ALTERNATIVE BLOCKS FOR LAUREL RIDGE

 I was asked about the two alternative blocks I made for my Laurel Ridge quilt, the 2025 BOM quilt designed by Lynn Wilder exclusively for The Quilt Show

Any 5" blocks can be substituted for any 5" blocks in the quilt. I wanted a simple block to help me finish this project. And I wanted a more complex block to add interest.

The EASY BLOCK -- Five Patch Shoo Fly:  Brackman #1847

For a 5" finished block, there are 4 Half Square Triangles (HST) 2" finished, and 4 Rectangles 1" x 2" finished. And a center square 1" finished.  

Make HST as you like. I made two blocks at once by cutting a 6" square of background and the green fabric. Draw a diagonal line in both directions, then sew 1/4" on either side of the drawn lines. Cut apart into 8 sewn triangle pairs. Trim HST to 2.5" and you have 8 HST, 2.5" with seam allowance.

This is the same way we made HST for the Basket Blocks in Month 5: Month 5  These are two different sizes but the process is the same:

Cut 4 rectangles 1.5" x 2.5", and 1 center square 1.5". Sew the block together, in 3 rows, very easy. The block is 5.5" with seam allowances.

There are other ways to make HST. See my TUTORIAL here: Half Square Triangles

The MORE COMPLEX BLOCK -- Mosaic, Brackman #2123:

What I liked about this is the Flying Geese are the same size as those made in Month 1: 1.25" x 2.5" finished. See my blog about that here: Month 1

The HST corners are 1.25" finished. I made 8 of them at once from two 4.5" squares, one background, one dark pink. The process is the same as described above. 

The center square can be made a couple ways. I pieced it. The plaid square is cut 2.25". The background triangles that surround the plaid center are cut from 2 squares cut 2.25":

Sew two opposite triangles to the square, press toward the triangles. Add the remaining two opposite triangles, trim center block to 3" square. 

Now assemble the block in three rows. There are a lot of seam allowances on the back. Here is how I pressed mine. You might prefer to press seams open. I starched it and set two heavy clappers on the block to dry flat:

So there you have the two alternative 5" blocks I made. 

Next week I will show how I made four 10" Lone Star blocks, that take the place of sixteen 5" blocks:

Let's quilt.

Barbara