May Quilt Block

Look through your fabric stash or take this opportunity to do a little fabric shopping. And if you're short on time . . . no problem . . . it's possible to assemble one of these blocks in a weekend. Still in a time crunch? Opt for a sewing machine applique technique versus the hand blanket-stitching.

Materials (12-inch square finished block; 12-1/2-inches raw):

fabric selection - Use any desired fabrics. We selected 100-percent cottons in these prints:
- blue leaf print for sky background
- medium-green-on-light -green ivy print for middle background
- medium green for the foreground
- yellow brick print with butterfly, bird and bush accents for house
- gold speckled print for door and chimney
- yellow brick for the stepping stones and Maypole step
- purple print with dark pink flowers for the windows
- brown splashed print for the dormer
- tree print for the bush and tree
- brown fabric for the Maypole
translucent template plastic
Steam-A-Seam 2 double-sided fusible web
embroidery floss - maroon, green, yellow, brown
rotary cutter and mat
craft scissors

Steps:

Creating templates
You can make templates from various materials, including pieces of heavy card stock, cardboard, freezer paper or template plastic. Some of the patterns in this block will be reused in future blocks; so it's recommended that you use a translucent template plastic due to the durability factor. Keep in mind the finished fabric shape will be the mirror image of the template pattern.

1. Print out the patterns (figures A and B). The house, windows, dormer and door are the same templates used in all the blocks up until now, so there's no need to print or re-cut figure A if you've kept those. The new templates are in figure B.

2. Place a piece of template plastic over the printed patterns and trace the outline of each using a permanent, marking pen (ultra fine Sharpie works great).

3. Cut out and label each template piece. Some templates will be re-used in other blocks so plan to store them flat for future use. Trace around each template onto appropriate fabric.

Background
The raw finished background consists of three colors of fabric and will measure 12-1/2 inches square when finished. You can assemble it using a fusible webbing technique or a machine-piecing technique. Decide on your method then follow the directions below. One helpful extra step is to make a template square measuring 12-1/2 inches then mark or cut it into three sections as shown in figure C to provide a cutting guide and indicate the look of the finished background piece.

Fusing Method
1. If you wish to use fusible webbing to create the background piece, cut fabric pieces as indicated in figure D.

2: With right sides up, place a 12-1/2" x 1/4" strip of fusible webbing (or any desired fusible product) along the bottom portion of the sky section. Next, overlap the middle (grass) fabric a 1/4 inch, making sure the fabric covers the fusible webbing . Fuse the fabrics together, using a pressing cloth to protect your iron from any exposed webbing. Follow the same process to fuse the final (ground) section to the background piece.

3. Trim the finished background piece to a 12-1/2-inch square (figure E).

Machine-Piecing Method
1. If you wish to use a sewing machine to create the background piece, cut the fabrics as illustrated in figure F.

2. Begin by placing the sky and grass fabrics right sides together, matching the raw edges across the bottom. Due to the diagonal cut, the sides will be out of alignment but that's how it should look. With the sky fabric on the bottom, use a 1/4-inch seam to stitch the sky and grass pieces together. Press and trim away the excess fabric.

3. Add the ground fabric by placing it right sides together with the piece sewn in step 2, matching raw edges across the bottom sky/grass section and ground fabric. Use a 1/4-inch seam allowance, stitch the grass fabric to the middle fabric. Again , press and trim away the excess fabric. The background piece will still be lopsided at this point (figure G).

4. Trim the finished background piece to a 12-1/2-inch block (figure H) .

Applique
A quick word about fusible web--follow the manufacturer instructions for whichever type you decide to use. For this project, we use a double-sided type because it allows us to reposition the pieces if desired. Double-sided fusibles come sandwiched between two pieces of paper. Here's how to use them with this pattern:

1. Cut the fusible into smaller, manageable pieces that will accommodate each template size, keeping the protective paper of the fusible intact.

2. Using a pencil, trace around each template onto one of the paper-covered sides of the fusible. Note that you'll need to trace around the stepping stone three times.

3. Peel away the opposite paper side of the fusible (the one without the tracing) and adhere it to the wrong side of the desired fabric.

4. Cutting along the traced lines, cut out both the fusible web and fabric for each pattern piece.

5. Next, position the pieces onto the background square. There's a lot of room to customize the block with this step. Plus, you don't have to fuse anything until you're sure you like the design. Here's how we did it:

• Position the house fabric on the background square (figure I). Tuck the chimney fabric (small side down) so it stands out behind the house (figure J). Tuck the tree behind the chimney.
• Position the door on the house.
• Our objective is to place everything slightly off kilter in order to give the block a bit of a folk art feel. To accomplish this, position the windows and dormer at a slight tilt (refer to the first picture for placement). Note that the smaller window is used on the door for this block.

• Position the bush over the bottom left-hand corner of the house (figure K).
• Position the basket on the door, slightly overlapping onto the house, just under the door window.
• Place a stepping stone at the bottom of the house, just in front of the door. Position the remaining two stepping stones diagonally to the right of the first so the second one is on the light green fabric and the third one is partly on the light green fabric and partly on the medium green fabric (figure L).
• Position the Maypole and May pole step as pictured in the first image.
• Once you're pleased with the design, follow the manufacturer directions to press the pieces into place. Avoid fusing any pieces in the 1/4-inch perimeter of the block to allow for the addition of sashing.

Finishing
1. Cover the raw edges of the applique pieces with blanket -stitching (figure M). To do this, use two-strands of black embroidery floss outlining the house, tree, bush stepping stones and Maypole.

2. Add a heart button as a door handle to the house.

3. Cut Maypole ribbons to various lengths. Gather the ribbon lengths on one end, loop them and tack them down to the top of the Maypole with a needle and thread ( figure N). Knot the unsecured ends of the ribbon lengths.

4. Fill the May flower basket with embroidered or ribbon flowers.

Optional Challenges
Depending on your skill level, here are additional ideas for finishing the block:

• Want a real challenge? Add a 1/4-inch to the template patterns and use a needle-turn method of applique.
• Instead of using black floss for the blanket-stitching, consider color coordinating the floss to the fabric color. For example the fence would be stitched in brown, the house in red, etc.
• Replace embroidery work with small flower charms or flower-shaped buttons.
• If time is not on your side for this project, don't despair. This block can easily be finished on a sewing machine. Depending on your machine's capabilities, employ a zigzag, satin, buttonhole or blanket stitch to finish the raw edges of the applique.

Be creative and don't be afraid to use your imagination to make the block your own. We look forward to creating another block with you next month.