Friday, January 17, 2014

Block drafting 101

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...
Once 5:00 PM hits on a Friday night, my math brain shuts off for the weekend!!!
LOL

Two hours ago, I set out to help buddy Andee.  Task:  draft a 9" Talkin' Turkey block. (pic from Andee's post last night).  Using the picture of her block, I set out with the basic drafting tools in-hand... pencil, paper and ruler.
Drafting a block in a different size starts by drawing a life-size version of the block, for me anyway.  I don't always draw, BUT I certainly do when the overall fundamental block breakdown doesn't work mathematically nicely with the finished size of the block.  Meaning:  I see this block as an 8x8 unit breakdown;  but the finished block needs to be 9".  That's 9 ÷ 8 = 1 1/8" finished sections.  
Therefore, it's a good thing for me that my daughters have some drawing tablets that are 9"x12"!  

NOW, before I get going too far......If you enlarge the picture to see my hand-written cutting measurements.....  STOP.  
LOL.  I had a brain-fart.....
and it didn't hit me what I had done until I went through allllllll of this......

And then, when I pressed the string red units......
**scratchin' head**

My string blocks match up nicely to the drafted drawing, but.....my 1/4" seam for the bordering unit was NEVER going to meet the point(s) of intersection between the 9-patch and the red strings....

I looked over all measurements, and I was simply ..... confused!
Why oh why is the 9-patch not workin'?!?!?!  It's too small!

When I grabbed my ruler to measure the 9-block finished squares in my drawn version.....SURE SHOOTIN'!  They measure 1 9/16". {{yeah, icky measurements to quilters accustomed to measurements in quarters and eighths}}
BUT, when I measured the finished 9-block squares, they were measuring about 1 5/16" ...
And then it hit me!!!!!!!!

Good golly!  HOW long have I been quilting?!?!?
Once I had the finished measurements determined from the life-size block draft, I added ONE-QUARTER inch to the finished size of the squares instead of ONE-HALF inch!!!

**forehead slap**
The red string blocks are right on the money, but I'll need to rip-rip-rip in order to recreate the 9-patch.

So, Andee..... I don't have the test block to show you yet, but, I'm PRETTY POSITIVE on these measurements now ;)

String blocks
Cut TWO foundation squares to 5" and piece the strings (I use paper).
Once pieced, square up to 4 3/8".

Cut in half against the diagonal.  Yield:  4 HST strings.

9-patch
REMEMBER:  This picture shows the WRONG SIZE 9-patch!
Each square of the 9-patch unit needs to be cut at 2 1/16".  I suppose you could cut to 2 1/8" if you use a SLIGHTLY larger (thread-width?) seam allowance.  DO NOT cut at 1 13/16"  LOL;  that'll end up being 1/4" too small!

Flying Geese
Cut 8 backgrounds rectangles:  1 5/8" x 2 3/4"
Cut 16 colored squares: 1 5/8" x 1 5/8"
Sew using the corner-to-corner flip-n-stitch method.

Other bordering pieces
You'll need 4 more background rectangles 1 5/8" x 2 3/4" for the border centers
and four (4) 1 5/8" x 1 5/8" background squares for the corners.

I'll try another one on Sunday;  I'm booked solid tomorrow with Basketball tournaments: 7AM - 8 PM! Holy buckets!

Happy Saturday.

And remember the quilter's drafting rule:  ADD A HALF!!!! {{NOT Add a quarter!}} 
:p

8 comments:

Andee said...

Yippee...sorry it wasn't as easy as it might have been! I am sew excited to make this and send it out...you too? THANK YOU AMY!!!!!

Kevin the Quilter said...

Lord have mercy 12/13ths and 16/18th......this is totally making my mind whirl! But, I love the blocks none the less! What you and Andee cooking up anyway? LOL

Ann Marie @ 16 Muddy Feet said...

Well if she can cut those squares at a 2 1/8 with a scant LARGER seam she could also go the other way and cut them at 2 inches and do a scant seam allowance so she doesn't have to use a magnifier to find the 2 1/16th inch mark on the ruler.......I don't even think my rulers have 1/16th inch parks. Great job by the way, and I too have done the add a 1/4 instead of add a 1/2. Glad it isn't just me.

Amanda said...

Well, that's one block I won't be making in a hurry!

Andra Gayle said...

I could have drawn it for you on my EQ7, you should have sent me an emergency request! :) I love those blocks!

Linda said...

Cute blocks, sorry you had so much trouble but you got there anyway! Even math whizzes have their days, huh? It looks great,have fun.

scraphappy said...

So nice of you to do the math for Andee. Hope it all works out. Enjoy the basketball!

Nancy said...

Now I know where to go when I want to redraft a block :D Hope the basketball day went well.