I hope your Mother’s Day was full of blue skies, family time,
and the most beautiful flowers!
The next block in our Quilt Along is one of my favorite quilting flower blocks “Blue Bells” which can be found on page 62 of the “Patches of Blue” book.
For this month we will be making 2 blocks and you will need: 2 fat quarters in blue fabrics 2 fat quarters in light fabrics 4 squares 10″ in light fabrics
Lets start by cutting our blue fabrics. Place two fat quarters (one on top of the over) right sides up. The cutting directions can be found on page 63 in “Patches of Blue” book (we are cutting two blocks, each blue represents each block).
For one block, you will cut: 24 small half square triangles 4 large half square triangles 2 small squares 3 large squares
Light fabric: 24 small quarter square triangles 2 medium half square triangles 10 small squares 1 large square 1 large half square triangle
Select a combination of fabric for one block.
Start by making HST units.
Make sure you trim the bunny ears. The unfinished size should be 2-1/2″ on these.
Add small triangles in blue and light.
Push seam towards dark fabric and trim the bunny ears.
Start on the left.
Notice how nice the seam is locking.
Then the right side.
Notice how it locks in place again.
Press and trim. Make 2 units A.
Now time for a square and small triangle units. I always lay all my pieces in front of me so as I sew them they are positioned in the right places. Keep pushing the seam allowance towards the dark fabric.
Make 4 units B
Now we will sew two blue small HST to a small light square.
Repeat to make 6 of those. Push seam allowance towards dark and remember to trim bunny ears.
Time to make a bloom. 🙂 Lay out 2 units B, 2 units C and a large blue center square.
Be sure to pin when sewing block to make sure your seams are aligned. Press it and trim it to 6-1/2″ x 6-1/2″. Make 1.
Next, Layout 1 unit A, 1 unit B and 2 unit C.
Sew it together, press and trim to 6-1/2″ x 6-1/2″. Repeat to make 2.
Place 1 large light square, 2 small blue squares, 2 HST in blue and 1 large light HST.
Sew it together starting with blue triangle and blue squares. Then add them to large light square and finishing with large HST in light.
This unit should also be 6-1/2″ x 6-1/2″ after trimming. Make 1.
You are ready to layout and assemble your block. Notice the position on two flowers with dark blue triangles.
Sew it together, press and trim to 12-1/2″ x 12-1/2″. Repeat to make second block .
We need to add a stem and small leaves to our flower. You can find the templates on page 67 of the “Patches of Blue” book. I am going to use fusible applique on mine for a quick results. I chose Heat n Bond Lite for my fusible webbing.
We start by tracing the design to paper side of the fusible webbing. I trace enough for 2 blocks.
We will rough cut the pieces our of fusible webbing and match them with our blue fabric.
Press to the back of your fabric very gently. My iron is set to cotton with no water or stem.
Now we will cut pieces out following the trace line.
Peel the paper away.
Position your pieces in place.
Now lets fuse it to the background with a dry iron on a cotton setting for 3 seconds. Do not overheat.
Stitch around the edges with your favorite stitch to hold it in place.
To learn more about fusible applique click here for a video tutorial.
Repeat to make two blocks.
Prepare your 4 light 10″ squares by pressing them.
Cut 4 squares into 9-3/8″ x 9-3/8″, then cut them once diagonally into 8 HST to create our background setting triangles.
Arrange HSTs and sew them to the outside of your blocks.Press and trim to 17-1/2″ x 17-1/2″. Congratulations – we are done with our block number 5! I am so proud of you – you have just learned little fusible applique.
If you like those little applique leaves that we used in our pattern then you will love our new pattern called “Simple Life”.
Those leaves are part of the border in this quilt.
This design is full of wonderful images of a simple life. Ours ends up to be on the coast of Southern California.
The sun is almost down, time for me to go!
I hope you had good time quilting flowers with me.
Happy Quilting! Edyta