Podunk Posy quilt block tutorial (lots of pics)

This is the first of several tutorials that I'll be sharing over the next couple of weeks.  Several Podunk Posy's will make up the border on my current quilt project.  Normally I don't make the border first, buy since so many of my followers expressed an interest in using the block in other projects I wanted to get this tutorial posted A.S.A.P.   You can see my plans for the rest of the quilt HERE.

Before we get started let's go over a few things that could be helpful.  All seams are a quarter inch.  Press seams to the dark unless stated otherwise.  I also  assume that you know to always sew pieces with right sides together.  This pattern has only been tested by me.  I draw up a plan, and make a block.  Then write a pattern then make another test block from my own instructions.  That doesn't mean that I won't make a typo or just simply write down something wrong.  May I suggest that you make one test block of your own before cutting out several blocks.  Should you find an error please feel free to contact me so I can get it corrected A.S.A.P.  

If your making the quilt with the inner border you will need 36 Podunk Posy blocks, 32 blocks if your making the quilt without the inner border.

For each block you will need

White or background fabric

(2) 4.25" squares

(2) 3.25" x 3.5"

(1) 3" square

(2) 2" x 3.25" typo below states (2) 2" x 3.75"

(1) 1.5" x 2.5"

(5) 1.5" squares

Green(stem) 

(1) 1" x 7"

Posy (aqua dots)

(1) 3" square

(1) 2.5" square

(1) 1.5" dark aqua square

Leaves(green floral)

(2) 2.5" x 3.25"

Cut both 4.25" squares in half diagonally.  Mark 4 of the 1.5" squares and the 3" square with a diagonal line.

I've laid out all the pieces for my block on a mini design board beside my sewing machine.  The white and aqua 3" squares are placed rights sides together.  And the 4 diagonally marked 1.5" squares have been laid on the green leaves print.

On the 3" squares stitch a quarter inch away from the line on both sides.

On the leaves stitch on the drawn line.  TIP  instead of stitching directly on the line, stitch just to the right of the line as shown below.

Cut as shown below and press. You'll end up with 2 Half square triangles and 2 leaves.

Square up the two Half square triangles to 2.5".

Lets piece the posy first by stitching together one HST and the 2.5 aqua square as shown below.   Press towards the square.

Sew together the 1.5" white and the 1.5" dark aqua.

Press this seam open.

Sew the 1.5" x 2.5" white to the last unit made. Press towards the white.

Sew together the two units as shown below.

press away from the HST.

Now just sew the two units together!  And TADA a Posy!

Fold all the triangle pieces in half and make a crease as shown.

Line up that crease with the seam on the Posy and stitch.

Press .  If you want to cut off those wings now you can,  I waited until after the next step.

Add the other two triangles and clip those wings!

Press .

This block is a bit over sized and will need to be squared up to 6.5".   It's important to make sure you have a half inch from the bottom of the Posy to the edge of the block.

Now cut off that half inch at the bottom of the block.  I know it seems silly to square it up to 6.5" and then cut off the bottom half inch but it seemed easier for a new quilter to understand.

Okay lets sew together all the pieces to the left of the stem, pressing away from the leaves.

Stitch together the right side and press away from the leaves.( I forgot a picture, but you all got this!)

Sew both leaf units to the green stem.

Center the stem onto the Posy and pin, then stitch for the finish!  Press open.  If you're making the Podunk Posy quilt scrappy, you might want to leave the top posy unit and the stems and leaves units separate for now.  Stitching them together after you lay them out on a design wall.  

If you are making my quilt design with out inner borders you will need 32 Podunk Posies, with inner borders 36 Posies.  If your making your own quilt design I'd love to see it and share it here.  So send me some pictures or link to your post and I'll link back.

OOPS!  forgot to tell you that the block is 6.5 X 12.5 at this stage.

~ Lea Anne ~

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The dog ate my homework

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I can't find or didn't write down some of the measurements for the Podunk Posy quilt.  Today was spent writing down every last detail again.   This weekend I'll be getting the first few tutorials ready for posting starting  Monday.  Now don't get too excited, there's a good chance I could get a little behind schedule.  Mr. Podunk is home this weekend and has plans for part of my quilting time.

His plans are to get our new chicken coop finished.  The picture below is last weekend when the ground was still frozen.   He built the coop in the garage then pulled it to it's new location in order to put a roof on it.  Well the roof is on and....

  

....the ground is thawed.  This past Thursday afternoon he decided the location of the coop was all wrong.  And this is what happens when you try to move a chicken coop in the mud.  Oh yes my dear friends, his truck was stuck in the backyard.  What you can't see is me on the 4 wheeler trying to pull him out of the mud.  It moved about 4 ft and started digging in deeper.  Luckily a friend down the road was able to pull him out of the muddy muck.  This area is extra muddy because it's the finger system for the septic.  We didn't see any damage to the pipes, only time will tell....And the smell will tell too!  EWWWW! 

 So for now the coop is staying smack dab in the middle of the backyard until the ground dries out.  That could take months, so we'll go ahead and stock it with chickens until it can be moved.   Lets hope the fingers are okay and it doesn't become the POOP COOP.  

~ Lea Anne ~

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Lemon Shake up Finish

 I don't know about you but I'm ready for hot summer days and sipping on homemade lemonade while swinging on the porch swing.  My favorite is fresh squeezed Strawberry Lemonade....Yummy!  I love it when the strawberry syrup stays on the bottom of the glass.  All this dreaming of sunny, warmer days has definitely inspired a few small quilts lately.  My latest below is

"Lemon Shake Up"  It's a small quilt, 28 x 28.  

Using the scraps from the Hillbilly Hookup and Super Nova, I randomly sewed the pieces together until I had a piece big enough to cut a 5" charm. The pile on the left hand side is before making the blocks.  At last they can not be sewn anymore and CAN BE thrown out...Thank goodness.  There may be a few pieces big enough for a stitch but  I'm not digging through that pile anymore.   The insanity stops HERE!  I've gone much farther than planned with the original string blocks.

I tried to slow down the visual on this quilt by framing the 5" charms with 1.5" white strips.

The pale yellow butterfly fabric was just enough color to add some cheeriness without making the quilt to overwhelmed with more color.   I feel like the decorative stitch and using a pale yellow thread added a little whimsy to the quilt.

The scrappy binding was sorta scary.  My fear was that a seam on the binding would fall on every corner.  And if you ever tried to make a nice corner with a binding seam in it, you know it's darn near impossible.  Luckily not one seam fell in a corner...Hows that for luck?!  I'm feeling the sudden urge to go buy a lottery ticket!

The backing is just more of the yellow butterfly fabric.  Don't look to close or you see that the binding hasn't been hand stitched to the back.  It's just glue basted in place for picture taking while the sun is still shining.  I'll get to it one night soon while watching TV with Mr. Podunk.

How about one last sip of Lemonade....

MMM...Sweet!

~ Lea Anne ~

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Super Nova Table Topper

Finally!  My little table topper with an explosion of color, Super Nova.  I designed it using the Hex N More ruler.  It could be made using any 60 Degree ruler.  The only difference would be the center would be made from 6 triangles instead of half hexies.   The string pieced triangles are leftovers from my Hillbilly Hookup quilt.  The binding is leftovers from Flit and Flutter.  And the background fabric, backing and batting are all scraps from quilting on the frame.  So this is 100% scrappy!

Each little triangle finishes at 2 inches tall.  One of the issues I had when piecing the triangles was the seams in the string piecing.  It made for tons of bulk and hard to press the seams.   So I kept the quilting in the background fabric only.

Since I was stepping out of my comfort zone, and having trouble doing it, I decided to stay uncomfortable and add a border that required a partial seam.  It wasn't as hard as I thought.  

The last challenge was the binding.  Binding odd angles is a little different than simple 90 Degree corners.  Thank goodness for the generous quilters that love to share FREE quilty knowledge.  I used these two tutorials as reference. 

 Here and Here

I had planned on making a tutorial for this topper.  After all the issues I changed my mind.  However if you would like a template of the triangle so you could attempt it on your own it can be found here.

~ Lea Anne ~

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