I don’t like to waste any of my precious time at quilting retreat, so this block was done from start to finish on the third and final day. But the retreat wasn’t all Dear Jane all the time …
In the dining hall, they had these cool fabric baskets made out of two squares of fabric set as the centerpiece on each table.
My friend Judith and I spent a lot of time investigating these at one of the meals, trying to figure out how to make fabric baskets of our very own. Luckily, I keep a small ruler in my purse for just these emergency measuring situations.
Judith, of course, made her own fabric basket in a custom size while we were still at retreat. I did not do that. The only thing that came out of the basket investigations for me was a burning need to know how long it takes me to hand-stitch an inch.
But you’re here to hear about Block H3, not about my shortcomings as a fabric basket maker.
The cutting instructions on this block called for two quarter-square triangles of the tan print in one size, and two more in another size.
You cut out quarter-square triangles four at a time – that’s why they’re called quarter-square triangles – so it seemed really wasteful to cut out two sets of four and only use half of the resulting triangles.
Naturally, I worked up an unnecessarily complicated plan to cut all four triangles, in two different sizes, out of a single square.
First, I cut out a square in the larger size called for (3 1/2″). I cut it in half diagonally, set one half aside, and cut the other triangle in half diagonally:
This got me the two larger quarter-square triangles needed, and left me with one even larger half-square triangle:
Then I took the leftover half-square triangle and lined it up in the corner of my ruler at the 2 3/4″ mark (the size of square needed to cut out the smaller quarter-square triangles) on both short sides. I trimmed off the excess on the two short edges of that triangle:
The final step was to cut that new, smaller half-square triangle in half:
And voila! Four quarter-square triangles, in two different sizes, from a single square:
After the self-imposed challenge of minimal-waste fabric cutting, the assembly was pretty straightforward.
First, I stitched those little red strips to the smaller quarter-square triangles. Take note: these strips are directional – make sure you attach the shorter strip on top of each triangle first, so that everything lines up:
Definitely don’t be like me, and reference an image of the block that I had apparently glued to my index card upside down! Luckily, I caught the mistake before I started stitching.
Next, I stitched those units to the larger quarter-square triangles to make the center square. The smaller half-square triangles were stitched on next, to make flying geese and flying geese-esque units for the sides. And at that point, it was just a simple nine-patch block:
Finishing this block was not a bad way to wrap up my quilting retreat.
And retreat was just what I needed: good friends, good food, good centerpieces, and of course, lots of quilting. What a great way to spend my time!