Free Online Quilting Course for Beginners ~
Class #5 : Tips for Beginners on Creating a Finished Block
By Janeen van Niekerk.
Quilting Workshop Class 5 – Introduction
In this free online quilting workshop for beginners, we dove right in!
In class #1, we learned about fussy cutting. If you wished, you could make a fussy-cut project right away.
Then in class #2 we worked through understanding quilting tools and what you really need to own.
In class #3 we talked about the ins and outs of quilting fabric, and we kicked-off a stitch along mini quilt project.
Last week, in class #4, we take things a step further. We learned how to read and work with a quilt pattern by working step-by-step through a mini-quilt project.
Today, in class #5, we are going to created a finished quilt block. (btw. if you find this course only today, by all means, start with class 1 and work your way up to this class.)
Creating a Finished Quilt Block
Stepping up from the Basics to a Bit More Advanced
Last week we made up 9 of these ‘Nine Patch’ blocks for our mini-quilt. While we can be proud of having made nine-patch-blocks, but may be considered a little boring. I’ve seen whole quilts made by just using this traditional ‘Nine patch blocks’ – quilt pattern. I have seen these in different sizes too. It’s just that we are after a quilt design that doesn’t scream ‘beginner’ out at you quite so loudly. So we are going to ‘fancy’ them up a little and make the quilt blocks into something special.
Each of our blocks should measure approximately 12 and 1/4" .
We need to get the center of our block, so our next step with our block is to fold it in half and make a small crease and fold it in half again and make another crease. We now have a X in the center.
Now we position our block on our cutting mat so that in both directions (vertically and horizontally) we have half of our block.
Take your ruler and make a cut in both directions of your block along the half way lines.
Your quilt block will now look something like this. We have 4 smaller quilt blocks from our 1 large nine-patch.
Quilt Magic
What we need to do now is to turn the two diagonally opposite blocks so that the middle dark block is facing the outside of our large block and the two large blocks from the outer edge are facing in the middle. The other two small blocks stay where they are.
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We need to sew our blocks back together by sewing the bottom two smaller blocks together and making sure our seam lies in one direction, and then sew the top two blocks together and make sure the seam is in the opposite direction.
Sew across the block and join the two halves to get back to one large block. The middle seams should ‘nest’ in each other and you will get a good join in the middle.
We now have a new block that looks a little better. This pattern is called a "Disappearing Nine Patch" and you can make up a whole load of different patterns by turning the blocks in different directions.
Do the same with all of your 9 blocks.
Make each of your 9 blocks into ‘disappearing nine patches’.
Trimming Your Quilt Block Edges
Our blocks might look a little untidy around the edges, so we need to "trim" our blocks to the desired size.
You will hear this word "trim" from time to time and it means that you want to cut off the uneven edges of your finished block and also to the size that is needed. If all your blocks are trimmed down to the same size, it will be so much easier to sew them together and make everything look neat.
We are lucky with this block as it is now, we don’t have any "matching" up to do. Each block just gets sewn to the next one. If there was a continuous pattern and you had to match up corners or points, you would have to make doubly sure that the ‘trimming’ is very accurate.
When you trim, don’t just cut off on one or two sides. You need to trim down on all 4 sides to keep the blocks looking even. If you take off too much you won’t have enough to make a seam when sewing the blocks together. Measure properly first – check it twice and then cut once. Trimming is sometimes only taking off 1/8" on each side.
Finished Quilt Block Size
Your finished – trimmed – quilt block needs to measure 11,5" (29cm).
Trim down each block as you finish up with its ‘make over’.
That’s it for this week.
About Quilter Janeen van Niekerk
Quilting artist Janeen van Niekerk is an avid quilter, and in particular, an accomplished paper piecing designer. She does it all with a passion.
Janeen’s prolific range of hand-made quilts (she takes commissions for personalized, stylish portrait quilts), as well as her unique quilt patterns (think quilts featuring safari animals and trees, or kids toys) are inspired by her environs; she lives in sunny Pretoria in South Africa, with her husband and kids.
Janeen has written two Kindle books filled with quilt/paper piecing patterns: Animal Safari Paper Piecing Designs and Patterns (Book 1: Big 5 Animals) and Animal Safari Paper Piecing Designs and Patterns (Book 2: 10 Wild Animals).
Besides in her Kindle books, Janeen also offers her quilts designs & paper piecing patterns for individual sale. Out of Janeen’s 225 quilt patterns for sale, these are my top 5 Paper Piecing Quilt Patterns, Animals and Flowers. All really beautiful!
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Quilting Pattern Library & Other Training Courses
All Janeen’s patterns are for sale here at Craftsy.
BTW. Crafty also has other quilting, sewing and other craft workshops:
More Free Quilting Patterns & Tutorials & Classes at the Fine Craft Guild
Classes in this quilting course by Janeen van Niekerk:
Class #1: "Fussy cutting" (How to Make a Quilt: Free Quilting Beginners Class).
Class #2: Quilting Tools – What you’ll need as a beginner.
Class #3: How to Choose & Work with Quilting Fabric.
Class #4: How to Read & Work with a Quilt Pattern. ::
Or, continue your journey with Quilting patterns, tutorials and ideas featured at FineCraftGuild.com beyond Janeen’s quilting course.
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