiment a bit with your seams – you may find it less bulky if you press your seam open.  There is no rule – you do what works best for you!

NANNY TIP:  If you want to press a seam open, press it to one side first and then it is easy to get the tip of the iron under one side to press it open without burning your fingers!

4.  Sew your 9 Patch and press.

 

I think my little dog has behaved perfectly as we walked around the garden – he stopped and checked each corner and continued on his way!

Until next time

Nanny xx

Make a Spool block from Charm Squares

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Today we are going to make the 7th block in our 9 Patch Sampler.  We are going to make a Spool block using our Charm Squares.

The spool is so called because it is designed to look like a spool of thread.  With more experience, you will be able to vary the size and shape of the spool, but for today, we will stay with our 4.5″ squares made into a 9 patch.

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

The Spool is the first block where  we will be introducing another fabric to our 9 patches – I have called it OTHER so I now have, DARK, LIGHT and OTHER.  It is simply an accent fabric that will add to the design.  I am using Black and you can see that it represents the thread on the spool.

Dark: 4 x 5″ squares – 2 are left at 5″ and the other 2 are trimmed to 4.5″

Light:  4 x 5″ squares – 2 are left at  5″ and the other 2 are trimmed to 4.5″

Other:  1 x 5″ square – trimmed to 4.5″ (this is the thread on the spool)

LET”S SEW:

  1.  Take the two 5″ Dark and Light and make  4 HST’s
  • diagonal line
  • scant 1/4″ either side of line
  • cut between the lines
  • trim to 4.5″ and press OR press and trim to 4.5″

2.  Sew a 4.5″ Light either side of the 4.5″ Other

YOU NOW HAVE :

  • 2 x 4.5″ Dark
  • 4 x 4.5″ HSTs
  • Light – Other – Light

3. Organise your squares:

4.  Sew your 9 Patch.  Take care to match the joins carefully to finish the spool.

 

5.  Press and add it to your growing samples.

Make a Spool Block from Charm Squares

Thank you for sharing your photos to our Facebook page Nanny Sews and Crafts – it is fun to see how different each block looks with the different fabric choices!

 

Until next time

Nanny xx

Make a Contrary Wife Quilt Block from Charm Squares

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For all the ‘contrary’ wives out there today we will make a Contrary Wife quilt block from charm squares.

Contrary Wife Quilt Block

WHAT YOU NEED:

LIGHT:  5 x 5″ squares

DARK: 4 x 5″ squares

 

 

LET’S SEW:

Nanny Note:   if you need more detailed instructions just follow the links for a quick reminder!

  1.  Take 3 LIGHT and 2 Dark squares and trim them to 4.5″
  2. Take 2 LIGHT and 2 DARK and make HST’s
  • diagonal line
  • scant 1/4″ either side of line
  • cut between the lines
  • trim  to 4.5″and press OR press and trim to 4,5″

3.  Organise your squares:

 

4. Sew your 9 patch and press.

Contrary Wife Quilt Block
Contrary Wife Quilt Block

How did you go with the Contrary wife?  Are you feeling a little contrary now?  I must admit when I saw the name of this block, I imagined a  frustrated quilter ( maybe with little ones crying “Whats for dinner?”) trying to make sense of her squares and HSTs and getting flustered – maybe she was having problems with her corners or maybe her directional fabrics!

Whatever it was, we have been left with a fun block in her memory!

 

Until next time

Nanny xx

Make Half Square Triangles from Charm Squares

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Today we are going to make a Variation of the 9 patch .  We will make Half Square Triangles from Charm Squares and add them to the 9 patch.  This will add more variety to our 9 Patch Sampler.

 

WHAT YOU NEED:

  • 4 x 5″ squares  Dark and
  • 5 x 5″ squares Light

LET’S SEW!

We are now going to make a Half Square Triangle – this is another shape that is used in many quilting designs and with careful measuring, stitching and trimming you will have no troubles!

1.   Take one Dark and one Light and on the wrong side of the Light, draw in the diagonal.

2.  Place it right sides together with the remaining Dark and stitch a scant 1/4″ either side of the line.

3.  Cut between the lines

 

You now have two half square triangles! That was easy wasn’t it!

4.  Now comes the trimming:

To make it easier, I have placed masking tape along the 45 degree line on my rule.

Nanny note:  I am going to show you two methods of trimming – you might like to try both and decide which works best for you!

Method 1

Take one of the triangles and place your rule so that:

  • the 45 degree line is along the stitching line so you can just see the stitching
  • the 4.5″ line on the rule is running down the left and meeting the other 4.5″ line at the bottom left .

Now trim along the edge that is showing (top right – sorry I already trimmed)

Press seam towards the dark and you should have a 4.5″ square.

Method 2

Press the seam towards the dark

Place the rule 45 degree line along the seam, moving it along till you can see 4.5″ both ways – mine runs down the left side and along the bottom and meet where they meet the 45 degree line. (see the green pencil)

 

Trim the 2 sides – top and right

Turn the square around and repeat the process to square it up.

This trimming is an important part of quilting – we keep squaring, trimming and checking as we go and this results in blocks that go together easily and end up the size we are after!

5.  Trim the other squares  3 Dark and 4 Light to 4.5″ squares

6.  Organise the squares:

Nanny note:  

When you join a half square triangle to another square, you will notice that the diagonal does not join into the corner of the other square – dont panic!  That is what is supposed to happen- it is the 1/4″ seam allowance for when you join to the next row.

 

Nanny note – pressing:  when you join a HST (Half Square Triangle) to another square ,  press so that the seams including the diagonal seam lie flat even if it means it will be towards the light square.

Sew and press your 9 patch.

Well done!

Next week we will continue using charm squares, strips and Half Square Triangles to make variations of the 9 patch to add to our Sampler.  Don’t forget to show us your blocks – I’m loving the different fabric choices!

Until next time

Nanny xx

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