Friday 24 April 2015

Antique Inpsiration


I'm back with another historical block made new with the Big Shot Plus (or the Big Shot) and Bigz quilting dies.

This month I am looking at the Crazy House block, similar to the Lucky Clover block, but with the addition on half square triangles.  and not a Y Seam in sight!


This block can be traced back to the Ladies Art Company between 1928 and 1934.

For this block you will need the following: 

2 1/2" x 4 1/2"Trapezoid die


I had a play with my new Big Shot Plus machine, and I was not disappointed.  The machines extra space means that any overhang of fabric slides through the machine happily.  I found there was no need to hold the machine as I wound my dies through.  

I cut 8 background half square triangles, 5 background squares,  4 pink squares, and 4 each of each blue trapezoids.  When cutting the trapezoid, you will need to keep all your fabrics right side up, otherwise you will have mirror images, which will not work for this design. 



Piece the half square triangles to the trapezoids and pair up a background square with each of the pink squares.  

Next you need to join pairs of the trapezoids as below


once you have 4 units like the one on the right, you are ready to lay out your block.


Now it is just a case of piecing this in the same way you would piece a 9 patch.  Sew into rows, then sew the rows together.  


This makes a 10" finished block, a great size for easy maths when planning a quilt top.  It can easily be upsized too, using bigger sized dies.


Whilst this mock up has sashing, the secondary pattern of the pinwheels is clear, Imagine cornerstones in the sashing and a whole new pattern is created.  

That's what I love about quilting, the possibilities are endless!





1 comment: