Today we start Week 2 of the Splendid Sampler 2 Block-of-the-Week quilt along.
Last week at the kickoff of Splendid Sampler 2, where we introduced you to Alex Veronelli's block, Quilt Market, I mentioned that I would talk about the fabrics I'll be using for my Splendid Sampler 2 blocks. So with that said, I'll be writing a separate blog post soon to tell you about the fabrics I chose to use.
I'm so excited about today's block. It was designed by Rebecca Bryan of Bryan House Quilts, and was so much fun to make. It's called Milk and Cookies. Here is Rebecca's block:
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| Splendid Sampler 2: Milk and Cookies by Rebecca Bryan |
It has been quite some time since I've done a lot of appliqué. Because of this, I decided to take a few minutes to study the block and think through how I was going to achieve a perfectly round circle using the wedge template from the pattern, and Fabrics C and D.
I decided upon the English Paper Piecing (EPP) technique to sew the wedge pieces together, and then add the center "cookie" circle.
This is how I achieved it using what I had on-hand:
1. Cut out the wedge (cut out along sew line; not seam line) and circle templates, trace them onto either template plastic or poster board; cut out shapes.
2. Trace 12 wedge shapes and 1 circle onto heavy-weight paper; cut out shapes from paper. I used 24lb. printer paper that I use for my home office printer. It's a bit thicker than regular printer paper and I use it for all of my EPP projects.
3. Using a fabric glue stick, dab a bit of glue in the center of one of your paper wedges. Place the glue-side of the wedge onto the WRONG side of Fabric C and make sure to leave enough room around the outside edge of the paper wedge for a 1/4" seam allowance.
4. Cut out the wedge shape from Fabric C, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. Using a needle and thread, gently fold the seam allowance onto the back side of the wedge shape and baste in place. Make (6) using Fabric C and make (6) using Fabric D.
5. In the same manner, dab a bit of glue in the center of the circle shape. Center and place the glue-side onto the WRONG side of your 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" fabric square, leaving enough room for seam allowance.
6. Cut out circle shape from fabric, leaving 1/4" seam allowance, and baste seam allowance to the back side of the circle.
7. Using a narrow whip stitch (i.e., sew stitches close together) and with right sides together, sew the prepared Fabric C and Fabric D wedge pieces together, alternating, to make a Pieced Wedge Ring. Be sure to line up the edges before you begin stitching each wedge-shape pair together.
8. Referring to the following image, lay the prepared red circle in the center of your Pieced Wedge Ring (yellow/green fabrics).
9. Baste-stitch the red circle to the Pieced Wedge Ring as shown in the following image. Note: the basting stitches appear loose to show you how to do it. You can tighten them up to secure them. The basting stitches will be removed after you've sewn the red circle to the yellow/green wedge ring.
10. Here is another image showing you how I basted the two pieces together. You'll want at least (6) basting stitches, as shown, to stabilize the project before you stitch the units together.
11. As you did when you pieced the wedge pieces together, whip stitch the red circle to the pieced wedge ring then remove the basting stitches when finished for a perfect circle to appliqué to your 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" pieced base unit to finish your block.
Note: I waited until after I appliquéd the large circle to the base unit to remove the EPP paper. How I did this was I first cut the base unit fabric from the back of the circle leaving a 1/4" seam allowance; this opened up the back of the EPP unit and so I then removed my initial basting stitches to remove the paper.
Here is my version of Milk and Cookies:
If you have any questions, please let me know!
In my next post, I'll be talking about the fabrics I'm using for The Splendid Sampler 2.
The Splendid Sampler 2 book will be available October 2018. It is currently available for pre-sale so order your copy, now!
