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