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!

Abigail @Cut & Alter
Janice @Color, Creating, and Quilting!
Lorinda @Laurel, Poppy, and Pine
Melva @Melva Loves Scraps
Renee @Quilts of a Feather
Kathryn @Upitis Quilts
Kim @Leland Ave Studios
Amanda @this mom quilts
Holly @Lighthouse Lane Designs
Irene @Patchwork and Pastry
Jennifer @Dizzy Quilter
Karen @Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats
Anne @Said With Love
Suzy @Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Sharla @Thistle Thicket Studio
Kathleen @Smiles From Kate
Amanda @Gypsy Moon Quilt Co.
Sarah @Sarah Goer Quilts
Chelsea @Patch the Giraffe
Jinger @Trials of a Newbie Quilter
Anja @Anja Quilts
Daisy @Ants to Sugar

Tuesday, September 13th

Host: Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Wednesday, September 14th

Host: Stephanie @Late Night Quilter