House Block Tutorial, as promised

Now, Victoria is a wonderful person and designed a charming block, but I couldn’t make mine work.  I used to build houses for a living, and I am a little embarrassed to say I couldn’t build that block.

So, I designed my own. It is the right size for her quilts, which is 10″ finished, but there is a 12″ option shown.  It goes together very quickly;  in fact, you make four blocks at a time.  At that rate you will complete a house quilt before you know it.

10” House Block

 This method makes 4 10” finished size blocks at once.

All seams at ¼” quilters width.  WOF = Width of Fabric, assuming 42-45” fabric.

Materials Needed:

1 11-1/4” square, suitable for roof

4 5-7/8” squares, suitable for sky

2 1-1/2” strips at least 22” long, suitable for sky

4 2-1/2” strips at least 22” long, 3 similar and suitable for house, 1 suitable for door

Construction:

Using your 11/1/4” square and 4 5-7/8” squares, assemble roof and sky of houses, using “No waste flying geese method.”  I discovered this method while doing the Hazel’s Diary Quiltalong.  Shelly has a great tutorial here.

Assemble the six strips with a narrow sky piece on the outside and the door in fourth position, as shown in picture.

 Iron.

Cut into units 5 ½” high.

Attach to roof.  Your block should be 10-1/2” square.

Ta-dah!  You have completed 4 little houses.

Why don’t you make more and send a quilt to BASICS? PS–You could win a sewing machine if you do.

A FEW NOTES:  IF your fabric is 44” usable width, you can get eight houses out of a single strip.  By using 2 roof squares and 8 sky squares you can make eight blocks REALLY fast. If not, it is pretty easy to get 6 houses from a WOF strip, so with three roof units and two sets of strips you get 12 houses.

If you want to make a 12” finished block, it is easy to modify by adding 1 2-1/2” strip and cutting the house body 6-1/2” high.  Make the roof block 13-1/4” square and the sky blocks 6-7/8” square.  All other directions as given.

Here is a block made by Lori, my volunteer pattern tester, who claims it “works great.” I like the scrappy-happy look of her block.

IF you have made it this far, congratulations.  Also, if you would like a print friendly version of the tutorial/pattern, just leave a comment or e-mail me and I’ll send it to you.