HGTV.comHGTV.com

Isabella's Garden: May 2003 Quilt Block

Isabella Block

Photo

We're making the fifth section of this 12-month quilt project—the "Isabella" block.
Photo

From her hat to her boots, Isabella is a pieced block, but her gorgeous flower spray is all applique. It's twice the fun with two techniques in this section!
Welcome back to the fifth month of Isabella's Garden! Sometimes a row and sometimes a bordered block, this 12-month project is tackling one section at a time. This month, we're making the Isabella block.
Materials:

Fabrics - background, block border, hat and boots, dress, apron and hatband, flowers, leaves and stems
template plastic to cut patterns for five different types of flowers, two sizes of leaves, seven stems and a boot

Steps:

Hat
1. Cut:
(1) 2-1/2" x 5-1/2" rectangle (unit A) – hat
(1) 1-1/2" x 7-1/2" strip (unit B) – hat
(1) 1-1/2" x 9-1/2" strip (unit C) – hat
(3) 1-1/2" squares (unit D) – middle background
(1) 1-1/2" x 3-1/2" rectangle (unit E) – middle background
(1) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" rectangle (unit F) – middle background
(1) 3-1/2" square (unit G) – middle background
(1) 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" rectangle (unit H) – middle background
(1) 1-1/2" x 5-1/2" strip (unit I) – hatband

PHOTO

Figure A
2. Mark a diagonal stitch line on the back side of two of the squares (figure A). Originate the line on the first square from the upper right corner and the line on the second square from the upper left corner.
PHOTO

Figure B
3. Place the two marked D-units on either corner of unit A right sides together (figure B). Stitch, trim and press open with seam allowances toward unit A. Attach hatband (unit I) to the DAD-unit. Pin and stitch units G and H to the sides of the DADI-unit and press toward unit A (figure B).
PHOTO

Figure C
4. Position unit E vertically from the top left edge of unit B, and unit F vertically from the top right edge of unit B with right sides of the fabric together. Mark a diagonal stitch line on units E and F where they cross B (from the inner upper corners of E and F). Stitch to the ends of unit B as shown (figure C). Trim and press toward unit B. Matching edges and seams, pin and stitch to the combined A-unit.

5. Stitch the remaining unit D to the left edge of unit C and press toward C. Pin and stitch unit DC to the bottom of the combined A unit.

PHOTO

Figure D
Dress & Apron
1. Cut (figure D):
(1) 6-1/2" square (unit J) – dress
(1) 1-1/2" x 10-1/2" strip (unit K) – dress
(2) 1-1/2" squares (unit L) – apron
(1) 4-1/2" x 6-1/2" rectangle (unit M) – apron
(1) 1-1/2" x 10-1/2" strip (unit N) – apron
(2) 2-1/2" squares (unit O) – middle background
(2) 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" rectangles (unit P) – middle background
(2) 2-1/2" x 11-1/2" strips (unit Q) – middle background

2. Mark diagonal stitch lines on the back side of units L and O—originating from the upper outside corners (opposite corners) for the L-units and the upper inside corners for the O-units.

PHOTO

Figure E
3. Place a unit L in both bottom corners of unit J. Stitch on the drawn diagonals, trim away bottom portion, open and press seams inward. Stitch unit M to unit LJL and press (figure E).
PHOTO

Figure F
4. Matching raw edges with right sides together, stitch units N and K. Position unit O on either end, stitch on the drawn diagonals, trim and press open (figure F).
PHOTO

Figure G
5. Mark a diagonal stitch line on both P-units, noting that the 45-degree line originates 2-1/2 inches in from the upper outside corner (figure G). Place the P-units on unit J, right sides together, and stitch on the diagonal line. Flip units P up from the stitch line so each extends an inch above the J-unit. Trim and press. Matching raw edges, pin and stitch Q-units to either side of the JMP-unit. Press. Position the NKO-unit at the bottom of the JMPQ-unit, stitch and press.

Face & Dress/Hat Assembly
1. For Isabella's face, cut a 2-1/2" x 5-1/2" rectangle (unit R) from a piece of skin-toned fabric.

PHOTO

Figure H-a (top)
Figure H-b (bottom)
2. Position unit R right side down on work surface and mark a 1/4-inch seam line along the bottom. Find the center-most inch along the drawn seam line and mark the beginning and ending point of the inch (figure H-a). Lightly mark two diagonal lines from the upper corners of the rectangle to the inch marks on the seam line (figure H-b). Fold up the drawn seam line and press in place. Fold fabric up and over on the drawn diagonal lines to shape the face. Press folds in place.
PHOTO

Figure H-c
3. Turn the face (unit R) right side up, placing the top edge of it flush on the top edge of the dress unit, slightly right of the center. Topstitch in place (figure H-c). If fabric from unit J shows through the face, trim it away.

4. Matching the raw edges, pin and stitch the hat-unit to the dress/face-unit.

Boots
Isabella's boots are pieced. You can draw the templates for piecing patterns using the instructions that follow.

Boot Template Pattern

1. To make the right boot pattern, cut a rectangle of template material measuring 5-1/2" x 4-1/2".

2. Starting from the upper left corner of the 5-1/2-inch side of the rectangle, measure and mark a point at 2-1/2 inches.

3. From the 2-1/2-inch mark, drop a vertical line measuring 1-1/8-inch long. Make a dot at the end of the line.

4. From the bottom right corner, measure up 1-1/2 inches. Make a mark at this point.

5. From the mark made in step 4, draw an adjacent horizontal line measuring 1-3/16 inch, marking a dot at the end of the line.

6. Draw a diagonal line connecting the two dots and forming a boot shape.

7. Cut out the drawn boot pattern. Draw a 1/4-inch seam allowance around the inside perimeter of the boot.

PHOTO

Figure I
8. Transfer the pattern to fabric for the right boot. Flip the pattern and trace to fabric to make the left boot. Click Figure I to enlarge then transfer the markings as shown to the back side of the fabric pieces using tailors' chalk or air-soluble marker.

Boot Background Pattern
1. Cut a 3-1/2-inch square.

2. Measure 1-1/2 inches along the bottom from the lower right corner and mark a dot at this point.

3. Measure down 1-1/2 inches from the upper left corner and mark a dot.

4. Connect the dots with a diagonal line. Cut along the drawn lines to form the right boot background pattern. Draw a 1/4-inch seam allowance dotted line around the inside perimeter of the pattern. Cut out the pattern on the drawn line.

5. Transfer the right boot background pattern to the background fabric. Flip the pattern and trace to fabric to make the left boot background. Click Figure I to enlarge then transfer the markings as shown to the back side of the fabric using tailors' chalk or an air-soluble marker.

Assembly
1. Cut out the two boots (units S-right and S-left) and the two boot backgrounds (units T-right and T-left) with the transferred markings on the back side of the fabric. Cut a two-inch square (unit U) from the background fabric.

2. Using scissors, make clips in the boots (unit S-right and S-left) where noted by the markings. Stack unit S-right on top of unit T-right with right sides together, aligning position 1 on both pieces. Beginning at the position 1 marking, stitch along the dotted 1/4-inch seam line to position 2 at the first clip (figure I). With needle down, pivot the T-right fabric, aligning positions 3. Stitch to position 3.

3. Pivot again, and finish out to position 4. Press to the dark. Repeat process for the other boot (unit S-left) and boot background (unit T-left).

4. Stitch the boots together along the 4-1/2-inch sides. Press the seams to one side.

PHOTO

Figure J
5. To create the illusion of a "heel," cut the unit-U square on the diagonal forming a left and right boot triangle. Turn under the edges 1/4 inch and press. Position each pressed triangle on a boot, one inch from the seam allowance mark at the heel (figure J). Adhere with a bit of fusible web to prevent shifting. Topstitch in place.

6. Matching raw edges and right sides together, pin and stitch the boot-unit to the bottom of the dress-unit. Press seams toward the dark fabric.

Block border
1. Cut two, 1-1/2" x 10-1/2" strips and two, 1-1/2" x 24-1/2" strips from block border fabric.

2. Matching raw edges and right sides together, center, pin and stitch the shorter strips to the top and bottom of the Isabella block. Next, center, pin and stitch the longer strips to the sides of the block. Note:You may need to piece the borders to acheive the length for the borders.

Applique
1. Isabella is holding a spray of flowers. The spray consists of seven stems placed in a circular fashion around the center of her dress with flowers and leaves placed around the stems.

2. Cut applique pieces from fabric using the templates made in step 1.

3. Adhere applique pieces using fusible web to the pieced background block. Blanket-stitch the raw edges of the fused applique with color-coordinated embroidery floss.

HGTV.com
Services Popular Content About
Our Sister Sites

Comparison Shop for Home Decor & Garden Tools at Shopzilla & BizRate

UpMyStreet and uSwitch.com provide UK comparison services.

© 2008 Scripps Networks, LLC. All rights reserved.