Sewing With Nancy

Quilt patterns with triangles make up the majority of history's quilt designs. Flying Geese, Dutch Windmill, Ohio Star, Hens and Chickens are all names of quilt blocks that instantly conjure images in our heads whether we quilt or not. Yet those triangular shapes can be sticklers to piece. I'd like to take the hassle out of creating triangles in particular, quarter-square triangles. This sampler quilt features both half- and quarter-square blocks. No actually triangles are cut, only squares. "No-Hassle Triangles Quilt Blocks" that's coming up next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy, TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman is made possible by Baby Lock, a complete line of sewing, quilting and embroidery machines and sergers. Baby Lock, for the love of sewing. Madeira, specializing in embroidery, quilting and special-effect threads because creativity is never black and white. Koala Studios fine sewing furniture custom-built in America. Clover, making a difference in sewing, quilting, crafting, and needle arts for over 30 years. Amazing Designs and Klass needles. The sampler quilt behind me is made of 12 12" blocks. Of course there is some sashing in between but the blacks themselves are all made from half- or quarter-square triangles. In the first episode of this series I worked with all half-square. Now this time we're going to advance and work with quarter-square. These are a little bit more difficult it may seem but the same principle applies. Many of the blocks in this program are a combination of half-square and quarter-square. So you'll see the two intermixed. The blocks don't always have to be the same size. We have some blocks in this quilt sampler that are 6" finished, 3" and 4". The principle is all the same of how to create them. We're going to start by just talking a little bit about traditional quarter-square triangles. Before rotary cutters, and rulers and mats when quilters created quarter-square triangles four sections of one square they cut it in half point to point cut it in half again. Then they would stitch matching the colors they'd like together. Now what happens when you cut them first, there are two bias edges and bias to bias sometimes can create stretch when you sew this together. So we're going to cut squares, mark and stitch then cut the triangle sections apart. Down below I have reviewed a little bit of what we did in the first program. We created half-square triangles but now out of this section it creates a half-square triangle and two half-square triangles create two quarter-square triangles. It's a little magic. I'll show you as we go along. Now the fabric. In the first program in the series I did a lot of work-- Not a lot of work, but some work, on the fabric spraying it with starch or a spray starch alternative to get it nice and crisp. I do this with all my fabrics. It takes some time to just get it all nicely crisp. The pressing part prevents some of the raveling and makes the squares, when you cut them a little bit more accurate. But the sizing, that's where sometimes as quilters we wonder, what size should I cut to get to that quarter-square triangle. There are three ways you can do it. Two ways really, and then three ways to mark. If you're working with a gauge some of the gauges tell you exactly what size to cut. On the right side of this gauge it says, for a 4-1/2" block you cut 5-1/4". So you'd know that amount. If you didn't have a gauge like this you take your finished block size let's say it's 4" and you add 1-1/4". That would be 5-1/4". So add to the finished block size 1-1/4" and you have the size. Now match, with right-sides together a strip, that has been cut in this instance, 5-1/4". I have the right-sides together of the blocks then I would cut 5-1/4" squares. They're just squares. Then to mark these, you're marking from point to point. Line it up corner to corner and mark in the middle, making sure it's accurate all the way down. Now if you didn't have a gauge such as this you could simply use a ruler mark point to point, draw the line. Or there are gauges that are made that have little end points points you can place from corner to corner. Mark the center which later will be the cutting line and then the sides. Then we're ready to do the stitching. Before sewing the seams for this quarter-square triangle I want to show you the size of the block which was 5-1/4". That yields a 4-1/2" pair of quarter-square triangles. This may seem rather odd, but this extra length and width is made up in two sets of seam allowances. So as when making the half-square triangles double check that the marks go from corner to corner that you used your ruler or your gauge to mark. Then stitch a 1/4" on either side of that center mark. On the block that's in my machine right now I have already sewn a 1/4" on one side of the block. This is just like making that half-square triangle. You have to make half squares before you can make quarter squares. Now normally I would chain a whole slew of blocks together. You'd just chain stitch them together going from one to the other with those little threads that connect them. After you have stitched as many of the half-square triangles as you need, then you cut apart the blocks. Again, you're creating half-squares first. So I'll cut these apart down the center. You can even use a scissors as far as that goes. Then you have two half-square triangles. The blocks that I have here have been pressed toward the darker fabric color. On your table, to create the quarter-square you're going to line them up so that you have opposite colors meeting so that the print and the teal are lining up. I have them stacked. Double check that they're aligned. Then, with your ruler or your gauge you're going to mark the opposite corners which I've already done. Since these are now half-squares I'm going to move that little gauge so I can make sure it's all aligned and so that the the block is in the confines. Or you could just put a ruler there and mark from point to point. Use a fine-tip marking pen. And again, make sure it's all lined up and mark. Once you've marked this section you're going to sew 1/4" on both sides. Again, you'd be chain stitching some of them together. Let's make sure that seam allowance is down. I'm just going to make one block for you. Then we'll do the other side. A presser foot that has a 1/4" toe width is excellent for this project as it is with most quilting projects. Then we'll take it to the mat and do some cutting cutting between those stitching lines. I think you're going to see what's going to happen very quickly. From those two squares of fabric I now have, da-dah two sets of quarter-square triangles. We'll do some pressing. As before, I like to set the seam and press along the stitching line. Press in one direction, pressing from the inside. This is the way I like to press it so I don't get a little pleat in here. I'll just press. Then to set the seam so that the seam definitely is flat use a wooden block, like a tailor clapper. Depress so that that the moisture is absorbed into the block. And you have a very excellent square that's created from those two blocks that were 5-1/4". From two squares you get two quarter-square triangles. Some quilt block names have a long history. Others are simply made up on the fly. I'll let you decide the authenticity of this block named the Quarter-Square Dance. Regardless of what it's called, it's the perfect block to begin our no-hassle quilt block journey. As we look at this block we can see it just has four squares to create a block and each of them are quarter-square triangles. They're different fabric combinations. It's a simple block but an interesting play of color with it. As I discussed earlier when you have a finished block size you cut the block 1-1/4" larger. So I have the two block sets ivory and aqua the print and the ivory, together. Then these would be marked first as a half-square triangle, stitched, cut apart and then put together as I showed you just a few minutes ago as a quarter-square. When laying these out, it's really easy because there are only four pieces. You'd simply place, as I have here so that every block the light meets a dark and the dark meets the light. That's how you get the four Quarter-Square Dance. When sewing this together in the first program of the series you can refer back to that on DVD or on-line but I met one left column to the middle column or right column as in this instance. Then sew continuously, chaining these together. Then you sew the rows together. It's a simple block. A great way to start out working with quarter-square triangles. This quilt block, named Boy's Nonsense was officially recorded and appeared in print in 1898. The block appears to include regular strips. Well, not so. The design is a combination of half- and quarter-square triangles, plus a plain center. It's always good to kind of analyze the blocks see how it's made up. Boy's Nonsense as I said, I didn't name this one has half-squares, which we did in the first program and then quarter-squares. You can see how the rectangular shape is created by the combination of the two. And the middle, just a plain block. Now you have to cut three different sizes of squares for this particular block. The center, since the finished size is 4" the center's cut 1/2" wider. So we have a 4-1/2" center block. Then for the half-square triangles if you joined us last time, you found out that those are cut 7/8" larger than the finished blocks. So these are 4-7/8". These are the smaller ones, excuse me. These are 4-7/8" Then the quarter-squares are cut 5-1/4". So it's a little math but once you get the cutting down I think you'll be able to see how this works. I have my center block and I'm just going to put the quarter-squares around it. Then in the corners-- I have my little cheat-sheet here. I'm just going to peek at my little notes to see how those rectangular shapes are created. That's Boy's Nonsense. It might be difficult to comprehend but the next block, Silent Star is almost identical to the last block Boy's Nonsense. The main difference in construction is the center all the other blocks are the same. This is a case where fabric choices totally change the design of the quilt block. If we look at this block that's in the upper left of my quilt it doesn't look much like the last block that we had. But on the table I have the Boy's Nonsense quilt block placed next to the Silent Star. Here you can see there are half-square triangles and quarter-square triangles. The difference is that in the middle of this block instead of it being a solid, it's a quarter-square. But look, look at all the unique different colorations that cause a design change. This is a quarter-square, this is a quarter-square but just by changing color you have a lot of variety in your quilt-making. Simply in design, yet elegant the Ohio Star quilt block has been in use since the early 1800's with a spike in popularity in the 1930's. See how this nine-patch block can be made the no-hassle way in the 21st century. There are many configurations for the Ohio Star. I happened to choose solid fabrics in the corner, a solid fabric square for the middle and then the four quarter-square triangles as you can see, between all the corners. The fabric color choice is important. You can play around with that. But what I'd like to show you now is making a quarter-square triangle with three different fabrics. That is kind of a little bit of a trick. If we look at the fabrics that I have cut out I have the 4-1/2" squares for the corners and center. Then for the quarter-square triangles they were cut 5-1/4". I have two color combinations, as you can see. This teal and print yields this block the ivory and print yields the other block. You take one of each block color that has the common denominator of the print. When you put these right-sides together-- Let's see if I have this right. I always have to look at it twice. Nope, let me turn it around so that the prints are in the opposite way. I would then stack these right-sides together and then mark down the center. You can see, even though I haven't marked or stitched it how it creates three different fabrics. Again, to make it a little bit clearer we're going to place the same fabrics on opposite sides. Then, stitching down the center, you get the three colors on a quarter-square triangle. When laying this out-- You can do it in a variety of ways but here are the quarter-squares. Then let me see. That doesn't look right. Here we go. Then put a solid square in the center. And da-dah, an Ohio Star block nine-patch. Now for your master's degree in quarter-square triangles. The Star of Hope combines a half- and quarter-square triangle. I call it a modified quarter-square. Notice the three-colored block, aqua, ivory and teal. Success comes by thinking through and following the directions. When we look at this block you'll see that there are some half-square triangles in the corner and then this is the modified quarter-square triangle then a solid block. This is what I'd like to show you how to create. You cut some of the fabric as if it's a quarter-square. The portions that are going to create the triangle, this was cut 5-1/4". You'd sew down either side of the center to create these two blocks. But then for the third fabric if you cut it 5-1/4" it's going to be too large. So you cut this the size of a half-square triangle, which happens to be 4-7/8" for this particular block. You place it on top of the triangle that you see here the half-square triangle. The ruler or the gauge, whatever you're using is placed on the opposite ends and you'd mark down the center. Stitch 1/4" on either side. I think you can see what happens. You get two blocks, but they're mirror image. Choose one of the blocks make four like this, and you wrap it around the center print square that we have here. I've already started to put one into place. You can kind of see how this creates a block. That's the modified quarter-square triangle. The Card Trick quilt block like most magic, seems impossible to reproduce. What appears as slight of hand is a very logical block to create once you see the elements. The Card Trick I know you will not be fooled by the design. This design first appeared in print in 1972 or 1975, I believe. I've always wondered, exactly how is this made? Well, when I use my little squares I could find out that it's half-square triangles then a modified quarter-square. You can see the three colors. Then the center has quarter-square triangles with four different colors. That's your master's or your graduate degree in quarter-square triangles. Here I have the modified blocks in each color. It makes a lot of sense to make at least four blocks at once but I'm going to just show you one. By the time you make all of the triangles you are going to have extra pieces. Then for the center I have two different color combinations two of the colors, two of the colors. You make half-squares, which we have right here fold it in half, and mark down the center. Now you can see how that's created. Again, you place it in the center and your card trick is complete. My Nancy's Corner guest is here to inspire you to make pouches for kids who need distraction while waiting for a treatment. It takes very little time to create yet gives great joy to kids as well as their families. Please welcome Sabra Bateman co-founder of Patient Pouches and TandB Foundation who joins us today via Skype from South Carolina. Thanks for joining us, Sabra. Thank you for having me, Nancy. When I heard the story about Patient Pouches I was really touched. Share with our viewers the history of patient pouches. Okay. Well, my friend and I, Lindsay Barnett started TandB Foundation with the intent of starting to provide Patient Pouches to pediatric cancer patients who were in need as the wait for long appointments prior to surgery or long treatment days. We started TandB Foundation in September of 2013 and, again, our goal was to provide a pouch full of activities that kids could use to help distract them, as they wait for long appointments on surgery days. Now Sabra, you know about this from first-hand experience. I do. My son, who was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma, which is an eye cancer at the age of two weeks old. He started treatment immediately and has been in current treatment ever since. So he has had multiple surgery days and multiple times under anesthesia. These kids have to wait. They have to go without food or drink because they are having surgery. So they need a distraction to help occupy the time on long appointment days. There's a free pattern on-line to make the pouches. People can embellish them however they'd like. That's right. As you can see by some of the photos we have had a tremendous response from people who share our desire to help support these kids and provide something for them to do. We have had very creative people supply us pouches which these kids get to take home with them. When they check in for their surgery the check-in desk gives them one of these pouches which are all age-appropriate based on the child's age and visual needs. We do have some children that do not have vision or very poor vision. So each of the pouches is custom to an age group, and boy or a girl. Our seamstresses have helped us so much in creating pouches that the kids love to carry around. As you mentioned, age-appropriate. I made notes that you have from newborn to eight-plus-years old so inside the pouches could be put some crayons or stuffed toys, or whatever you think or the seamstress thinks should be inside. That's right. We have a wish list that we've created of items that we've put in. We try to include at least one educational activity. Because these children often are missing school when they get to be school-age. But they're also just fun things for the children to do, coloring activities and arts and craft activities, and Play-Doh and stuffed animals, anything, stickers. Anything that you can think of to help distract a child. Many of your pouches have been given to a hospital in Philadelphia, Wills Eye Hospital. Is that correct? That's correct. That's where both my son and Lindsay's son have received the majority of their treatment. At this point we've donated over 400 Patient Pouches but our goal is to expand and to reach out to other children's hospitals throughout the United States. In order to do that we have to have the support of people to help make the pouches and then also to supply donations to fill the pouches. At TandB Foundation we are completely dependant on the donation of others. That's why we're so excited that you're willing to help us out. Well, Sabra I think you for joining us. I could almost guarantee that you're going to have some Patient Pouches delivered to you just for this purpose and to spread the word, and to spread the ideas. Thank you for being with us. Oh, thank you so much, again Nancy, for having us and supporting TandB Foundation. You're very welcome, Sabra. And hi to Lindsay as well. Thank you. If you'd like to find out more information about this you can go to our website nancyzieman.com. Click on "Nancy's Corner". As always, thanks for joining us. Bye for now. Nancy Zieman has written a book entitled "No-Hassle Triangles Quilt Blocks". It includes instructions for a quilt featuring 12 quilt blocks and all the techniques from this two-part series. It's $9.99, plus shipping and handling. To order the book, call 1-800-336-8373 or visit our website at sewingwithnancy.com/2809 Order Item Number BK2809, "No-Hassle Triangles Quilt Blocks." To pay by check or money order call the number on the screen for details. Visit Nancy's website at nancyzieman.com to see additional episodes, Nancy's blog, and more. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman has been brought to you by Baby Lock; Madeira Threads; Koala Studios; Clover; Amazing Designs and Klass Needles. Closed captioning funding provided by Pellon. Sewing with Nancy is a co-production of Nancy Zieman Productions and Wisconsin Public Television.