April - Dutchman's Puzzle

Thank you for being patient with me with getting this posted. We celebrated my first born's birthday, had a couple of soccer games, and watched a LOT of BYU-TV this weekend! =) I've put together a tutorial that I hope you will find helpful.

Mardie (Happy Birthday, Mardie) shared with me that Rachel Graham is in another quilt group that did Dutchman's Puzzle last month. You may choose to check it out. But, keep in mind that the measurements on our finished block is 12.5 squared. The other group's Dutchman measured 14" squared. Because, I have never put together a tutorial before, I decided to MIMIC/STEAL/Plagiarize her tutorial with a few exceptions including that I will show you how to put together your Flying Geese in an assembly line. So here goes-

Dutchman's Puzzle in Aqua and Lime

(For Beginner's)

Description of Pattern:

This block consists of eight FLYING GEESE. You see in the upper left quadrant of the block, the FLYING GEESE pair are pointed north. In the upper right quadrant, the FLYING GEESE pair are pointed east. In the bottom right quadrant the FLYING GEESE pair are pointed south. And in the bottom left quadrant, the FLYING GEESE pair are pointed west. This block is constructed using 3 fabric choices that coordinate, but are different enough to show off this classic pattern. Then, a white on white fabric will provide a nice background that frames the beauty of your fabric selections. ...feeling the pressure? he he he =)

Materials:

12 - 3.5 inch squares (White on White Fabric) (Background)
4 - 3.5 inch squares (Coordinating Fabric A) (Center Mini Pinwheel)
4 - 3.5 x 6.5 inch rectangles (Coordinating Fabric B) (Larger Pinwheel)
4 - 3.5 x 6.5 inch rectangles (Coordinating Fabric C)

Color Requests:

Aqua Blue and Lime Green. You may choose all prints or a mixture of solids and prints. You may choose to use a print that has both aqua and lime in it, like I did for the rectangles. And then something solid for your center mini pinwheel. Or you may choose to use another print for the center. You may notice that my Fabric B has a slight amount of Hot Pink in it. I welcome any extra Spring-Like color, as long as aqua and lime are portrayed as the thematic colors.

General Instructions:

Finished block is 12.5 inches square.
Sew right sides together unless otherwise stated.
1/4" seam allowances on everything.

Let's Get Started.

1) Cut all your squares AND rectangles. This photo only shows the squares. I have organized them to get them ready to pair up with my rectangles. They are anxiously waiting.

You may choose to lay out your rectangles and pair them up with your squares to get a handle on what's about to happen. Keep in mind your 2 upper left quadrant rectangles will point north, etc... (see Description of Pattern) You may decide to skip this organizational step.

2) Take your squares. Mark a diagonal line from corner to corner on the wrong side of each 3.5 inch square.

3) Organize and Layout all pieces. Give each rectangle (Fabric C) 2 background White of White (WOW) squares. Be sure to lay the fabric right sides together.

Give each rectangle (Fabric B) 1 WOW square and one (Fabric A) square. Be sure to lay your fabric right sides together. Also, be sure to line up your (Fabric A) square so that it will end up in the center of your Dutchman's Puzzle.

Here is a picture of my rectangles with the appropriate squares placed over them. I have laid them out in their proper places, so that my assembly line will work as smooth as silk.

4) Begin Assembly Line. I choose the top left rectangle. I place the right square on my table to wait patiently until I'm ready to sew ALL my right squares to my rectangles. I line up my left square with the left side of the rectangle. I choose to slightly press it. I think it helps keep it in place while I'm sewing.

5) Attach the left square to the rectangle by sewing on the line.

Daisy Chain Assembly:
After attaching this left square stitch a few stitches. Then, bring another rectangle with another left square to your machine. Making sure your needle is up, lift the foot. Gently, place another rectangle and square under your needle. Again, sew on the line. Stitch a few stitches between each rectangle to be sure that you give ample room to snip them apart when you are finished attaching all left squares to all rectangles. Repeat until all rectangles have their left squares attached. Notice in this photo, I have daisy chained my rectangles together. Saves. so. much. time.

6) When all left squares are attached, snip the partial Flying Geese units from each other. Use your ruler to trim away a 1/4" from the seam. Do them all. Save your small triangles for another project. I'm thinking about using them for a cute tote for Jillian.

7) Press the triangles open.

8) Then lay out you're new rectangles into place and return your patiently waiting right squares back in to place on the appropriate rectangles.

9) Repeat steps 5 through 8, attaching the right squares to the rectangles.

A little tip in regards to keeping your Flying Geese Points from disappearing under their awaiting seams... When you line up your right square to the right side of your rectangle, you will notice that when you sew on the line... you WILL CROSS the left square's seam 1/4" away from the edge of the fabric. Doing this WILL result in giving your flying geese enough space so that it will most likely never have to hide it's pretty little pointy face behind an upcoming seam. (I'm smiling and wondering... is anyone still with me?)

You should now have 8 Flying Geese Units. Congratulations! I was so happy!

10) Next, using your Flying Geese units, make Flying Geese pairs. Again, I am keeping my block laid out appropriately on my table. Begin with the upper left quadrant. Flip the top Flying Geese over onto the bottom one in it's quadrant and stitch them together. (Again, right sides of fabric together.) Make sure your Flying Geese pair will point NORTH!. Then, move on to the Upper right quadrant. Sew the Flying Geese pair together and make sure they will point East, and so on until all 4 quadrants are together.

Then sew the top two quadrants together. Line up the base of the pairs (the center of the mini pinwheel) so that the center of the unit will be continuous. In other words, our objective at this point is constructing the pinwheel to have all of it's points come together. Mine aren't perfect. Let me just tell you. But, I'm impressed with how well they look considering this is the fourth quilt block I've ever constructed. by myself. EVER.

After your top quadrants are sewn together and your bottom quadrants are sewn together, sew the top and the bottom together. Keep an eye on the center of your pinwheel... Oh, and when your needle is going through the very center, you may have to slightly pull the block to help feed it through the multiple layers of fabric. (Even on a slightly decent machine!)

Here 'tis:

Hope you all enjoy this as much as I did!

OH, don't trim your block. Remember, you will want 1/4" fabric between the edge of your block and where the points begin. If you have it, you're golden.... don't trim it away!

Happy sewing!