Mad Dash Sew Along, Week 4
Posted on April 25, 2022 by prairiemoonquilts in Mad DashToday I’m gonna talk about making some of the partial blocks — the easiest ones — the ones I’m calling 1/3-2/3 blocks.
I called them this for lack of anything better to call them, and because they are all either 1/3 or 2/3 of a whole block; when sewn into the quilt, they will meet up with another 1/3 or 2/3 block and make a whole block eventually.
The easiest way to make them is to simply cut out a whole block, but don’t sew the block all the way together. Simply quit before you sew that final seam and leave the block in two pieces:
The top piece is considered a 1/3 block. The bottom piece is a 2/3 block. It’s OK that they’re from the same fabrics, because they won’t be anywhere near each other in the final quilt. If it bothers you, tho, you could rotate the triangle squares in the 1/3 section so that the background and block fabrics are the opposite of the 2/3 section, just for variety.
Since we won’t need the same number of each from each color, I made another tally sheet to use for keeping track. This time I put which color is which to keep myself from getting confused:
You will eventually get to where you won’t need an entire block’s worth of pieces — you’ll only need a 1/3 portion or a 2/3 portion, but won’t need both. At that point, you can revert to the instructions on page 7 and cut only the pieces you need for whatever is left. This will be a good opportunity to use up more small scraps!
I’ve heard from some of you that you’re getting along nicely with your stockpile of blocks, so that’s reassuring! I know it sounds like an awful lot of small blocks to make, too, but just keep chipping away at them. They’ll add up. And it will be really nice to have them all done when it’s time to start setting the sections together — it will make things go much quicker and smoother then.
I have all the gray full background blocks made! Whew. Working on the small red blocks. Got the big red ones done. Can’t wait to make the partial blocks. They look like a fun challenge. 🙃
Sew cute!