Friday, June 04, 2021

June Mini Madness 2021 - Block 5

 Today's block is a traditional block - Carrie Nation.  I looked up the history of the block and it was really interesting!  It was named after a famous woman in the Temperence Union - and she was quite committed to the cause.  Google will tell you more about her - or you can read this blog post like I did:  The Carrie Nation Quilt.  

This block is a four patch, with smaller four patches.  Cut it using the following strips:

For the four inch block cut a 1 inch by 9 inch strip of background and medium fabrics, cut four 1 1/2 inch squares of background, light and dark fabrics

For the six inch block cut a 1 1/4 by 11 inch strip of background and medium fabrics, cut four 2 inch squares of background light and dark fabrics.


Start out by sewing your strips together, then sub cut eight strips 1 inch (1 1/4 inches wide for 6 inch block).

A neat technique for doing this is to cut your strip in half, then layer right sides together with your opposite fabrics facing each other.  Make sure to get those seams nested nice and tight, then trim one edge so it's nice and straight and proceed to cut four pairs of strips that are paired up.  This way all you have to do is carefully take them to the machine and sew them together into four 1 1/2 (2) inch four patch units.


Once you have all your small four patches sewn, use the four background 1 1/2 (2) inch squares to sew a larger four patch units with the medium squares lined up in a diagonal.

Make four patch units out of your light and dark 1 1/2 (2) inch squares.  


Then sew all the four patch units together into a square with the dark and medium squares making diagonal lines though your block, and you are done!  

Here is the video of me making the 4 inch block:


I hope your weekend is off to a great start!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I guess my brain isn't in gear, but I'm confused on the size blocks. I thought this mini quilt was made for either FOUR or SIX inch blocks, which I guess means the user can do either. But Block 5 offers a choice of FOUR or FIVE inch size. Help me understand please. THANKS for doing this mini quilt block of the day!