GAME ON! MONTH 8

Game On! is the 2026 Block of the Month quilt designed by Becky Goldsmith exclusively for THE QUILT SHOW: find Game On! information here. Join as a Star Member to get all the patterns and all the videos FREE. Membership is just $49/year and provides access to almost 20 years of shows and tremendous additional content. Join HERE

Now we are ready to move on to the larger borders--6" blocks. We are making the LEFT larger border:

The good news for some of you--there are NO PAPERS TO PRINT. This is just machine pieced in the regular manner.

I have a few tips. First, once you make the little four patches, they need to be trimmed to 2 5/8". I always measure blocks from the center BUT what is middle of 2 5/8"?  It's 1 5/16". We don't have a line on our rulers for sixteenths. 

SO, I made a 2 5/8" square of Vellum, so I could see through it. Folding it in half in both directions gave me the middle--I drew a line in each direction with a fine point pen:

Placing the Vellum square on the Four Patch, I used a mechanical pencil to draw in the four corners--this allowed me to see where to place a small square ruler--at the 2 5/8" mark on the outside edge:

I rotated it and trimmed the other two sides for a perfect 2 5/8" Four Patch.

UPDATE: A smart person posted on the FORUM how to make this border without a seam in the green—not as Blocks. Take a look at her idea:  Shirlett P’s good idea

Back to the Block method: I discovered my usual 1/4" seam allowance caused me a problem. Those 2 5/8" blocks are just a smidge too large for me  to make a 6" block accurately. How much too large? Oh, maybe 1/32".  Nothing you can easily measure.

When I made the first set of these blocks, using the precise 1/4" seam allowance I am accustomed to, I found I was going to "cut off" the outside points. You can see that where the brown sashing has been added:

SO, when I made the second set I experimented with using a slightly larger seam allowance.

The blocks on the LEFT were made with my usual seam allowance. The blocks on the RIGHT were made with the slightly larger seam allowance--they are MUCH better. The BLUE squares are now exactly 1/4" inside the edge and won't be but off:

As usual, I know I have to check myself as I go to be sure my borders aren't GROWING as I piece them. Two blocks sewn together should be 12.5" long. Three blocks should be 18.5" long. Four blocks should be 24.5" long. Join a THREE and a FOUR to get the 42.5" length this Border needs to be. Add the narrow brown sashing to each end and you have MONTH 8 done!

HOW MUCH bigger was the better Seam Allowance? Here is a photo of where my 1/4" presser foot was to give me the size I needed for perfect blocks. It's only a few THREADS, maybe 1/32". You might have to play with your presser foot or needle position if you find your blocks are coming out just a tad too large as I did: 

I find it very helpful to trim blocks with a ruler that is the size the block needs to be, 6.5" with seam allowance in this instance.  I put the 3.25" marks at the center in BOTH directions, North/South, East/West. 

This ruler has WHITE lines in BOTH directions at the midpoints that allow me to easily place them all across the middle of the block in BOTH directions. I can check to be sure there is a 1/4" seam allowance beyond the BLUE squares. This block is just right so I can trim it now:

I strive for perfection but can accept "close is good enough" sometimes. Not if you want to enter International Competition--then it has to be as perfect as you can make it. So I won't be remaking the PRINT KIT border--FINISHED IS BETTER THAN PERFECT.

Next month we'll make the TOP larger border.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

HOMEWARD BOUND -- MONTH 11

This quilt is the 2023 Block of the Month quilt for The Quilt Show. It was designed by Sarah Fielke exclusively for The Quilt Show and is only available at The Quilt Show. The best news is it's FREE for Star Members of The Quilt Show. Each month in 2023 a new part of the quilt is released for download to Star Members. 

As always, watch any Videos that are provided to supplement the pattern instructions. 

This month we add the 4 Hearts to the pieced borders made last month. Then we complete those borders and add them to the center of the quilt:

Follow the directions in the pattern to create the pieced border. Take care to have the light fabrics facing into the center of the quilt and the darker fabrics facing out, if you want your quilt to look like Sarah's. I did not do that with the Month 5 border and I also didn't have the Kit at that time so some of my fabrics in Month 5 are different from the Kit. My Month 10 HST units are exactly like the pattern. 

You will add 4 of Star A made in Month 6 to the four corners of the pieced borders. Nice to have those done already, right?

Now we make the 12 Cabins for the last border, Cabins A and B.

CABIN A Wall Fabric: Tiny Dots CANDY    make 8 of these

CABIN B Wall Fabric: Tiny Dots PEACHY  make 4 of these

CUTTING SUGGESTION FOR THE ROOF: The pattern shows how to make the Roofs from Flying Geese units, FOUR AT A TIME. The cutting measurements are EXACT SIZES--everything has to be perfect for the roofs to come out the correct size--the marking, cutting, sewing and pressing. I prefer to use larger sizes so I can Trim to Perfection. 

I cut the Roof Fabric 5.5" square. The background fabric squares need to be 3 1/8" square. To QUICKLY DRAW THE DIAGONAL LINES on the background fabric, I cut the square 6.25", drew the diagonal lines on the wrong side, then cut the 6.25" square into FOUR small squares, each 3 1/8". 

The Roof units are made Four at a Time, just as I showed for making the Star Point units in Month 6. Find that blog here: Four Flying Geese at Once That blog also has a direct link to my full TUTORAL on this method. 

Similar to the center cabin, these little cabins have SMALL PIECES. I found it helpful to create a pattern in Electric Quilt so I could be sure of the cut sizes. We are not providing this pattern--you can always draw it out for yourself if you like. My page shows the sizes of the 4 units:

I did not paper piece the units as each was small and I didn't want to make all those little units with paper. I pieced it just as the instructions say.

When piecing such small units, accuracy is so important.  I strongly recommend you check EACH SEAM as it is sewn. This tip I learned from Sally Collins, the master of making small blocks. To IMPROVE ALL YOUR PIECING, watch her show:

 Show 1602 Precision Piecing with Sally Collins 

Here are photos showing how I checked each seam as I went. You want to find the mistake as soon as it happens, not after you do the next step:

A 1" piece sewn to a 1" piece should be 1" x 1.5"--this needs trimming on the peach side

Adding the 1" x 1.5" peach piece makes this 1" x 2.5", more trimming needed 

Adding a 1" x 2.5" wall makes this 1.5" x 2.5" 

Adding the other wall makes this 2" x 2.5" There are TWO of  these units

The Door unit is 1.5" x 2.5" Some trimming needed here on the peach

The bottom half of the Cabin is 2.5" x 4.5" Trim to perfection

The back of the units showing how I pressed the seams

Completed Cabins are 4.5" square, including seam allowances 

When checking for accuracy, use the FINISHED SIZE OF EACH PIECE, then add the 1/2" seam allowances to determine what size the unit should be. 

That is it for this month. Next month we make the stair-step pieced units for the outer border and it's all done!

We are getting toward the end of this year. The MOST IMPORTANT ADVICE I  HAVE FOR YOU: be sure to SAVE, COPY, PRINT, whatever method you prefer, ALL THE PATTERNS before DECEMBER 31, 2023. After that, all rights to the patterns return to Sarah Fielke, the designer. We cannot give anyone these patterns after that date, and no one else here can legally give them to you either. Please be proactive in saving what you still need so you can finish without having to BUY missing months.

Let's quilt.

Barbara