Blocks featured on this page:
I was on a roll and thought it was time to try to resolve my longstanding charm square dilemma. I had accumulated many 6” squares through swaps over the years that I wanted to use for square on point blocks. There seemed to be no way that they could be cut efficiently without any waste. I experimented with paper squares that I printed with the Electric Quilt rather than cut up any precious fabric. It seems it was just a matter of time: 10 years to accumulate the fabric squares and an afternoon to figure out how to cut them. The rotary cutting techniques that I developed can be used for all manner of piecing, not just paper piecing. However, the foundation pattern for the Old Italian Block is included in Make It Simpler Paper Piecing and the foundation pattern for A Plain Block is in Perfect Blocks the Make It Simpler Way. Look for the forthcoming Make It Simpler® series of quick-cut-block quilt patterns.
Anita’s complimentary cutting pattern for 8" fabric squares. The instructions on the HGTV website detail how to quickly draw a cutting pattern for any size fabric square.
 
Cut the 18 patches needed for pairs of these blocks with only four rotary cuts and without wasting any fabric.Use your preferred method of piecing to assemble the blocks.To paper piece this block, photocopyitsfoundation pattern and read the general instructions in Make It Simpler Paper Piecing. It’s incredibly fast to paper piece this block because it’s nearly a no-sew block. Just glue the nine patches to the foundation and sew the four long “X” seams. Assemble several blocks for sewing at once. Since all nine subunits are unpieced patches (a rarity) I spray an adhesive, 404 Spray and Fix, onto several folded foundations. I then stick the patches in place on the foundations and they are ready to be sewn. The blue and yellow print fabrics used for the demonstration were Toiles manufactured in 2004 by P&B Textilesbased on textiles in the Allentown Art Museum collection. Read about “Toiles for all Seasons” by Starr Siegele.
Cut the 18 patches needed for pairs of these blocks with only four rotary cuts and without wasting any fabric. Stack the patches in layers in a small box and leaf through it to choose combinations of patches for the blocks.
As a timesaver, use this technique to cut patches of fabric or construction paper for children to make regular nine patch blocks. Every square you cut yields one block. For example, for a classroom of 20 children
Watch the video The large cheerful prints were manufactured by Michael Miller Fabrics. One yard each of three different prints (plus backing fabrics) yields three quilts without wasting any fabric. The patches can be arranged into six different combinations. If four different fabrics are cut up, 24 different combinations are possible. Just imagine the variety of tops quilters might achieve when working together as a group and how quickly the tops can be assembled. |
