Rachel's Frustration & Special Blessings

I worked on two blocks this weekend from Rosemary Youngs book, The Civil War Diary Quilt.  (Rachel's Frustrations & Special Blessings)Paper piecing was the way to go for 'Rachel's Frustrations'.  I traced my block out the way I thought it should go together and while sewing away on the center section I realized I was tackling this block wrong... argggg... needless to say, I was frustrated.  But, I continued on and made it work.... then to add to my frustrated state, I realized my light and dark triangles on the center section were reversed.  Not my best sewing day, but I have decided that I really like the block as is and will not redo this one.  The overall pattern still works.  So here is how I tackeled the block minus my frustrations....


I choose colors similar to what is shown in the book out of my Civil War stash, I traced my paper piecing pattern using the square lay-out in the book...



Here is my paper piecing pattern broken down into each section that I will sew. I broke the block into  six sections as shown, I numbered each section in the order  that I will complete the design and also wrote the fabric color in each 'block'. Refer to the book for color placement.  I made a copy of my paper piecing pattern in case I made a mistake, as least it wasn't on the original that I traced.  Don't forget to trace your 1/4" seam allowance around your paper piecing blocks. 

Notice how I sew on the drawn lines and I sew 'pass' the seam line... In this picture is shows my big mistake in breaking down the block.  I did the center piece all  in one block.  It really needs to be broken down into two halves as shown in the previous picture.

 When you are done paper piecing each section, trim the block... remember to leave the 1/4" seam allowance!  Then match up your seams and sew  your block together.

Remember to sew on the 1/4" seam line...

Rachel's Frustration block all done!  I decided that it's OK to have the light and dark reversed in the center.  Sometimes we live with our 'happy' mistakes.

Now onto 'Special Blessings', I found that this block would be easy to do with a cut and sew method.  I again picked out fabric matching the color choices given in the book.
Rotaty Cut the following;
1   2 1/2" white square
2   2 1/2" green squares
3   3" green squares
3   3" red squares

Pair up one green 3" square with one red 3: square with right sides together.  (You will have 3 pairs) Draw a line from corner to corner on each pair.

Sew a scant 1/4" seam on each side of the line.  Cut the triangle sections apart and iron.  Trim each block to measure a 2 1/2" square.   You should have 6 triangle squares all together.

Lay your block pieces as shown following the placement in the book...

Sew your block together, remember 1/4" sewing seam.

Special Blessing all done!

Next Saturday I will work on 'Battle of Springfield'  from the book....if you have any questions or comments on the block, feel free to email me at cindy

Remember to post your progress on the Civil War Diary Quilt Group on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1547598@N25/

Happy quilting!