Sunday, September 11, 2016

2016 Cloud9 New Block Blog Hop

Welcome!  This has been a year of a lot of firsts for me!  The latest "first" is designing a block for this blog hop.  


First of all, thank you Cloud9 for providing the beautiful fabric for this blog hop and to Yvonne Fuchs at Quilting Jetgirl, Stephanie Naso Palmer of Late Night Quilter and Cheryl Kaminsky Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs for organizing it.  I am so looking forward to seeing everybody's creations!

Kudos to all those who design patterns for a living, as this was WAAAAY harder than I thought it would be.  I seem to have a fascination with 3-D looking things.   My two most visited posts on my blog (Pretzel Twist and Shadow Block Mini Blog Hop)  are both about quilts that have that three dimensional look to them.  In fact, this block is a modified version of the Pretzel Twist.  Just a little more 3-D.  I searched for a similar block design but didn't find one.  If this already exists, please let me know.  Without further ado, may I present . . .

SQUARE CHAIN LINKS

Here is my practice block . . .

Here is the test block which an unsuspecting friend (thank you Leanne) graciously agreed to sew  using my tutorial with nothing but the instructions (no pictures).  Here is her version . . .


And here is the final version using the beautiful Cloud9 fabrics.  When I first saw this color palette, they immediately made me think of shadows.

Right off the bat I will say I picked too hard a design for my skill level.  I am still not very good at consistent 1/4" seams yet so matching seams was a problem for me as you can see.  Even after practicing once, I still didn't quite get it right.  

As I was making my final block, disaster struck!  I had taken pictures of the process and halfway through ended up having to change memory cards as the one I was using locked up on me.  I thought I could still retrieve the pictures, but now I can't even find the card I was using!  Grrr.   I only have pictures for the last few steps of the block and the final finished product.  I will keep looking for my card so I can insert the pictures later.  UPDATE:  I did find my card; however, whatever caused it to lock up also prevented any saving of pictures so I lost all the pictures I took during the sewing of my block.  Boo.  :(

If you like this block at all, hopefully the diagram I have provided and the written instructions will be enough to complete it.  My apologies!   If you have the diagram to look at as you're following the instructions, it should be fairly easy to follow along.

I highly recommend pinning a label (1A, 1B, 1C, etc) to the pieces you cut as shown in the diagram below as this will help you later in locating which piece gets sewn to which without having to measure them every time!  You will need 28 labels.  Here are the labels you will need if you don’t already have a labeling system.


1A
1B
1C
1D
1E
1F
1G
1H
2A
2B
2C
2D
2E
3A
3B
3C
3D
4A
4B
4C
4D
4E
4F
5A
5B
5C
5D
5E



Fabric Needed--A fat quarter of each is more than sufficient and even a fat eighth of each would work.

Background (or fabric #1)
Cut two 2” strips the length of the FQ and then subcut into
1B, 1C and 1D

Cut 1 ½” strip the length of FQ and subcut into 1E, 1F and 1G

4” x 1”  (1H)
9” x 4 ½” ( 1A)

1A   4 ½” x 4 ½”  (cut two)
1B   8 ½” x 2” (cut two)
1C   4 ½” x 2” (cut two)
1D   3” x 2” (cut two)
1E   4” x 1 ½” (cut two)
1F   3” x 1 ½” (cut two)
1G  1 ½” x 1 ½” (cut one)
1H  1” x 1”  (cut four)
Dark Blue (or fabric #2)
From a 1” strip at least 21 ½” cut the following

2A  2” x 1”  (cut two)
2B  4 ” x 1 ”
2C  3” x 1” (cut two)
2D  5 ½” x 1”
2E  2 ½” x 1”

  
Light Blue or Fabric #3
From a 1 ½” strip at least 21” cut the following

3A  2” x 1 ½”
3B   5 ½” x 1 ½” (cut two)
3C   3” x 1 ½” (cut two)
3D   2 ½” x 1 ½”

Dark Pink (or Fabric #4)
From 1” strips totaling at least 23” and sub cut the following

4A  2” x 1”
4B  3” x 1”
4C  1 ½” x 1 (cut two)
4D  4 ½” x 1”
4E   6 1/2” x 1 ”
4F  3” x 1”
Light Pink (or Fabric #5)
Cut a 1 ½” strip at least 22” and then subcut into the following:

5A   2 x 1 ½”
5B   3 x 1 ½” (cut two)
5C   4 ½” x 1 ½”
5D   2 ½” x 1 ½”  (cut two)
5E   4 ½” x 1 ½”



Follow pressing instructions for best results but if no pressing instructions are given, it is your preference.

To get the teeny tiny difficult pieces out of the way first, take the four 1H’s and pin  them right sides together to one end of each of the following:   4E, 4D, one of the 2C’s, and 2D as shown

On  2D and 4E, sew diagonally across 1H from top left corner to bottom right corner

On  2C and 4D, sew diagonally across 1H from top right corner to bottom left corner

When you sewed the diagonal line on 1H it created a triangle flap.  Flip up and press.  Trim off excess triangles on the back

Put those four items with the small triangles attached (4E, 4D, 2C, 2D) back with their labels.

Sew the long side of 4C to the end of 1E, press to dark side.

With 4C at the top, sew 5E on the right side of the two you just sewed together

Sew one 5D onto each end 

Sew 4E  to the right side of 5E

Sew 4F to the end of 5D as shown, press toward 4F

Sew 1D to 4F, press toward 1D

Sew 1B to the right side of entire unit as shown

Sew 1A to top of unit as shown

You'res 1/3 done!

Section 2 (Middle Section)
Sew one of the 4C’s to 1G
With 4D on the top, now sew 4A to the left of that unit and press away from 4A

Sew 5A to the top of that unit

Sew 5B to the left of that unit and press away from 5B

Sew 1F to the top of that unit

Add 2C to the top of that unit (press toward 2C)

Add 3C to the top of that unit (press toward 2C)

Sew 3B to the right of that unit

Sew 2D to the right of 3B and press toward 3B

Sew 1C to the top of entire unit and press toward 1C

Set that unit aside

Sew 3D to the top of 2E

Sew 2A to the right side of that unit and press toward 2A

Sew 1F to the bottom of that unit


Sew 4B to the left of that unit and press toward 4B



Sew 5B to 4B and press toward 5B



Sew 5C to the bottom of that unit and press away from 5C



Sew 4D to the bottom of 5C and press toward 4D



Sew 1C to 4D and press toward 4D



Now sew this unit to the bottom of the previous unit we set aside

Section 3

Sew 2B to the left side of 1E

Sew 2A to top of that unit making sure 2B is on the left, press away from 2A



Sew 3A to 2A, open and press away from 3A

Sew 3B to the left side of unit which should be touching 2B, 2A and 3A



Sew 1D to the top of the unit, press away from 1D

Sew 3C to the bottom of the unit

Sew 2C to the bottom of 3C

Sew 1B to the left side of the unit


Sew 1A to the bottom of the unit

Sew Section 1 to the right side of Section 2


Sew Section 3 to the left side of Section 2



We’re through!  You should have a 12 ½” block (that will finish as 12”) .

My assessment of my own design?  Although it is interesting to look at, I would not want to make a whole quilt of this block; although if you like modern, I think it makes a great mini quilt or a one block baby quilt!  I will have to see if I can make an enlarged version for a baby quilt.  That would be much easier to put together.

Please take the time to visit the other block designers on this blog hop.  All of these blocks are going to be sewn together by Cheryl to make a quilt or two for charity.  I'm looking forward to seeing all of them together!

Monday, September 12th

Host: Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl
Visit Yvonne for a chance to win some Cirrus solids!

Tuesday, September 13th

Host: Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Wednesday, September 14th

Host: Stephanie @Late Night Quilter













50 comments:

  1. I really liked your test blocks Janice but with the Cloud9 fabrics it looks great, they really suit the design. It may not be the quickest block to make, but the effort will be so worth it. Congratulations on a great design.
    Smiles
    Kate

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  2. What a great block Janice - it looks fantastic in the Cloud9 colours you really get that 3D shadow effect. Congratulations on a job well done!!

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  3. Great use of the fabric!! I love your block.

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  4. Wow, first block design is paper pieced! Color me impressed! Very nice, Janice.

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  5. Love this idea of shadow blocks-a mini quilt would be great-and paper piecing too! Thank you for such a wonderful block

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  6. Wow Janice: This is an awesome block and a great use of these fabrics. Good for you for going for the difficult choice.....I opted for easy!

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  7. Oh my gosh, your block is fantastic. You did GREAT with the design and the instructions.

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  8. Oh my gosh, your block is fantastic. You did GREAT with the design and the instructions.

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  9. This is so awesome and original. Love it!

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  10. This palette is perfect for playing with depth. I really like your design and am so glad you dove in and gave block design a try! Thank you so much for participating.

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  11. Now this is something else! Well done you. Very imaginative.

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  12. Wow, the 3D effect is amazing in the Cloud9 fabrics! Great job!

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  13. These fabrics were so inspiring! Beautiful block...well done!
    I have a Pinterest board with all the blocks here:
    https://www.pinterest.com/pin/38069559329318411/

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  14. I really like the 3-D look of your block! This one is definitely going on my "to-make" list!

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  15. Your block looks fantastic in the Cloud 9 fabrics. And your block is perfect for, what I believe they are going to do, making "sampler" quilts with all the different blocks. I have several sampler block quilts from when I started quilting. They help an individual learn different techniques and offer an understanding of color value.

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  17. I really like the 3D look of your block! It was fun to see how you achieved that using the values present in the berry palette. Thanks for sharing your process, beginning with the practice block and the test block. I can see lots of possibilities for this one!

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  18. I really like the 3D look of your block! It was fun to see how you achieved that using the values present in the berry palette. Thanks for sharing your process, beginning with the practice block and the test block. I can see lots of possibilities for this one!

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  19. This is very impressive. I really like your block. Nice work.

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  20. I love the optical illusion of this block! Well done! It would be a great block to size up for a one block quilt. I'm sorry you had technical difficulties along the way.

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  21. This block is right up my alley! It's gorgeous and works perfectly with this color palette. Well done 👏👏

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  22. Your block really plays up the 3D effect. Your instructions are really well done.

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  23. Wonderful Janice! This block is pretty darn amazing! I am going to give it a try for sure.

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  24. I love your block! The 3D effect is perfect :) So sorry about your technical difficulties, though.

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  25. Very nice! I love this design. It would be fun to blow it up bigger and make a baby quilt out of it too. Thanks for sharing it!!

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  26. Great block, thanks for sharing!
    cork@pa.rr.com

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  27. these blocks are so cool. thanks for sharing how you did them. the more you play, the easier things come and the more fun it all is. keep up the good work.

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  28. What a great design, and the 3D effect is terrific. Don't worry too much about perfection - I have found that the first time you do something it is not so perfect, but in subsequent blocks you will get better and better. I like it a lot. I think it would make a fabulous pillow.

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  29. I love this block! I do hope you find the rest of the pictures. It would be great if you could then create a pdf tutorial to help coordinate the pictures with the corresponding set of instructions for each step. Probably a lot of work but would be helpful.

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  30. Oh, I really like the look of the chain links! Such a great idea to use the darker colors as shadows. Beautiful!

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  31. Very cool block, Janice! Nice work.

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  32. Great block. Very creative to think shadows. Well done.

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  33. Great block, Janice! Creating shadows was a great choice for this little bundle.

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  34. Great block! Very ambitious! The 3D/depth is really cool.

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  35. Your block is amazing. It looks too complicated for my skill level but I love it all the same.

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  36. Wonderful block Janice! It is very three-dimensional. The two test blocks were cute as a button. You're right--it would be hard to make a quilt with this block, but as a mini-quilt it would be sweet!

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  37. Love the 3D! I struggled with consistent 1/4" seams in the beginning too - practice makes perfect!!

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  38. The solid Cloud9 fabrics really create the shadow & 3-D effect well. Great job!

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  39. That is a fabulous block and I love the fabrics you used for it. Great job!

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  40. Wow Janice, I love your block. So much graphic impact and how lovely this would be for a wedding quilt. Two people joining their lives together. Happy hopping.

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  41. Very cool block - and good for you for stepping into a lot of firsts!

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  42. Oooh great use of all of the fabrics! Very neat block, and such a detailed tutorial!

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  43. I definitely agree about the shadows..this palette was a perfect way to play with that aspect. I really like your 3D design!

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  44. I like your block. I think you are too hard on yourself. After designing my own block for this hop, I have a new appreciation for pattern designers. It's much harder than I thought! But you did well. Oh, I disagree; I can see this pattern done as a quilt. Karen

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  45. I love the shadow look to this block.

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I LOVE meeting new quilting friends and always respond to comments so I'd love to hear from you!