In the past I would say there is no question that my Simple Bricks pattern was my favourite. I have done tutorials for it and one can be found (here).
Picking a favourite quilt block is really challenging. Each and every block has something to offer. My current favourite block is Broken Dishes. There is a reason for this. Actually there are a couple of reasons. First of all I hate wasting anything. So those lovely bonus triangles that so many quilters generate need to be made into something.
Secondly, somehow I have acquired a reputation at my Quilt Guild and people give me baggies filled with bonus/waste triangles.
These are just the very tip of the iceberg. So I have an endless supply and I need to do something with them.
Enter the Broken Dishes Quilt Block.
The Broken Dishes block starts with many, many half square triangles. Since I find I am usually working with bonus/waste triangles that need to be turned into Half Square triangles many of my Broken Dishes blocks are small blocks and I need a lot of them to make something usable. I did once start with yardage and made a table runner with larger components but the picture for that is long gone.
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| The steps and outtakes for a Broken Dishes quilt block |
So for a Broken Dishes block you start with triangles. These are then stitched together with another triangle (background) to make a Half Square Triangle. Once you have four HST's you are going to stitch them together in pairs. The way I remember the orientation of the components that I am stitching together is I say "down and up" So the pattern portion of the HST is facing down and then up. These are stitched together and then pressed open.( I press these to one side myself). This is a place where you can make an "error". Note the direction of the seam in the middle of the green and white HST. If you consistently place this facing in the same direction before pressing then the resulting block, when all is said and done, will nest with the next block. For the light green one you can see at the bottom of the first column the seam is at the top and the angle of the seam inside the triangle is moving from upper right towards the lower left. When you press them open you get two segments that look the same (the pink ones). One needs to be rotated as shown in the pair of blue segments. Once stitched together they will give you a wee little block like the black and white one.
On the final column of components I show the "wrong" way to press and the result when you open it up. You can still make a Broken Dishes block but it won't nest nicely with your other blocks. Unless of course you do them all this way.
And finally a photo of three Broken Dishes quilt tops waiting for something to happen to them.
I hope my little explanation has given you enough to go on and that you will look at your bonus triangles in a new light. Thanks so much for dropping by. Piecefully, Joanne
Be certain to stop by the other participants in the blog hop this week for lots of quilt block ideas.
Monday, September 9th
Tuesday, September 10th
Wednesday, September 11th
Thursday, September 12th
Friday, September 13th
