Shakespeare In the Park Quilt

The Quilty Puppies and Shakespeare in the Park

I have decided to start another quilt. This quilt will be for some very special friends of mine. I had promised, that one day I would make them a special quilt. I am doing Shakespeare in the Park, It is out of the, "Creative Pattern book," by Judy Martin.

 Emily and Milly decided they wanted to help, so I put them up on the table so they could watch and help me read lol.

I pulled out some blues of several values, reds, oranges, and creams.

I made my first block to check my sewing. I made a mistake already lol, but caught it on the first round.

I got all the cutting done for the larger tri's. I cut the biggest strips first, then sub cut the squares and the tri's and then use what's left for the smaller strips and tri's. This way, nothing gets wasted.

Normally I don't like to cut too many pieces but in this case, because I want to use many different fabrics, I have to cut what I need. These blocks go very fast for me, so I don't mind all the pieces. I don't know how the star blocks will go yet.

Ok, I got a good start and some tips for the beginners. Remember, this particular block is made up of all bias tri's, except for the middle four patch. Care must be taken, centers have to be marked and when sewing the patches, put your entire hand on the block and push through the machine gently, so as not to stretch anything.

Cut the size strips, sub cut into the size squares and cut the squares in half and trim the points. I used the Judy Martin point trimmer. It makes life so easy. Your patches match up so perfectly.

 After sewing the four patch together, I fold the tri's in half to get the center and line it up with the center of the four patch. Check to make sure that the point of the tri is also in line with the point of the four patch.

 

Checking the point.

After you have sewed the patches your block should look like this. See how it is nice and square and everything matches because you have taken care to mark your centers. If one side is a bit bigger than the other, rip it out and see what went wrong and redo.

After you have sewed all the patches on for the block, I personally do not trim, I block it. I spray starch it and pin onto my block pad where I have drawn my 12.5 square and I even use steam to block. I use an up and down motion, never slide the iron.

 Here are 13 blocks, remember this is not the way it will set up. The star blocks will go between. Look at the block on right, the second one down, see that flowery arm, I love that.