Desperate Housewife's Quilt Block & Jelly Roll Ta Daa

Jane is running The Desperate Housewife's Quilt - where you can attempt to make 52 blocks in a year. I volunteered to do a tutorial on a quilt block. Having never done one before...what had I let myself in for?!

So here is my contribution.

Inspired by peacock feathers.

First of all I drew it out in rough to get an idea of what I wanted to do.

I then worked out all the measurements...

Hmmm...could have been darker.

The circles I drew with a compass and they are 2cm, 4cm and 6cm diameter each.

For ease of use I used Jelly Roll strips.

Cut 2 x 4 1/2" by 2 1/2" strips of Colour A

Cut 2 x 4 1/2" by 2 1/2" strips of Colour B

2 x 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" Colour A

2 x 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" Colour B

2 x 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" Colour C

2 x 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" Colour D

2 x 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" Colour E

2 x 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" Colour F

As shown below.

Next sew the longer strips Colour A & B together right sides facing with 1/4 inch seams.

As above.

Match colour C & D and E & F, right sides facing and sew across the diagonal.

Fold open press seams to one side, having trimmed the excess fabric to 1/4 inch first.

You should end up with four triangles as shown below:

I matched the dark and light contrasting colours of the two colour schemes I choose.

Sew each side together carefully matching joins.

Your layout should now look like this.

Next sew the smaller colour squares A & B on each end of the above and then sew the two strips together as shown below.

You now have the middle section joined together and the next stage is to sew the two side pieces on either side.

You now have your 8 inch square.

Draw the circles on to bondaweb and with colours of your choice iron on to these fabrics and then cut out the circles. You should end up with four of each circle, 2 cm, 4 cm and 6 cm.

Lay them on the block as shown below.

Peel off the other side of the bondaweb and iron into place.

You are now ready to appliqué the circles on with a stitch of your choice.

I used a blanket type stitch and decreased the size of the stitch to suit the circles.

Your completed block should look a bit like this with colours of your choice of course!

Have fun and good luck, being a total beginning at this tutorial lark I'm sure I could have made it easier, but if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to ask and I will do my best to help.

Next up I beavered away at Quilting group today.

First off I photographed all the stages of the quilt block above and made it, having made a prototype last week.

I then spent the rest of the day hand sewing the back of the binding on my Jelly Roll Quilt.

It is now finished and ready for us to deliver to our friend next time we see them.

A hard days work, but something to show for it at the end.