A new approach to tumbling blocks

John · 2008-02-27T21:34:33+00:00

One of my goals in quilting was to do a quilt in baby or tumblingblocks. I have always understood that the only way to do thisparticular pattern was to use the English paper piecing method. Thishas been off putting for me as I didn't want to do all of that handsewing for each and every block on the large sized quilt I hadenvisioned. I tried to think of the reason that it was stated in everybook that I own that makes reference to sewing that design, that theonly way to do it is with paper piecing. Well, let me disabuse you ofthat idea. I decided to spend the afternoon sewing a number of blocksinto a pattern that will constitute the soon to be long hoped forquilt of baby or tumbling blocks.. I don't understand what all thefuss is about using a machine to sew this pattern. Yes you have to setin points, but that is half the fun of it. I note that my Bernina 1/4"quilting foot has hash marks on both sides of the base of the foot,and that greatly facilitates placement of the needle in exactly theright place to make the points on the block meet. I have a startingswatch of 8 blocks completed and I don't see how using the paperpiecing method could have produced any more exact placements of theblocks. I won't be able to finish this quilt with any great speed, asit is an exacting discipline to get every thing right and requiresconstant attention. I am also in the midst of a woodworking project soI only have afternoons to devote to this project. But I am happy toreport that it is possible to do this pattern only by machine, and itis not any more demanding than some other ones of a supposedlydifficult nature. Good news for me as I don't do hand sewing with anydegree of interest or skill, due to the calloused stubby fingers thatare the result of work experience plus genetics. They are, as I liketo say, perfectly suited to potato grubbing like my Irish ancestorsused to use such for. If you have ever thought of doing this pattern,but hesitated to try it by machine, go ahead and...

Feb 27, 2008 23 Replies

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Carole-Retired and Loving It 18 years ago

John, here's a king-sized tumbling blocks quilt I made with Sara Nephew's Building Blocks method (no Y-seams) and it wasn't hard to do at all.

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On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:34:26 -0800 (PST), John wrote:

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John, here's a link to a tumbling blocks quilt I made with Sara Nephew's Building Blocks method. No Y-seams.

For an even more elaborate version, I made this one which basically uses the same technique.

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You'd probably whip out a few quilts in no time at all using this technique!!

Carole D. - Retired and loving it in the foothills of NW Georgia

My quilts, crafts, QIs, and more -

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John 18 years ago

Those look great. I guess there is always another way to do everything.

John

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Julia in MN 18 years ago

No Y-seams, but it does mean that some of the diamonds are seamed -- they are made up of two triangles. That may or may not be noticeable, depending on your fabric choice.

Julia in MN

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Carole-Retired and Lov> John, here's a king-sized tumbling blocks quilt I made with Sara

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Sandy 18 years ago

John, I've never done this pattern, but it's not for fear of doing inset seams. After all, my favorite block is the Lemoyne star (or a feathered version of the same), and that has inset (or Y) seams, too. You're so right -- they're not that big a deal. I'm glad you've discovered this -- now add some Lemoyne stars to your repertoire!

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