Spring Violets Quilt

My third #dogoodstitchesabide quilt

There’s a perfect moment in the spring. It’s usually after a good soaking rain. The flowers all bloom at the same time. Each home sits in their own little jewel-box of a yard, on a bed of grass so lush and green that it looks like velvet. It’s fleeting, because within days the dandelions pop up and the grass grows a smidge too long. Most people will pull out their lawnmowers at this point, but I will bargain and cajole my husband to hold off because the wood violets appear and I love them. Do a Google search and you’ll find varieties from the Atlantic to the Pacific and just as many opinions as to whether these tiny flowers are a joy or an annoyance.

I have looked to Nature for the last two #DoGood quilts I have made and I didn’t see any reason to stop for this one. I knew from the previous two that I wanted to check off some boxes:

• Make the blocks bigger without asking the group to sew more. Most of our blocks have been 12″ and sometimes we have made two. While I was used to large blocks, I knew from a quick survey that not everyone might have the tools to cut or square up a huge block. After a previous chat with our charity contact, I had decided to make a quilt sized for the family rather than a baby quilt. My research indicated that setting a block on point would increase the size by 150%, so I felt this might be the solution.
• Not ask the group to sew an excessive number of seams or use a ton of fabric. I felt like the group had been really understanding the last two times I submitted blocks and had sewn out of their comfort zone, but I didn’t want to be disrespectful of their time or budget.
• Use a traditional block, or at least one that was recognizable, with easy to convert measurements to enlarge or shift. I had already asked the group to improv an 18″ block and I received positive feedback from the sewists, but I wanted this to be a quick sew. My second quilt had giant flying geese, but the formula for upsizing them had been finicky depending on the machine and seam allowance. I have livestock due this month, and I knew I didn’t want to spend a ton of time sewing the blocks together, either.

I found the block in the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns by Elizabeth Brackman, of all places. As a modern quilter, I don’t find that I go to this resource very often, but I was happy to find a sketch I had made of a giant version of this block (80″ square) and it fit my needs perfectly. Brackman refers to an earlier work by Ruth Finley (1929) that describes this block. It’s listed in Brackman’s book as The Wedding Ring or The Memory Wreath.

Here is the block with the components labelled with the unfinished measurements for a 16.5″ unfinished block. It does list this as Flying Geese blocks and Half Square Triangles, but if one wanted to go super scrappy they could stick to just HSTs. As long as the dark versus light color placement is used, I don’t actually have a preference.

I used this chart from Yvonne at quiltingjetgirl.com to calculate my Flying Geese Block fabric requirements.

I used this chart from Shelly at coralandco.com to calculate my HST block fabric requirements. I like to cut HSTs larger and then trim to size. If you wanted to stick to just HSTs in this block, just make 12 total instead of 4.

The 8.5″ green square is included in your mailed fabric packet.

I used this chart, originally from CT Publishing apparently, but found on Jen’s blog, De Jong Dream House, to determine the size of the corner setting triangles.

At this point, I had created the calculations for the inner block, determined the measurements for the corner triangles and just needed to piece the block. Everything went together smoothly until it came time to add the triangles. They are LARGE, and the bias edge is stretchy like taffy. Use starch or your preferred product for avoiding bias stretching. One tip is to find the center of your 16.5″ block (probably right over the point of your flying goose point, but fold it to double check). Then gently fold the triangle in half to find the center point. Line those two points up to start pinning the triangle to the block from the center outwards. Don’t stretch the long side of the triangle if you can help it. As you stitch the pieces together, be careful to not pull the green background. After adding the triangle and it is pressed, add the second triangle to the opposite side of the violet block. It’s not as scary as I make it sound. It’s just that squaring up the block will be a bit trickier. That’s why I don’t want you to sweat it. Just send the assembled block to me after you make it.

Thanks for making this violet-inspired giant block. 🙂 My calculations put this in the 70″+ square range when it is all done. That’s a generous size for an Abide family to snuggle under or take on a spring picnic.

As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. This post as originally intended for my fellow sewists in my #DoGood group, but I hope you find it useful, too. If you make a quilt with this information, I would love to see it!