September 2017 Block Lotto

This month’s block is a scrappy pieced strip block from a tutorial by Mama Love Quilts on the Spoonflower blog: Free piecing quilt block tutorial – Spoonflower Blog – Design & Sell your own Fabric, Wallpaper, and Gift Wrap

It’s a simple and fun way to use scrap strips. The Guild provided:

One piece of Kona Snow 8” x 22”

Participants supply:

Print or solid scraps from their stash, approx 8-12 pieces in strips of varying widths up to 3” wide.

My photos show the process in brief, but the tutorial (linked above) is very thorough.

The block will be squared up to 12.5” x 12.5” and will finish at 12” square.

1.) I started by cutting strips of Snow, in varied widths, about 8” long, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. (The tutorial starts with cutting the scraps. You can do it either way.)

Bear in mind that you will lose 1/2” seam allowance in between strips, and you will need to end with al least 12.5” of width, ideally 13” so that you can trim down. A greater number of wide strips will help insure that won’t lose too much width. Try not to cut all your strips super skinny, or you will run out of fabric!

2.) Then I cut each strip in two without measuring, creating uneven pairs. Then I laid them out so that the two far ends of each strip lay about 14” apart, leaving a blank gap in the middle. (bottom left image)

3.) Next I chose scraps from my stash, and cut them to fit into the gaps. My picks were mostly modern prints in somewhat coordinating colors, and a couple of solids.

4.) Then I pieced the strips, pressing seams either open or toward the scrap. Each strip should be at least 13” long. Now you can rearrange to the strips to your liking.

5.) Connect the strips. I staggered the strips a little bit in order to get a nice flow across the scraps, so my edges were very uneven. I was careful to keep at least 13” of length across all strips.

6.) Square up to 12.5”

With all of our varied scraps, and the consistency of the white throughout, the finished quilt should be stunning! Blocks can be arranged in any manner the winner chooses. Vertical strips resemble books on a shelf, while horizontal strips call to mind a stack of coins. And of course they can be alternated or randomly placed as well.