DCMQG 2016 QAL - Block 17

Block 17

This is the box kite block, based on Angela Pingel's block in Modern Blocks. Her block uses templates, we're going to be taking a stab at Half Rectangle Triangles (HRTs). This is the first block where the baby quilt block is not just a simplified half-sized version of the queen sized block. The queen sized block also has some optional partial seams practice.

Cutting Instructions
Queen Sized:
Background: (8) 3" x 6"
Print 1: (1) 4.5" x 4.5" OR cut a square from your background fabric
Prints: (8) 3" x 6"

Background is the white, Print 1 is the off-white with leaves and flowers, and Prints are the rectangles on the left (I cut 2 of each).

Baby Quilt:
Background: (4) 2.5" x 5"
Prints: (4) 2.5 x 5"

Piecing Instructions:
Divide your background into two piles of 4 (2). One pile, draw a line down the diagonal going from lower left to upper right, and the other pile draw a line from upper left to lower right (yes, it makes a difference for HRTs).

Next, match up one print with one background piece. Do not pin yet.

Turn the background fabric, so the line is pointed across the opposing diagonal of the print fabric. Pin! See how the background fabrics twist differently.

Now sew a scant 1/4" seam on both sides of the line. Then carefully trim your HRTs apart on the center line and press (I would suggest pressing open for this seam, unless you have a Bloc Loc ruler).

Now we are going to trim these blocks down to size. Do NOT trim so the center seam goes through the corners, otherwise you'll lose your point when sewing the pieces together. Take your first HRT and line up the .25 and the 4.25 (3.25) dot on the center seam, making sure that your 2.5" (2") line is still on the fabric. Trim on the right and top.

Now turn your HRT and trim down to 2.5" x 4.5" (2" x 3.5"). Yes, you will be trimming off hardly anything at the top and bottom, and quite a bit from left and right. This is necessary to get the correct ratio of height to length.

Do the same thing with the other stack of HRTs, but this time your center seam will go from top left to bottom right.

Once you've trimmed all of your pieces, lay them out into the final block layout (for the baby quilt layout, take a look at the finished block down below - you'll have 8 HRTs, that should be sewn into 2 diamonds).

Now pair up the HRT units into square units and sew them with a scant 1/4 inch. Your block will now look like this:

You now have two options... you can either sew this together as per usual for a 9 patch (my preference is generally sewing all the units into rows, and the rows into the finished block) OR you can practice your partial seams like I did. For the partial seam practice, sew your square units into diamonds.

Now take your center square and one of your diamonds (I started with the bottom right). Line up the top edge of both blocks and pin. Then pin again about 1" from the bottom of the center square. Sew a scant 1/4" from the top of the blocks to where you pinned and stop. You should have about 1" of unsewn fabric in the center square and about 5" of unsewn fabric in the diamond unit. Press only the top of the seam (either open or to one side, as you prefer).

Now take the next diamond and add it to the top of the resulting unit. Pin at front and back, and at the seams. Sew a scant 1/4" along the entire line. Press the entire seam.

Do the same with the next diamond. Pin, sew, press the entire seam.

Now take the last diamond and pin it. Make sure you pin the loose part of the first diamond firmly out of the way. Sew and press the entire seam.

Now pin the remainder of the first diamond and start your seam with a bit of an overlap from where you left off before. Press the seam and then give your block a good press.

The final queen sized block will look like this:

The final baby quilt block will look like this:

Completed block size:
Queen sized: 12.5" x 12.5"
Baby Quilt: 6.5" x 6.5"

Several other options:

• Make the diamonds as scrappy as you'd like.
• Use solids in two slightly different hues of the same color, so it looks like facets of a gem.
• Make the diamond points wonky by using stitch and flip triangles on 2.5" x 4.5" (1.5" x 3.5") rectangles as a base.
• Play around with where you put your background, maybe flip one or more of the pieces so the background is part of the diamond shape and the print is where the background would usually be. Or put a piece of background fabric in the center of the queen sized block to make the diamonds stand out more.

Block 17 quilt: