Welcome to week 2 of the
‘The Desperate Housewife’s Quilt’. Todays block is all about combining rotary cutting and piecing with foundation piecing. Remember, this is not a quilt-a-long. Just follow the blog every week and pick and choose which blocks you would like to make. I will be injecting some uniqueness into traditional blocks, applique, three dimensional, crazy and thread-art blocks. If you make a block you can post it on the
Flickr group for everyone to enjoy. Also, I have this nifty button under each post that allows you to save the post as a PDF.
There is another gorgeous block waiting at
Samelias Mum. Anorina is a very talented quilter whose love of life shines in her beautiful quilt designs.
Raindrop (or teardrop)
Queensland was in drought for nine years and then the rains came….
Techniques explored
- Accuracy in cutting
- Accuracy in piecing
- Foundation piecing
Material
Dark brown
1 – 7.5″ x 4″ rectangle
1 – 2.5″ x 3.5″ rectangle
4 – 1.5″ squares and
2 – 3.5 x 2.5″ rectangles for the foundation piecing
Medium Brown
1 – 7″ x 1.5″ strip
1 – 8.5″ x 2″ strip
Pattern Fabric
1 – 4″ square
1 – 2.5″ square
Raindrop – Foundation Piecing
To make the raindrop unit,
download and print the foundation piecing document. Make sure you do not alter the true size when printing i.e no scaling or ‘fit to page’.
Cut around the two sections along the dotted line ( 1/4″ seam allowance ).
Section B
For piece B, cut a 4″ square of patterned fabric and 4 x 1.5″ squares of dark brown fabric for the corners.
Pin the 4″ fabric square to the back of foundation template.
The right side of the fabric should be showing
Pinning from the back, place a dark brown square on every corner of the square.
Shorten your stitch length to 1.5 ( A short stitch will perforate the foundation and make it easier to tear off later ) and sew on the guideline across each corner.
Make sure you start a few stitches before the line and sew a few stitches after the finish.
Turn the piece over and gently press the seams back. Don’t worry, it will look messy and irregular until you trim it back. It is up to you if you want to remove the excess fabric on the corner. If so, carefully fold back the foundation and cut 1/4″ away from the seam line of the square.
With the foundation side showing, use the dotted line to trim around the piece. Your piece should like this:
Section A
Pin the patterned fabric ( approx 2.5″ x 3.5″piece ) to the back of the foundation.
Fold back the foundation along the line of the triangle and cut 1/4″ from the fold line.
Place the dark brown rectangle in line with the seam allowance and pin. The two fabrics should be right side together. Flip the brown back to make sure the foundation is covered by the material before sewing.
Hint – The way I calculate the right amount of fabric for an angled shape in foundation piecing is to lay a ruler 1/4″ above the stitch line and measure a rectangle / square that would adequately cover the section.
Repeat for the other side and you should have a piece something like this. Turn over and trim back leaving 1/4″ all around.
Join section A and B together making sure the seam intersections meet by pinning through the layers with a straight pin, wiggly it around until the seams align and then pinning either side.
Gently tear away the foundation using tweezers if required and your raindrop block should look like this:
Adding the remaining pieces
Take the dark brown 2.5″ x 3.5″ rectangle and sew to bottom of drop. Press seam to one side.
Sew the dark brown 7.5″ x 4″ rectangle to the right side of the drop. Then, sew the 1.5″ x 7″ light brown strip to the top of the block and the 8.5″ x 2″ light brown strip to the left hand side of the block to finish. Press seams to one side as you go.
 |
| Unfinished Block 8.5″ |
This little gem looks beautiful in the following setting using cool colours.
Imagine just using the raindrop section of the block and staggering it to form a down pour.
I hope you enjoyed the block this week. I am looking forward to sharing Block 3 – Evolution with you and introducing you to a wonderful quilter Sally H.
*** Please remember that these blocks and any blocks designed by guest bloggers should not be used for commercial purposes ( sold as a pattern, published etc) without the written consent of the owner ***
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8 Comments
Natasha
Really like this one. I almost want to try paper piecing.
Michelle
I love the downpour….too bad I've used most of my blue scraps on other projects…
Janet
Lovely block! It isn't clear to me though whether this one is designed by you or by Anorina.
Samantha
Love it!
As a newbie to paper-piecing this kind of post is both helpful and inspiring.
Thank you.
Kate R
This is very helpful – thanks! Do you use regular paper for foundation piecing?
Viv
I really like this block. I think it is going to be a good first try at paper piecing.
SewLindaAnn
Cool! I love the raindrop, it's so neat.
Ella
Where do you go to get the paper template?