Wednesday, January 21, 2009

K-7

A little applique.
Most versions of this block I have found online were made by just applique'ing one "rose" onto a piece of background fabric. If you look at Jane's block, however, you will see that she pieced 4 triangles together to from a square. Many of her blocks are made this way. Most of the time I'm OK with ignoring it, since she hand-pieced and I'm machine piecing.
I did not like the look of the big rose on the big piece of background in this block however, so I decided to go with Jane's method.

Cut a 6" square out of your background fabric. Cut the square in half diagonally.

Now cut each of the resulting triangles in half as shown.

You will now have 4 triangles.

Trace or print the block onto the dull side of freezer paper and cut out the four "hearts". Iron them onto the right side of your main fabric, leaving enough room between them for seam allowances. Cut out the shapes leaving an 1/8" to ¼" seam allowance on the curved edges.
Cut the seam allowance on the straight edges to exactly ¼". This is VERY IMPORTANT for the positioning of your applique on the final block.

Place the "rose" pieces on top of the background pieces as shown, aligning the straight edges.

Baste.

Applique the "quarter roses" onto the background pieces using the needle turn applique method I described in A-7.(not reverse applique)
Remove the freezer paper and press the block pieces. Be very careful to press and not iron. These fabric pieces are cut on the bias and will distort very easily.

Complete the block by attaching the pieces two at a time, matching seams carefully. I have found that starting the seam from the "sharp" end of the triangle minimizes distortion of the seam while sewing.

Press carefully and trim the block down to 5" in size.

I trimmed the seams in the back down quite a bit to reduce bulk.

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