Hello all, and welcome back to the Classic Stitches row quilt! We are getting close to the end now, with only three more rows to go. This month's color is a bright, happy orange, and our block for this row is Dutchman's Puzzle.
Isn't it a nice block? This block is number 1339a in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia, and dates to at least 1894. This classic block is also known as Flying Dutchman, Wheel, and Returning Swallows. It is made with a super-easy method and stitches up quickly.
Instructions are for a 6-inch finished block. As always, cutting instructions are given at the end for other sizes.
Cutting:
This block is constructed from 8 flying geese pieces. Here I have made them using only squares, but you can use any method you like to get 8 geese that finish at 1-1/2 inches by 3 inches (so 2 by 3-1/2 unfinished).
For this block, you will need 2 4-1/4 inch squares of orange. They can either be the same orange or a lighter orange and a darker orange. I used the lighter and darker option. You will also need 8 2-3/8 inch squares from a background color, shown here in white.
End of the cutting!
Construction:
Mark your background squares as you would for half-square triangles, with a center line from corner to corner and stitching lines 1/4-inch away on either side:
Place 2 of the marked background squares right sides together onto an orange square, aligning the stitching lines. These will overlap a little at the points, but that's okay.
Stitch on each stitching line, then take a deep breath and cut them apart on the center line.
Press the white pieces away from the orange, which will look something like this:
(This is why my friend Linda calls this the "heart method.")
Take another marked background square and arrange it on the "heart" piece as shown, then stitch on the stitching lines and cut apart again.
Open out and press, trim the dog ears, and you should have 4 identical geese! Make 8 geese for each block.
Once you have 8 geese, all that's left is to lay out the block and assemble! Lay them out as shown and stitch together.
You can also arrange the pieces slightly differently to make a block called Mosaic 12, which was first published in the same period as the Dutchman's Puzzle block:
Whichever layout you choose, you can now stand back and admire your finished block! Ten 6-inch blocks will make a 60-inch row, and 6 will make a 36-inch row.
Variations:
This makes super-cute 4-inch blocks. For that option, cut 2 3-1/4 inch squares of orange and 8 1-7/8 inch squares of background. Fifteen 4-inch blocks will make a 60-inch row.
For an 8-inch finished block, use 2 5-1/4 inch squares of orange and 8 2-7/8 inch squares of background. Assemble as above. Seven blocks plus some sashing strips will make the 60-inch row.
For 10-inch blocks, use 2 6-1/4 inch squares of orange and 8 3-3/8 inch squares of background. Assemble as above.
For a 12 inch finished block, cut 2 7-1/4 inch pieces of orange and 8 3-7/8 inch squares of background. Or make 4 6-inch blocks and set them together into one 12-inch block. Look what happens when you do that:
A pretty nifty star forms there in the center. It's almost like magic.
For another variation, you can always switch the colors to have white geese and an orange background, which would be quite striking.
Another color possibility is open to you if you opt to make geese in a more conventional way using rectangles and squares or triangles. Piece the right "wing" of 4 of the geese in another color to make a pinwheel within a pinwheel. It would look something like this (this is an illustration and is not stitched):
If you are not making the row quilt but want to make a few orange blocks to go into a quilt, look at how terrific these look with the blue blocks from last month:
Have fun making the Dutchman's Puzzle blocks and come back on October 6 for our next-to-last row!
Linking to
Linky Tuesday,
Let's Bee Social, and at
soscrappy for RSC15.
