Nanny, Author at Nannycraft4u

Make a Chevron Quilt Block from Charm Squares.

April 10, 2017 by Nanny 3 Comments

Today we are going to use our Charm Squares to make a Chevron Quilt Block. This is a very popular design and you will see, that it too, is easily made from charm squares and the 9 patch layout.

WHAT YOU NEED:

DARK: 5 x 5″ squares

LIGHT: 5 x 5″ squares

LET’S SEW!

Pair the DARK and LIGHT squares and make into HST’s

NANNY TIP: use chain piecing

2. Cut the HST’s

3. Press

4. Put one square aside and then trim the other 9 squares to 4.5″

5. Organise your squares:

6. Sew your 9 Patch

NANNY TIP: To match your seams and to get nice points, you will need to nest your seams AND sew just to the raw edge side of the seam line. Take a look at the photo: The needle is pointing to the point where the HST seam met the seam joining it to another pair. I am sewing toward that point but will sew just to the right of that point – about a needle width. This will mean that when I press the seam, I will retain the nice points!

Before:

After:

7. Press and admire your Chevron Block!

That leaves us five more blocks to go!

Until next time

Nanny xx

Make a Greek Cross Quilt Block from Charm Squares

April 3, 2017 by Nanny 3 Comments

Today we are going to make a Greek Cross Quilt Block from charm squares. You will notice how similar it is to a Churn Dash. It is an example of how we can, by varying the fabrics and the direction of each square within the 9 patch, achieve a totally different block.

WHAT YOU NEED:

DARK: 4 x 5″ squares

LIGHT: 4 x 5″ squares

OTHER: 1 x 5″ square trimmed to 4.5″

LET’S SEW!

Trim the OTHER square to 4.5″
With 2 x Light and 2 x Dark squares make make HST’s

diagonal line
scant 1/4″ either side of line
cut between the lines

3. Take the other 2 x Dark and Light squares and

Fold the light squares in half and finger press or draw a line down the centre.
Place the light square and a dark square, right sides together and sew a scant 1/4″ either side of the centre line. (better too scant than not enough)
Cut along the line between the two rows of stitching.

NANNY TIP: Don’t forget if you are using a Directional fabric, you will need to join one pair of squares in one direction and the other pair in the other direction

4. Trim all squares to 4.5″ squares

5. Organise your squares:

6. Sew your 9 Patch and press.

That leaves us only 6 more blocks to complete for our 9 Patch Sampler. Have you started to try them out to see how they will look all together? How about sharing a photo of your blocks – I would love to see them!

Until next time

Nanny xx

Make a Formal Garden quilt block from Charm Squares.

March 31, 2017 by Nanny 1 Comment

We are now half way through the blocks for our 9 Patch Sampler so I thought I might take the dog for a walk and show you how to make a Formal Garden block from Charm Squares – I love the little paw prints and decided to pair them up with the string or leash – I just know what a little dog would do to a formal garden!

NANNY NOTE: Our first Nannycraft4u Quilting Retreat that was scheduled for this weekend has had to be cancelled due to the flooding associated with Cyclone Debbie. We are therefore holding an online ‘Retreat’ on my facebook page and I have decided to publish this post early so that members can complete it during our sew in. Our overseas friends are welcome to join us!

WHAT YOU NEED:

DARK: 4 x 5″ squares

LIGHT: 4 x 5″ squares

OTHER: 1 x 5″ square

LET’S SEW!

1. Pair up the LIGHTs and DARKs 5″ squares and make HSTs – you will be HST queens after this!

diagonal line
scant 1/4″ either side of line
cut between the lines

2. Trim all squares to 4.5″ and press.

3. Organise your squares

NANNY TIP: You will notice as you join half square triangles in different ways , it is not always best to press the seams the same way. Experiment a bit with your seams – you may find it less bulky if you press your seam open. There is no rule – you do what works best for you!

NANNY TIP: If you want to press a seam open, press it to one side first and then it is easy to get the tip of the iron under one side to press it open without burning your fingers!

4. Sew your 9 Patch and press.

I think my little dog has behaved perfectly as we walked around the garden – he stopped and checked each corner and continued on his way!

Until next time

Nanny xx

Make a Churn Dash Block from Charm Squares

March 27, 2017 by Nanny 1 Comment

Today we are going to make a Churn Dash block from our charm squares. The Churn Dash is a popular block and you will see many variations of it.

WHAT YOU NEED:

DARK: 4 x 5″ squares

LIGHT: 5 x 5″ squares

LET”S SEW:

1. Trim 1 x Light to 4.5″ square

2. Take 2 light and 2 dark squares :

Take the light squares and fold in half and finger press or draw a line down the centre.
Place the light square and a dark square, right sides together and sew a scant 1/4″ either side of the centre line. (better too scant than not enough)
Cut along the line between the two rows of stitching.

NANNY TIP: If you are using a Directional fabric, you will need to join one pair of squares in one direction and the other pair in the other direction

3. Take 2 x light and 2 Dark squares and make HSTs (Half Square Triangles)

NANNY TIP: If using a directional fabric, fold the squares along the diagonal to check that you have the right direction before you mark and sew

diagonal line
scant 1/4″ either side of line
cut between the lines

4. Trim all squares to 4.5″

5. Organise your squares:

6. Sew your 9 patch and press.

That completes our Churn Dash – Block number 8 of our 9 Patch Sampler. We are now half way through and I am loving seeing your finished blocks so thanks for sharing!

Until next time

Nanny xx

Make a Spool block from Charm Squares

March 20, 2017 by Nanny 2 Comments

Today we are going to make the 7th block in our 9 Patch Sampler. We are going to make a Spool block using our Charm Squares.

The spool is so called because it is designed to look like a spool of thread. With more experience, you will be able to vary the size and shape of the spool, but for today, we will stay with our 4.5″ squares made into a 9 patch.

WHAT YOU NEED:

The Spool is the first block where we will be introducing another fabric to our 9 patches – I have called it OTHER so I now have, DARK, LIGHT and OTHER. It is simply an accent fabric that will add to the design. I am using Black and you can see that it represents the thread on the spool.

Dark: 4 x 5″ squares – 2 are left at 5″ and the other 2 are trimmed to 4.5″

Light: 4 x 5″ squares – 2 are left at 5″ and the other 2 are trimmed to 4.5″

Other: 1 x 5″ square – trimmed to 4.5″ (this is the thread on the spool)

LET”S SEW:

Take the two 5″ Dark and Light and make 4 HST’s

diagonal line
scant 1/4″ either side of line
cut between the lines
trim to 4.5″ and press OR press and trim to 4.5″

2. Sew a 4.5″ Light either side of the 4.5″ Other

YOU NOW HAVE :

2 x 4.5″ Dark
4 x 4.5″ HSTs
Light – Other – Light

3. Organise your squares:

4. Sew your 9 Patch. Take care to match the joins carefully to finish the spool.

5. Press and add it to your growing samples.

Thank you for sharing your photos to our Facebook page Nanny Sews and Crafts – it is fun to see how different each block looks with the different fabric choices!

Until next time

Nanny xx

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