For our October block, we’re naturally looking at the changing leaves and making an autumn leaf block. This pattern has multiple sizes—for our block lotto, make one 15” block or two 10” blocks for per entry.
Follow the Generations quilt pattern using the following guidelines:
— For the leaf, use autumnal colors in modern fabrics.
— For the background, use cream or reads-as-cream fabric.
— For the stem, follow their so-called connector method or piecing instructions below.
NOTE: The pages with the instructions are somewhat hard to follow on a mobile device because of pop-up ads. It’s somewhat less annoying in a regular browser.
The method for piecing the stem described by the pattern is essentially snowballing a feature fabric square with two background squares that are only a quarter-inch smaller. It has you sew a second seam ½” away from the center of each background square, away from the stem, which will yield a bonus half square triangle from each snowballed corner once you cut between those two seams. (1) Be careful you don’t cut the stem! (2) You do not have to do this step; the bonus HSTs are not part of the block lotto requirement.
If you have no interest in bonus HSTs and you’d like to minimize waste, another way to piece the stem would be to (1) cut a background square about 5″ or 7″ (depending on which size leaf block you’re making); (2) make a diagonal cut in that background square; (3) insert a 1″ strip of the leaf fabric (for a 0.5″ finished stem); and (4) trim the block to the required size.
If you can figure out another way to piece a diagonal stem that’s about 0.5″ thick, go for it! The important thing is that it is pieced and not appliquéd.
As a reminder, these blocks will be turned in at the November meeting and the lotto is open only to current, paid members.
