Thursday 2 February 2017

Fly in the Courtyard quilt

I am Queen Bee twice over this month  - for the Siblings Together Bee and also for the Stitch Tease Bee.  So I decided I would use my worker bees on the same project - a quilt or two for Siblings Together.

In case you don't know about the annual campaign to make 100 quilts for the Siblings Together charity it is all about providing quilts for children in care in the UK.  While in homes or with foster parents, children in care are often placed away from their siblings.  The charity Siblings Together runs weekend activity days and holiday camps so that important sibling bonds are maintained.   The children are referred by their social care team from all over the UK and they receive a quilt or blanket after 6 months of attending the weekend activities or after the camps.   The quilts are great for snuggling when needed and as a memory of times shared and often are one of the very few peronal possessions these children have.

So if you feel inclined and I hope you will it would be great if you could join in by making one, two, either or both of these very simple blocks.   Get in touch with me on my blog or here on Instagram and I'll  you my address to send the blocks.   If you feel really generous you might want to make a whole quilt - either on your own or with a group of friends.  There are also details of amounts required to make all the blocks in the instructins below.



  Alternately, you can also make any quilt you choose, gift any unused quilt you have or donate orphan blocks, wadding, backing fabric, any leftover fabric, binding - if in doubt offer and we will let you know if and how we can use your gift.  This year I don't think I will have as much time to make lots of quilts so I am also looking for people to take a quilt top or blocks and put quilts together.  

Thank you so much for all the help you can give and if you can't give then just cheering on the from the sideline does help tremendously too.


THE FLY IN THE COURTYARD QUILT (or another name if you can think of a better one and I'm sure you can)

So this is the quilt I have designed for this year's quilt drive for Siblings Together.  My trial version is a blue one - see below - but I hope to put several together in different colourways and maybe even some multicoloured ones.  I think it would look great in orange, or red, or purple - in fact there are a few clourways at the bottom of the page.

I designed it as charm square friendly to minimise some of the cutting but it can be cut from any piece of fabric.  The blocks are simple and quick to piece together. 

They should measure 12 1/2" unfinished.  The quilt is 60" square.
  



Shoo fly block for each block:

Cut 5" squares  - two Low Volume and two coloured.   This produces four HSTs, which should be trimmed to 4 1/2" squares.   

For variety in my test quilt which is all blue/white I used four different blue prints in each block, making enough HSTs for two blocks.  You can use two different prints however and place them diagonally opposite each other.

Cut 4 1/2" squares - four Low Volume and one dark coloured


This is a nine patch block.  Arrange as in the diagram below.






To complete a quilt make 13 shoo fly blocks in total which requires: 

26 x coloured (I used charm squares) and 26 Low Volume 5" squares
52 x 4 1/2"  squares in Low Volume, 13 in dark colour



Courtyard Garden block for each block:

Select four coloured prints.  All the same color.

Cut 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangles - four coloured - one in each print
2 1/2" squares - four coloured - one in each print, four in Low Volume


Stitch the small squares together and attach to the rectangle in the same print as in the diagram - make four of these units, one in each print:





Cut 4 1/2" squares - four in Low Volume and one dark coloured

This is another nine patch block.  Stitch together as in the diagram below, with the pieced unit placed so the coloured section is on the outside edge:





 To complete a quilt make 12 blocks in total which requires:




48 x 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" coloured rectangles 
48 x 2 1/2" coloured squares 

48 x 2 1/2" squares in Low Volume
48 x 4 1/2" squares in Low Volume

12 x 4 1/2" dark coloured squares  

Here are a few colourways I have played around with on EQ but I am sure there are lots of other options, please help me make some of them:


 









6 comments:

  1. any particular color for your blocks? I am happy to send some across the pond!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this pattern. Two simple blocks but the result is so interesting. Great job! ;^)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the Fly in the Courtyard! Our Bee makes quilts for an orphanage in the norht of Greece. The idea is also that the girls keep their quilt when they go to study or leave the orphanage.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This really is a lovely looking design and I am glad you chose our bee to help make the quilts for Siglings Together.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I seem to have a problem with the diagram of the "This is a nine patch block. Arrange as in the diagram below" as this is a blank space. All the other photos and diagrams are there.

    ReplyDelete

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