Welcome to the first stop on the New Leaf Bee Block Blog Hop! Thank you to Jan Dicintio of Daisy Janie Fabrics for inviting me to join her. She's introducing her newest fabric line New Leaf and of course I said yes right away when she asked me! Her designs are beautiful and her commitment to creating quality organic cottons is so awesome.
I was really excited when my package of fabric arrived. And it did not disappoint, New Leaf is gorgeous! And it felt way softer than my past experiences with organic cottons. It is really quite beautiful.
Our inspiration for the blocks was about turning a new leaf, growth, new directions and such. The new direction I've been heading recently is actually towards the past. I've been really interested in vintage quilts and started looking at some compass blocks. I found this amazing compass block and decided to recreate it with a modern flair. If anyone knows the name of this block or anything about it I'd love to hear it! I wasn't able to find any identifying information about it.
Here is how I constructed the block. As I mentioned, I had a picture of a vintage quilt. I resized that photo to create a 12.5" block. From the printout I created templates. I drew over the seams with a marker to make them darker, then traced on template plastic. Here is a PDF of my block at actual size that you can use to do the same thing.
Then the templates were cut out.
I used the templates to cut out the pieces making sure to add 1/4" seam allowances and started sewing together. Here is the order I used. Started with these.
Then put them together to get this.
Get everything together in a big circle.
Sew together all the outside pieces first and then sew them to the center circle.
The first test block I did, I pieced the center circle. It didn't come out very accurately so this time I did it with machine applique. I would recommend doing it that way if you try this block. Lay your template plastic over the block and create a circle that will cover all your raw edges. I used a compass and marker, but you can use anything you have to trace a circle around it (bottles, toilet paper rolls, etc).
From there you can create your center applique pieces and attach them with your preferred method. And your block will be finished!
I hope you like my modern vintage block. I really think these fabrics give a bright modern feel! Thank you so much Jan for letting me participate in your blog hop! I'm excited to see New Leaf in the stores and get my hands on some more. You can find out where to get some here.
The blog hop will continue tomorrow at The Little Red Hen. Here's the rest of the schedule:
New Leaf Bee Block Blog Hop Schedule
Mon, 1/14 - Becky Moyer, My Fabric Obsession - you are here. ;)
Tues, 1/15 - Lynn Harris, The Little Red Hen
Wed, 1/16 - Candy Glendening, Candied Fabrics
Thurs, 1/17 - Holly DeGroot, Bijou Lovely
Fri, 1/18 - Melanie Thornton, Melanie Dramatic
Mon, 1/21 - Emily Cier, Carolina Patchworks
Tues, 1/22 - Rachael Gander, Imagine Gnats
Wed, 1/23 - Maureen Cracknell, Maureen Cracknell Handmade
Thurs, 1/24 - Leanne, She Can Quilt
Fri, 1/25 - Cindy Wiens, Live a Colorful Life
Mon 1/28 - Cheryl Arkison, Dining Room Empire
Tues, 1/29 - Jacquie Gering, Tallgrass Prairie Studio
Wed, 1/30 - Shanna Bailey, Fiber of All Sorts
Thurs, 1/31 - Katy Jones, Monkey Do
The FQ Scramble letter is:N
