One Big Square and Four Little Ones

Quilters are amazing.  And no, I'm not referring to myself, but rather those quilters who come up with innovative ways to create blocks.  

I'm working on a patriotic wall hanging for our living room.  I bought a book by Carrie Nelson called Schnibbles Times Two which uses pre-cut fabric pieces to create quilts in two sizes.  In other words, each quilt in the book may be made in two different sizes:  a large one using 10" pre-cut squares called layer cakes and a smaller one using 5" squares called charms.  I'm using charm squares and making a smaller one.

The pattern is called Plan C and I'm using charms from the Old Glory Gatherings collection by Primitive Gatherings for Moda. I bought two sets when I was in Coeur d'Alene with Dan last fall with this quilt and purpose in mind.

The palette is limited--red, blue, cream and tan, so it won't be as colorful as the quilt in the book, but I think I'll be okay.  

So, what's up with my first comment about innovative quilters?  Well, when I started to make the blocks, I was referred to a section in the front of the book with instructions on making the first pieces of the star blocks. I've made plenty of star blocks over the years, but I'd never had instructions like these although I confess I had seen similar ones somewhere.  (I read quilt books and magazines for leisure reading.)  I don't know if Carrie Nelson came up with this process, but whoever did...  I just wish my mind was as clever!  So, here are some photos as I worked the process.

First a big square (the background fabric) and four small ones:

Using a ruler and a pencil, you're told to draw a diagonal line on the back side of each of the small squares and then lay two of them on the larger one in the following manner:

And then stitch 1/4" on each side of the line:

Then you cut down the drawn lines:

And press open:

Then you take the other two small squares and lay them on like this:

And again stitch 1/4 inch from both sides of the line:

Slice again:

Iron open, and voila! I now have stacks of these units which are called "Flying Geese".

Normally they are made with a large triangle and two smaller ones, one unit at a time.  But this method makes all four of the units needed for each star with one large square and four smaller ones.  Now I ask you:  Is the ingenious or what?  It's what I've suspected for a long time:  there's a whole lot of math and engineering that goes into making quilts.  

Note to Bernina owners:  I used my 37 patchwork foot, and the instructions said to stitch a "scant 1/4" seam".   When I piece (I was using my 330), I use the straight stitch plate and I wondered:  could I scootch my needle over one click to left (I was stitching on the right side of the drawn line each time) in order to create the scant seam? I carefully checked without fabric under the needle and yes indeed, the needle just cleared the hole in the plate.  Perfect scant seam.