Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Spider Legs

This is block #82  from the FW book.  Don't worry, I am nearing the end of the blocks I have cut out so my recent splurge of posts will stop.  If you have been following along from the beginning, you should have about 20 blocks left to go.  I will be doing some substitutions when we get down to the final 10.  Let's face it - no one is going to know if it actually came from the book or if you picked an easier block.  Also, with over 100 blocks, no one is going to know if you repeated an easy block except for you.

This block is NOT an easy one.  The pieces are quite small!  Once again I am changing the way this block is put together.  Does a block have the same name if you put it together differently?  We will be making some flying geese that finish at 3/4" x 1 1/2 instead of the trapezoids in the pattern.  It looks like a crazy mess of pieces, but trust me- they will all fit together.

Cutting Block #82
Light-  
1- 2" square
4 - triangles w/1 1/4" strip and companion angle (CA)
16- triangles w/ 1 1/4" strip and easy angle (EA) 
Dark
4- 2" squares
8- triangles w/1 1/4" strip and CA
8- triangles w/1 1/4" strip and EA
4- triangles w/ 2 1/2" strip and CA

That was the hard part. Now for the sewing-

Make 8 flying geese dark as the larger triangle; Make 4 flying geese with the light as the goose (larger triangle).  These should measure 1 1/4" X 2".  Use the picture if you need help on how to square them up.  Put the 1 1/4" line at the top and the bias line (45 degree) on the seam line.  

I always press the first sky (small triangle) toward the goose, and the second sky triangle away from the goose.  I think this helps it to lay flat. These are super small pieces, so you may want to press them all open. If you aren't comfortable with your seam allowance, you can always use a 1 1/2" strip and square them up to the size needed.    

Join the geese in pairs.  Join the remaining 4 geese with the corner squares





 Add a large dark triangle to both sides of 2 of these units; join the remaining 2 units with the light center square.

I pressed the final 2 seams open to reduce bulk.  I was amazed how well this block lined up for me.  

Square up the block  to 6 1/2" taking care to keep the center square in the center.

Did you make it to the end?  Now look at block number 110 from your book- It is the same block with the exception of the larger triangles.

Edited:  I did block #110 the same way and it came out too large.  With this block it isn't a problem because there aren't any points to chop off on the edge.  I will modify the sizes a little smaller with block #110 (1 7/8" center square).

1 comment:

Melinda said...

OMGosh, this block is awesome. Love the dynamic colors.