Saturday Six-Inch Sampler 25

After a very brief look at K and L we arrive at M this week with a somewhat unseasonal Maple Leaf and a slightly more seasonal Merry Kite. But we start with the applique letter – download the template but don’t forget to add a seam allowance if you want to turn the edges under.

We have two maple Leaf blocks for you – the first is based on strips with no stalk

This allows you to colour the strips differently if you so choose – the instructions download includes a block to colour

The second has a stalk and is based on a nine-patch of squares and half-square triangles

This allows you to colour all the different parts of a leaf – just like a fabulously mottled autumn leaf.

The instructions for both blocks are included in the download.

Merry Kite has quite a few Y seams to contend with but is probably worth persevering with (can’t you tell Chris does not like Y seams?!)

There are colouring opportunities galore here, not least the ability to make the block look as if it is folding. Download the instructions and a block to colour.

Or you can do away with those pesky Y seams by adding extra seams –

Next week we will have a couple more blocks beginning with M if you care to join us as we explore our alphabet of six-inch blocks. Remember – six-inch blocks are ideal for using up those smaller scraps!

Saturday Six-inch Sampler 24

This week we move on to blocks beginning with L. First of all though here is the applique letter for you, download the template but don’t forget to add a seam allowance if you wish to use turned-under edges.

Our first block can be nothing other than Log Cabin – it is such a versatile block with so many possible setting variations, ideal for scrap quilts and with the potential for each ‘log’ to be pieced in a multitude of ways you can make many more patterns with it. This is the basic block –

Its close relation is Courthouse Steps and we decided to combine the two as the cutting, if not the piecing sequence, is so similar – the instructions are ready to download. Just like Log Cabin the Courthouse Steps blocks can be re-arranged in several ways, made with scraps and have pieced logs. This is the basic block –

Our second (third?) block is London Roads, a nine-patch block with stripped units and three-triangle units. Download the cutting instructions and if you need help with piecing don’t forget to look on our Tutorials page. This is the basic block –

Plus a few colour variations –

We have kept to the original places for contrast of light and dark so that the arrows still show but it is of course possible to lose that pattern by putting lights and darks in different places – a colouring sheet is included in the instructions so you can have a play.

Next week join us as we move on along the alphabet to blocks beginning with M.

Saturday Six inch Sampler 23

This week we bring you blocks beginning with K and the key question is – which blocks have we chosen?! But first here’s the applique letter for those who are collecting them and you can download the template for the six-inch block as well, but don’t forget to add a seam allowance if you are turning under the edges.

Our first block is called Key Lime Pie – another one to add to your cakes/sweets sampler perhaps. Download the instructions here. These are the two colours that EQ provides

The instructions include a colouring page so how will you colour your block? These are the random colours EQ’s magic wand came up with

You could add this block to Apple Pie, Blueberry Pie and French Silk Pie.

Our second block is Key West and you can download the instructions here. EQ gives these two colours for the block

Then the EQ magic wand gave us these random recolourings

There are quite a number of other blocks beginning with K – Kaleidoscope, King’s Crown, Kansas Troubles among others – but we decided to have just these two ‘key’ blocks and so next week we move on to blocks beginning with L. If you want to make more K blocks you can always search online or in various block pattern books for them or for any others.

Saturday Six Inch Sampler 22

More blocks beginning with J this week – Jewel Star and one of the many blocks called Joseph’s Coat. Both of these have a lot of potential for secondary patterns if you put four (or more) together as well as a lot of different patches to colour and so change the look of the block entirely.

Jewel Star has shapes that can really only be cut out with templates – you can download these and a block to colour – and it seems a rather odd-shaped ‘star’, until you put four blocks together when the star becomes apparent. These are the greyscale and initial colours from EQ

The magic wand in EQ then gave these four blocks – but how would you colour it?

This Joseph’s Coat block looks more star-like than Jewel Star and, oddly for a block called Joseph’s Coat doesn’t offer quite so many colour opportunities. It too is best cut out with templates or you can foundation piece it – both templates and foundation papers are included in the download along with a block to colour. These are the EQ greyscale and colour versions

Using the magic wand in EQ gave these four

Both these blocks could go into a star sampler along with Arkansas Star, Eccentric Star, Friendship Star and Interlaced Star.

Join us next Saturday for blocks beginning with K

Saturday Six Inch Sampler 21

And so we move on along the alphabet to blocks beginning with

You can download the template to applique this letter – remember to add seam allowance if you like a turned-under edge. As with all PDFs please make sure you have ticked the box that says ‘actual size’ when you print out templates.

Our first block beginning with J is Jeffrey’s Nine-Patch. The instructions to download include rotary cutting measurements, templates and some foundation piecing units as well as a block to colour. This is the block in greyscale and the default EQ colours

But you can have a lot of fun with the colours in this block – it is called Joseph’s Coat after all. These are some of the colourings that EQ’s magic wand came up with, but what would you do?

Looking at those four blocks above there are lots of possibilities for secondary patterns where the blocks meet as well making a very colourful quilt – more colourful perhaps than these offerings.

More blocks beginning with J next week.

Saturday Six Inch Sampler 20

More blocks beginning with ‘I’ this week and we’re getting tangled with Interlaced Star and Interlocked Squares.

Interlaced Star is two stars in one and can be foundation pieced or you can use templates to cut out the pieces – both are given in the instructions to download. This is the star in greyscale and in colour

With a wave or two of the magic wand in EQ these are some of the other ways you could colour it – there is a colouring page included in the download.

Our second block – Interlocked Squares – can be rotary cut or you can use templates for piecing, a block to colour is also included in your download.

These are the initial greyscale and coloured versions of the block

And these are some of the other colours EQ chose

What colours would you choose?

Next week we start our selection of blocks beginning with J.

Saturday Six Inch Sampler 19

We’re halfway through May already – how did that happen? Today we move on to blocks that begin with I. You can download the applique design for the letter I here.

Our first two blocks are Illinois and Indiana Puzzle. Download the cutting instructions etc by clicking on their names.

Illinois is the more complex block – lots of units including Flying Geese, Half-Square Triangles and Square -in-a-Square – which means lots of opportunities for colouring. These first two are the EQ versions and then we had a bit of a play with the magic wand and a few tweaks of our own. The download includes a block to colour which you can print out as many times as you wish.

Indiana Puzzle is an easier block to piece (perhaps) with just Half-Square Triangles and a central Square-in-a-Square but still opportunities for playing with colours. Again these first two are from the EQ library and the others have been generated with the magic wand (plus a few extras of our own). Download the full instructions to find a colouring page to play with.

More blocks beginning with I next week.

Saturday Six Inch Sampler 18

We’re still with blocks beginning with H this week and we have chosen two very different ones – Hour Glass and Hummingbird.

But who knew just how many blocks were called Hour Glass at some point in their history?! And that is without looking at ones such as Spinning Hour Glass, or Double Hour Glass, or Uncle Sam’s Hour Glass, or . . . . . So we whittled it down to just four very similar blocks which (with our usual ingenuity and imagination) we have labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4. You can download a pdf with rotary cutting instructions and templates as well as blocks to colour for all four blocks.

Hour Glass 1looks like this in EQ’s original greyscale and colours

Then we move onto Hour Glass 2 – still with EQ’s original colourings

Hour Glass 3 looks like this

And finally Hour Glass 4.

As you can see they are all very similar in that they consist of squares and half-square-triangles. Hummingbird however has very different shaped triangles – ones we have christened Ice Cream Cones. Download the templates and foundation piecing units as well as a block to colour. This is EQ’s original colouring –

How would you colour your blocks? What do these blocks look like if you put four together?

Next week we start to explore blocks beginning with I.

Saturday Six Inch Sampler 17

This week we have some blocks beginning with H but first here is the applique letter for you to download – don’t forget to add those seam allowances if you intend to turn the edges under.

Our first block this week is called Handweave

EQ had a bit of fun with some new colours. You can download the cutting instructions and a block to colour here.

More triangles in our second block – Hopscotch. Download the cutting instructions here as well as a block to colour.

This is how EQ played with it, but what will you do?

We will have more blocks beginning with H next week.

Saturday Six-Inch Sampler 16

Two more blocks beginning with G this week. Lots of triangles in Gentleman’s Fancy

and a variation of Flower Petals called Grist Mill.

Both have opportunities for different colourings. You can download templates, rotary cutting instructions and a block to colour for Gentleman’s Fancy and for Grist Mill here.

These are a few of the colourways that EQ came up with (and maybe the odd tweak of our own) staring with Gentleman’s Fancy

and then Grist Mill

Next week we move on to blocks beginning with H.