STEAM ENGINE WHISTLE STOP TOUR

TAKE A GANDER

I hope you have been enjoying the Whistle Stop Tour this week with my fellow Certified Instructors along with Deb Tucker and Studio 180 Design team. I know I have.

Let me introduce myself in case you are new to my blog. I’m Gail Renna of Quilt Haven Threads. I have been a Certified Instructor since 2013, but I have been a Quilt Teacher for more than 15 years. I live in Tallahassee, Florida and would love to come to your guild or shop and show you all the beautiful quilts I have made with Deb’s tools. I also teach workshops to help you get familiar with the Studios 180 tools and make your own beautiful quilts. I love to share new ideas in the quilt world, what works for me and what doesn’t, and I love to share the Studio 180 tools, because they work! I hope you will take some time to explore my blog when you have finished here.

I love the Steam Engine fabric by Island Batik designed by Kathy Engle for Deb Tucker. The colors are so rich they just make quilt blocks pop! If you have been following along this week you have already seen some amazing blocks. These fabrics should be in your quilt shop soon.

Click on this link to download your cutting instructions for our block today:

Take a Gander

You will need to get out your Tucker Trimmer I, Wing Clipper I tools and your Quilter’s Magic Wand. The Technique Sheet “Geese on Edge” is also used.

We will start with our Hourglass Units. For a 12″ finished block you will need four, 4″ finished units. To begin cut four 5 1/2″ squares. I love my Tucker Trimmer for cutting squares. It’s not just for trimming them down!

Layer your squares and use your Quilter’s Magic Wand to mark your stitch lines. I stitch just inside the lines (lines take up space I hear in my head from Geometry class). Then cut up the middle of your stitching and press your Half Square units. I like to press to the dark side.

After you make your half square units you will position a unit with a background fabric and dark fabric on a unit with the dotted fabric and dark fabric. Because your seams are pressed in opposite directions they will snug up against each other and sew together nicely. This will give you nice matching points. Now repeat drawing your lines, STITCH, CUT, PRESS.

The final step is trimming down with your Tucker Trimmer I. I love the simplicity of the lines going right through the center of the block for a perfect finish.

GEESE ON EDGE

These are the four corner blocks. They finish 4″.

Start by sewing your 2 1/2″ squares to a 1 3/4″ strip.

Press toward the strip, cut your units apart on the right side and stitch the other side of your square to the strip like you would for a log cabin block.

Now comes the fun. Take your Wing Clipper tool and line up your guidelines (see above) on the square. That gives you a perfect 1/4″ seam when you trim.

Add your triangle units from your 3 1/4″ squares (you can cut these with you Tucker Trimmer II). Then trim up your unit to 3 1/2″ using your Tucker Trimmer I.

Your going to repeat this process adding on two more logs, trimming down with your Wing Clipper then add another triangle. Your final trim will be 4 1/2″.