Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Tube block

Have you ever done a tube block?  Where you take the two strips and sew them top and bottom, then cut to get half square triangles?  I first heard/saw these done with the Wonder Cut ruler.  I jumped on the band wagon and got me one of those rulers.  I personally don't care for it but I've talked to others who love it.  It's a matter of choice.  Anyway, I needed to make up a set of quick quilt blocks and thought about the "Tube block" technique and pulled some practice fabrics to work on the right measurements for the size blocks I wanted to complete - sometimes my brain just goes to 'math dead' and I can't figure out the dimensions...
My first strip sets made blocks too big for what I needed the set for but I really liked the way they looked so made a complete set from my 'practice' fabrics:
These blocks measure 14" and I have a set of 12.  I'm thinking a solid color green to sash and border for a finished quilt...
If you've ever cut triangles from a strip, you know you end up with the odd ends.  I decided to play around with those ends and this is what I came up with:
These aren't sewn together yet... the little blocks measure 6" so this piece when sewn together will measure 27" X 11".  I will border it and probably use it as a dresser runner.  Then.. I had some of the peach and white strip that was longer than the green and peach strip so cut that up into 4-patches along with some squares of green and this is what I have:
This will measure 10 X 20 and will end up being used as a table scarf or something of that nature.
I'm glad I decided to use these pieces while I was in sewing mode instead of throwing them into the scrap tub.  
Oh, the blocks I 'needed' to get done - well, they're for a special project and needed to get sent to a friend to use with a set of embroidered angels:

The person who will be the recipient of the quilt loves bright colors and I have had this print in my stash for quite some time.  I liked pairing it with the Fairy Frost fabrics I had (more fabric I've had for awhile...)
You may have noticed that these blocks aren't the same layout as the green & peach blocks... The green & peach create a square and these obviously don't.  That's one of the things I really like about using this technique, there are several different looks using the same units...  

Wishing everyone a wonderful day,

Katie

1 comment:

A Left-Handed Quilter said...

Boy, you were just going to town with those blocks - good for you - they look great! And yes, I have the "Wonder-Cut" ruler and have made some "Tube Blocks" - but I'm not a big fan of blocks with bias outside edges - so I haven't made many - ;))