Hi! I’m Beth from plum and june and I am so excited to share a block I made using the beautiful new Eiko fabrics from Birch. Aside from the absolutely gorgeous color palette of this line, I also adore the great mix of subtle novelty prints and perfect blenders. I tried to design a block that would highlight the novelty prints but also show how well all the colors work together.
This finished block measures 12.5″ square.
For each block, you’ll need:
1 fussy cut center
1 FQ of background fabric (mod basics cream)
28 2″ squares of various fabrics
(2) 1″ x 8.5″ strips
(2) 1″ x 9.5″ of dark blue fabric
If you wish to make the mini quilt, you’ll need an additional fat quarter of the background fabric and a fat quarter of the gray flower/crane fabric.
To make the block, start by fussy cutting a piece of your favorite fabric -whether it is the cheater print flowers like I used in this example or you might like to choose the cranes or the fish or maybe even the waves or one of the other flower motifs.
The Basic Block – 12.5″ square (need 12)
The basic framed patchwork block finishes at 12.5″ square and I’ve included the measurements for three sizes of fussy cuts so you can choose which fits best with the print you are using. You can also rotate the block so that your fabric can be shown vertically or horizontally.
Block 1: using a 2.5 x 4 fussy cut
From your background fabric, cut the following: (a) 2″ x 2.5″, (b) 2.5″ x 3.5″, (c) 2″ x 8.5″, and (d) 5 x 8.5″. Sew the smaller pieces of background fabric (a) and (b) to either side of the fussy cut print as shown.
Press seams and then sew the larger pieces (c) and (d) to the top and bottom. Press seams and trim block to 8.5″
Using the dark fabric, attach a 1″ x 8.5″ strip to either side of your center block and press.
Then attach the 1″ x 9.5″ strip to the top and bottom of the block. Press and trim to 9.5″ square.
Arrange the 2″ squares around your center block with rows of 6 squares on either side of the block and 8 squares for the top and bottom. Once you are happy with the layout, sew the rows together and press the seams. Attach the rows of 6 squares to either side of the block and press seams.
Finish the block by attaching the rows of 8 squares to the top and bottom as shown. Press seams and trim to 12.5″.
Here is what the unfinished block looks like in the eiko fabrics:
Block 2: using a 3.5″ x 3.5″ fussy cut
Follow the same pattern as for Block 1 except substitute the following measurements (a) 3.5″ x 4.5″, (b) 1.5″ x 3.5″, (c) 2″ x 8.5″, and (d) 4″ x 8.5″.
Block 3: using a 3.5″ x 4.5 fussy cut
Follow the same pattern as for Block 1 except substitute the following measurements (a) 2″ x 3.5″, (b) 3″ x 3.5″, (c) 2.5″ x 8.5″, and (d) 3.5″ x 8.5″.
Patchwork Frames Mini Quilt
If you wish to make the framed mini quilt with your finished block as I’ve shown in this post, you’ll need 2 rectangles 3.5″ x 12.5″ and 2 rectangles 3.5″ x 18.5″ of your background fabric. Attach the smaller strips to each side of the block, press the seams, and then attach the larger strips to the top and bottom. Press seams.
From the gray fabric, cut 2 rectangles 2″ x 18.5″ and 2 rectangles 2″ x 21.5″ and attach in the same way as for the background fabric. (*tip: if you are using the gray floral fabric from eiko, you can easily include the cranes, especially on the top and bottom strips, if you look for it while you are cutting your fabric.)
Quilt and bind as desired. I was inspired by the gorgeous flower motif used in many of the eiko fabrics so I based my quilting design on that!
I think this is a versatile block – you can use just one block to quickly make a mini quilt as in this tutorial or you can add more borders and make it a baby size quilt. Another idea would be to use multiple blocks to make it throw size or even larger. In the coming weeks, I’ll provide the patterns for a few variations on my blog, plum and june, as well as instructions for strip piecing when making multiple blocks and the measurements needed for a 10.5″ version.
Beth used fabrics from Eiko. Our latest upcoming line. You can see Eiko here. Coming to a quilt shop near you at the end of the month!
