Good Morning, Quilters and Fitness Buffs! Have you been #movingmore?
This week–challenge yourself to walk 15 minutes before you quilt each day! Once we sit down at the sewing machine…it’s much harder!
QUILTING SQUARES
For the next few weeks we are going to concentrate on quilting square blocks.
Many (perhaps most?) blocks are square and are composed of a combination of triangles and squares. Today’s motif is very versatile. It is a basic quilt motif that will fill any square block and stabilize all the seams within the quilt.
When stitched on a pieced block, it requires very little marking– the seam-lines act as guidelines.
To practice the motif, draw a square and draw diagonals across the square.
Begin in the corner of the quilt. Stitch on the diagonal line and then stitch a small square in the center of the block.
Stitch a straight line from the top center of the inner square and to the top edge of the block. Closely echo stitch back to the center. Stitch over a few stitches.
Stitch a diagonal line to the right corner and back to the center.
Stitch a horizontal line to the right edge of the block and back to the center.
Stitch around the center block and into the lower right corner.
Back to the center, then stitch a vertical line to lower edge….
Continue all the way around the block to finish the motif.
Then stitch around the outer edge of the block on three sides to begin the next block.
(The final outer edge of the blocks can be stitched as a straight line once all the motifs are stitched.
This motif will perfectly fill any square block.
The center square stitching allows the quilter to avoid stitching over the intersection of many seams that often occur at the center of a block.
EVERYONE SHOULD LEARN THIS MOTIF
Doodle this a few times, then try it on a quilt block.
We will be learning several fabulous motifs that are variations of the Basic Block –all designed to stabilize and fill the block well—while avoiding stitching directly through the center of the motif.
Remember–it is a Basic Block and we will be adding and varying this motif–a Building Block motif--everyone should learn!
I’d love to hear how this motif works for you!
Happy Quilting,
Lori
PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thanks!