Antique Squirrel - Test Block -

 

 

A few day ago - 

 

I mentioned that I could think of a couple of ways to assemble this block -  

Since it is basically a 9-patch - 

The easiest way would be to sew three rows of three units - 

Then sew the rows together - 

The TOP row has the "bar" unit seams pressed to the LEFT - 

 

And there are no seams to match on this side - 

 

 

Or on this side - 

 

 

The MIDDLE row has the "bar" unit seams on the LEFT pressed DOWN -

 

 

And the "bar" unit seams on the RIGHT pressed UP - 

 

Again - with no seams to match on either side - 

 

 

The BOTTOM row has the "bar" unit seams pressed to the RIGHT - 

 

With no seams to match on this side - 

 

Or this side - 

Three suggestions - 

 

#1 -

When you sew the rows together - 

 Sew the units together with the "Square" unit facing UP - 

 So that you can see the "POINT" when you sew over it - LOL - 

 

#2 -

Press the first/third rows AWAY from the "Square" units - TOWARD the BAR unit -

And the middle row AWAY from the CENTER unit -  TOWARD the BAR units - 

#3 -

Stitch the rows together - 

Press the top and bottom rows AWAY from the MIDDLE row - 

That way - two "middles" will be pressed "IN" - 

And two "middles" will be pressed "OUT" - 

Making it easy to nest the seams from block to block - 

Simply by rotating one a quarter turn - 

 

Another way to assemble the block - 

Would be to sew four "combos" - 

 

One "Square-on-point" or "Square-in-a-Square" unit to a BAR unit - 

With the seams of the BAR unit pressed DOWN - 

 

Then arrange the four around a center "Square" unit - 

And sew them together using partial seams - 

 

 

That might be an option if you don't mind partial seams - 

Or if you want to "match" a "Square" unit to a BAR unit as you go along - 

Personally - 

I would probably just make 9-patches - 

 

And sew them together the "easy" way - 

But it is nice - 

To have options - LOL - ;))

==

 

That was what I had "scheduled" for today's post - 

 

But then I made a "Test Block" - 

 

And most of that went right out the window - LOL -;))

 

The "pressing plan" didn't work - 

 

And the idea of using partial seams seemed unrealistic - 

 

SO - 

 

ERASE - ERASE - LOL - ;))

 

I went back to the "drawing board" - 

 

And made 4 new "Square-in-a-Square" units - 

 

With NEUTRAL centers -

 

To add to the one I "stole" from the first batch that I made - 

 

Then I "stole" 4 of the "BAR" units, too - 

 

And laid them all out on the ironing board -  

 

 

I decided to press the BAR units - 

 

In the TOP and BOTTOM rows - 

 

TOWARD the CENTER of the patch - 

 

And the BAR units in the MIDDLE row -

 

AWAY from the CENTER of the patch - 

 

BOTTOM row - same pressing as the TOP row - 

 

TOWARD the CENTER of the patch - 

 

 

Sewed the units together in each row - 

 

The sewing/pressing suggestions from above still apply - 

 

#1 -

When you sew the rows together - 

 Sew the units together with the "Square" unit facing UP - 

 So that you can see the "POINT" when you sew over it - LOL -

 

#2 -

Press the first/third rows AWAY from the "Square" units - TOWARD the BAR unit -

And the middle row AWAY from the CENTER unit -  TOWARD the BAR units - 

And - YES - I saw the wonky top seam in the BAR unit on the right - 

And I fixed it before I sewed the rows together - LOL - 

 

 

#3 -

Stitch the rows together - 

Press the top and bottom rows AWAY from the MIDDLE row - 

That way - two "middles" will be pressed "IN" - 

And two "middles" will be pressed "OUT" - 

Making it easy to nest the seams from block to block - 

Simply by rotating one a quarter turn - 

 

 

 

Some of the "points" don't seem to want to go the way I want them to - 

But I don't think it's worth fighting them - 

So I'll let them go whichever way they want to go - 

As long as the "outside" edges nest with the seams in the next block -

They should be fine -

 

Some things worked out "in real life" - 

 

The way they worked in my head - 

 

Some things did not - 

 

And THAT'S why - 

I like to make a TEST BLOCK - LOL - ;)) 

I think the NEUTRAL center squares in this version will work nicely - 

And I kinda like the NEUTRALS that show up in the CORNERS - 

And the BARS, too - 

So - once I cut the center squares from my NEUTRAL scraps - 

The rest can be "kitchen sink" - 

And it should be just fine - LOL - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -