• 01Jan

    It’s time for another Quilt Block A Month.  You can join the fun by ‘liking” the page on Facebook.

    The block for this quarter is the Spool Block.  It offers a lot of options and is quick and easy to piece.  If you do just one block a day, you’ll have a 78 blocks finished before the first day of spring!

     

    This is a great way to use your scraps.  All you need is: 2) 2-1/2″ x 7-1/2″ brown rectangles, 4) 1-1/2″ light squares, 2) 1-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ light rectangles and a 5-1/2″ center square—either plain or pieced.  I like using a stripe because it looks like thread wrapped around the spool.

     

    Some people like to mark their squares with a diagonal pencil line when doing sew-and-flip corners, but I just finger press them–quick and easy!

    Add a square to opposite ends of the brown rectangle.

    Stitch, trim and press.  Note:  I didn’t trim the background fabric away.  It makes it a bit bulky, but I also think it stabilizes it.  Your choice!  Do this with both brown rectangles.

    Add the white rectangles to the sides of the 5-1/2″ square.

    Now add the brown rectangles to the top and bottom, making sure the light areas match up.  Voila!  You have a spool block!  The unfinished block is 7-1/2″ x 9-1/2″.

    Now, here’s where the fun comes in.  You can do all kinds of things with the center square.  You could sew 5) 1-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ strips together to make it look like thread wrapped around your spool.

     

    How about using random width strips on an angle to represent the thread?  I foundation pieced this.

     

    Do you save selvedges?  This is a great place to use them!

    Here are the four sample blocks I made.  I’ll play with setting possibilities when I have more finished.

     

    They do make an interesting design when set next to each other.  You get some secondary action going on!

     

    I hope you’ll join us!

     

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