Despair Not, Block 13 for Civil War Letter Quilt

Block 13, Despair Not (#111), page 241 (and 96) of Civil War Anniversary Quilt by Rosemary Youngs

This block requires 6 Flying geese for sides and a ‘square in square’ for the center.

Cut 3 fabrics plus an fussy cut image for center: 2 darks, 1 light

Center
Image ‘on point’ @ 3 ½” square
First dark: 2” squares, cut 4 (for center square in a square), draw diagonal line on wrong side

Geese
Second dark
2” X 3 ½ “ rectangle, cut 2
2” squares, cut 8
Light fabric
2” X 3 ½” rectangle, cut 4
2” squares, cut 4

Center

Place 2” (first dark) square on corner of 3 ½” image, sew along diagonal line, trim ¼” from stitching towards corner, press our. Repeat for all corners.

Sides (Flying geese)

Place 2” dark square on side of 2” X 3 ½“ light rectangle and sew along diagonal line, trim ¼” from stitching towards corner, press towards triangle. Repeat for other side of rectangle. Make 2

Place 2” light square on side of 2” X 3 ½“ dark rectangle and sew along diagonal line, trim ¼” from stitching towards corner, press towards triangle. Repeat for other side of rectangle. Make 4

Or

You can make 12 HST rather than geese if you prefer:

Make them from 2 3/8” squares (6 dark and 6 light), sew ¼” on either side of diagonal drawn on wrong side of light, cut along diagonal (or cut all on diagonals and sew a light triangle to a dark triangle) or for ease of cutting and making them perfect: use 2 ½” squares, sew on either side of diagonal, cut on diagonals, press and trim to 2“).

Or

Use Quilt in a Day ‘Small Flying Geese Ruler’ (finished 1½” X 3” geese). Make 4 Geese using 6” square of light and 4 ½” square of dark and 4 Geese with 6” square of dark and 4 ½” of light (you’ll discard 2 of the geese).

Center 4 ½” square on top of 6” square with right sides together, draw diagonal line and sew ¼” from line on both sides. Cut on line and press towards the large triangle. Place resulting squares right sides together matching edges with dark-light opposite each other, draw diagonal line and sew ¼” on either side. Cut on line and press so that ‘geese’ are flat. Trim with ruler to 2” X 3 ½” ‘geese’. Repeat for other 6” and 4 ½” fabrics. See http://www.quiltinaday.com/freepattern/ if you lost instructions to ruler.
I used El's method!:

Home on Furlough (block 12 from Civil War Anniversary)

Home on Furlough, Block 12 (#110 on page 240 of Civil War Anniversay Quilts by Rosemary Youngs)

Cut:

Red 4 ½” square (cut 1)

Red 3” square (cut 1) then cut on 1 diagonal

Green 4 ½” square (cut 1)

Green 3” square (cut 1) then cut on 1 diagonal

Cream/background @ 1 5/8” X 6” (cut 4)

The pieces are over-size so block will finish at exactly 6 ½”. Sew with scant ¼”

Step 1

Layer 4 ½” red and green with right sides together. Draw both diagonals. Sew ¼” on left side of diagonal line to center (other diagonal line), turn and sew along second diagonal line to ¼” past intersecting lines in middle (approximately 6 stitches), turn and sew ¼” on right side of 1^st diagonal line to end. Repeat with second diagonal line. I’ll post a picture. This makes red/green triangles oriented the same for all 4. Cut on both diagonal lines. Press to red.

Or

Cut both diagonal lines on red and green 4 ½” squares. Sew red to green on short edge being careful to always sew red to the same side of green, see photo on page 240. Press to red.

Step 2

Sew cream strip to long edge of red and green triangles cut from 3” squares, centering the triangles. Press towards red on red/cream and towards cream on green/cream. Trim the strips following the angle of the triangles.

Step 3

Sew triangles from step 1 to triangles from step 3 along long edge, matching centers of each. This is oversized and needs to be trimmed. I’ll post pics. Using any ruler with a 45 degree line that goes to the corner, place 45 degree along red/green corner triangle seam with small triangle at corner. Slide ruler with 45 degree on seam so the 2” is at the cream/small triangle seam and the 3 ½” is at the center diagonal line (cream/red-green triangles).

  Trim right side and top. Turn block and trim to 3 ½” square.

 Sew the 4 blocks together as making a 4-patch.

Okay--I know this sounds confusing but it’s very easy to make it perfect this way. Feel free to cut step 1 and step 2 into triangle units measuring 3 7/8”  and then sew together, if you prefer.  If you follow the pressing instructions everything 'locks' together!

Sew Intertwined

http://sewhappygeek.co.uk/index.php/sew-intertwined-quilt-along/#comment-15697
cool quilt along!  Found it looking for Dresden plate quilt layouts (see my plate below, LOL, have 4 1/4 circles for coners, 5 full circles so far and 4 1/2 circles for sides so far--not sure how big this will get!)
To join go to:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/sewintertwinedqal/

Helping with rotary cutting instructions for quilt 3 in Civil War Anniversary Quilts

Hi all,
The woman who was doing the rotary instructions for this quilt is having personal issues so I've stepped in to help.  I'll be adding a block every week (possibly more)  Linda had done blocks 1-8 (available at Rosemary Youngs groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/civilwardiaryquilt/ under files)
Here are blocks 9-11 if you want to join in.

#9, block 107 Camp for the Winter, page 237 of Civil War Anniversary Quilt by Rosemary Youngs

Cut:

A 1 ¼ X 5 cream (4)

B 1 ¼ X 5 blue (4)

C 1 ¼ X 5 red(4)

D 1 ¼ X 5 yellow/orange (4)

E 1 ¼ X 5 lavender (2)

F 2 X 5 lavender (2)

G 1 ¼ X 5 brown (2)

Use scant ¼”. Sew 2 strip sets using A, B, C, D, E, & G. Press with Best press, starch or sizing (as edge will be on bias), trim to 5” square and cut on diagonal across strips from base (lower left) of A color (cream) up to upper right (G or F color) . Save the ones with a long edge with cream (discard other or make another block)

Sew 2 strip sets using A, B, C, D, F. repeat sets above

Sew the 4 resulting triangle units together with long cream strips in middle (pinwheel style)

To save fabric:

A 1 ¼ X 5 cream (4)

B 1 ¼ X 4 blue (4)

C 1 ¼ X 3 1/4 red(4)

D 1 ¼ X 2 1/2 yellow/orange (4)

E 1 ¼ X 2 lavender (2)

F 2 X 2 lavender (2)

G 1 ¼ X 1 1/2 brown (2)

Sew strip sets as above

Trim resulting triangular block on 45 degree with 2 straight edges at 5” (or larger, you can trim block to 6 ½ after sewing together). Sew together.

Block 10, No News of Importance (#108 on page 238, Civil War Anniversary Quilt by Rosemary Youngs)Cut:

Fussy cut 4 ½” square

4 @ 2” squares of lavender

4 @ 2 ½” squares of tan, cut once on diagonal

Sew 2” lavender to two triangles of tan, trim tips making sure you have ¼” sewing allowance beyond the lavender square. Make 4

Sew the triangle blocks in step above to each side of 4 ½” center square.

Block 11, The Keys of My Heart (#109, page 239
Cut 6 red 2” squares, draw diagonal on wrong side of 2 of these

Cut 6 blue 2” squares, draw diagonal on wrong side of 2 of these

Cut 4 tan 2” X 3 1/2” rectangles

Put red square with drawn diagonal right sides together at bottom of tan rectangle, sew on diagonal line. Repeat with other red square and with blue squares, making 4. Trim ¼” from stitching line towards point to reduce bulk and press colored triangle back to right side.

Sew red square to blue square, red on top then add the rectangle unit from step 1 above on the right side with red or blue small triangle at bottom (next to blue square) with diagonal of colored triangle sloping from bottom left to midpoint of tan on right. (see photo on page 239 Civil War Anniversary Quilts by Rosemary Youngs)