Monday, July 13, 2015

Canadians Bee 2015 - August Block Tutorial: Chevron Blocks - Herringbone style

Hey there. Been awhile. 

I was teaching. It was very busy. I did not have time for the web. Sewed but photos and writing about it took too long and by the end of the day, me no write words good. Me no good read blogs too.  To unwind, there was knitting and Netflix. There was Knitflix. 

I have missed almost a year of the internet. I'm sure many people won, that memes were hatched and hashtagged and things were amaze-balls and awesome sauce. I saw a little bit of it. Not much.  I'll try to go back and skim a bit to catch up but for the first time EVER after such a long hiatus, I'm not going to read everything. I usually do but I've been gone too long and feedly only goes back thirty days... 

I did miss you, though.

Anyhoo.... August is my month for the Canadians Bee and the Queen suggested that I get the tutorial/instructions up early. So, away we go!

This scarf is the inspiration for this month.

I would like Chevron Blocks - sewn herringbone-style.

We're looking way outside my colour comfort zone and focussing mostly on the reddish family of purples. Accents include yellow, orange, dark pink, red, teal-ish-turquoise-y blue and navy.   Try to pick really saturated fabrics, tone on tone or solids, and avoid any prints with significant traces of white, grey or black. Also, skip green entirely.  Where we're going, we don't need green....  The Kona colours I pulled for examples (not mandatory...) are cerise, persimmon, cheddar, caribbean, red plum, geranium, dark violet and poppy.  I give you the names because purples are notoriously difficult to photograph.


Each 6 1/2 x 12 1/2" half is quick if you do two at a time, but if you can only manage one, I completely understand! Please leave the halves unsewn, particularly if you make identical ones. I didn't use a pattern but here's how I made them:

You need a square of purple about 4 3/4" and several strips of your purple and accent colour between 1 1/4" and 2".  Press all seams open.

Step 1:  Slice your purple square on the diagonal to give you two triangles. The diagonal becomes the top of your block half.

Step 2: Take one strip and sew to the left short side of triangle. Press seams open and trim the end off. Use the remnant of same fabric strip to sew down the right short side.  Trim the end square.

Repeat Step 2 using a different fabric each time until the block measures just over the finished height (12 1/2").   Use the same process to fill in the corners.

Step 3: Centring the triangle along the top as best you can, trim the block half to 6 1/2 x 12 1/2".


Voila!

Tips:  I found it easiest to rough-trim my block half as I went, keeping it about 7" wide to leave some wiggle room and give me an idea of where to start the next strip. That way, I never wasted the strips by leaving them way too long, nor were they ever too short to meet the full width of the block half.

I also found it easier to "pre-cut" my strips before I sewed them so I wasn't dealing with dragging long strips all over the place.

Thanks - and happy sewing!
C


24 comments:

  1. Hi! I'm so happy to hear from your! At the moment I'm also a little bit out of blogging because busy and in the shop every day. I love your colours and the stripe block! x Teje

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  2. Oh yay!!! I am so happy to see you! I especially missed you around Bloggers Quilt Festival times! These blocks gorgeous!!

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  3. How fun to see you in my inbox! I totally understand the breaks...
    What a nice and colorful post to come back with. The scarf is amazing! All those color changes.
    Sam

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  4. I've missed you! Glad you are well, lovely colour way here. Hope you get lots of blocks. I'm currently off for the month of July. Nice to have a rest from blogging ; )

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  5. Wow, Carly! What a beautiful fabric pull. I love the chevron blocks in these color combos!

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  6. This is why we've missed you, Carly - you share such beautiful, creative ideas. Wow. Those chevron blocks are looking so luscious that I can hardly wait to see the blocks your Bee mates will send you to turn your idea into a quilt.
    Happy to have you back and thanks for the tutorial!

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  7. Lovely to see your post appear in my feed again :-) It's true that much of the Internet is completely missable! On the other hand, some like this, is invaluable. Your timing is perfect as chevron strips, rather than blocks are on my radar for a quilt in my to do pile. But my colour way is muted greens and Browns inspired by the gum trees I've left behind in Australia!

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  8. Love this block and the instructions!

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  9. Love this block and the colours you chose, it's going to be fun to make.

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  10. I've missed you too! Sadly my posting hasn't been up to speed either. Next time I'm in the prairies....

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  11. You aren't kidding that it's "been awhile!" You've been missed! So glad to know you're among the living, and staying uber-productive. The block you've designed is great, and will make a smashing quilt. Be sure to let us see a picture of it... even if it isn't until 2016.

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  12. Those are absolutely gorgeous fabrics, and I loved reading about your block. Forget what you've missed online--just carry on and catch up with us as you can!

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  13. Carly, my blog reading went to pot when my computer broke for the second time but I miss seeing what you make. Any chance you are on IG? Susan

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  14. What a magnificent tricks!Really enjoyed it. Thanks a lot for sharing. Photo Retouching Services

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  15. Carly -- I'm posting a comment with my new email. I can't send out of my old account, but got your email a few weeks ago. I've responded, but it could have been sent to your spam, so thought I would try here too! Hope we can reconnect!!! xoxo

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