Around The Block SEASON 2 With Johanna Masko - LIVE ONLINE WORKSHOP SERIES

This series of live online workshops is designed to use the framework of traditional patchwork blocks to sharpen your piecing skills, aid your understanding of the math involved in planning these blocks, and maximize efficiency in their construction. We will be revisiting and strengthening the basic skills and techniques that result in beautiful, intentionally crafted quilt blocks. These sessions are a great opportunity to have a patchwork pro personally guide you through the piecing process, and to have all of your burning quilt making questions answered in real time.

All blocks in the “Around the Block” series finish 12” square. 
Since this class spans four weeks, there is no need to decide on all of the fabrics for all of the blocks to be ready for Class 1. Choose your “Orange Peel” block fabrics first, and you can choose the fabrics for the other blocks as we go. -Johanna

Details - 

Who should take this class - This workshop is open to anyone who wants to advance their quilt making. If you have some quilt making experience but you want to take your quilting to the next level, this series will be perfect for you. You don't have to have taken the first round of blocks to take this workshop series. 

Tools: You'll get a detailed email in advance of the class advising you on the tools you should have handy while you're on the call. but in the meantime, you can anticipate needing the following. ..

• 45mm rotary cutter with fresh blade
• Large cutting mat
• Rectangular gridded acrylic rotary cutting rulers, 6 x 12” or similar recommended, plus 6 x 24” optional
• SQUARE gridded acrylic ruler with 45° line from corner to corner, 3.5 to 6.5” square • Fabric scissors, snips, straight pins, etc
• Mechanical pencil (office supply type)

Block 1: Orange Peel
Feature fabric - approx. 1 FQ
Background - 1 FQ or 0.25 m EACH of TWO fabrics
Skills/fabric selection notes: This block is about practicing curved seams. Your feature fabric should be lighter, brighter, or darker than the two background fabrics. I chose a dark, bold print for the feature fabric, and light, small scale blenders for the background. You could swap them out and go light/bright on the feature and dark for the backgrounds.

Block 2: Squared Star/Cube Lattice
Star fabric A (parallelogram) - 1/2 FQ or similar (medium)
Star fabric B (parallelogram) - 1/2 FQ or similar (dark)
Background - 1 FQ (light)
Skills/fabric selection notes: This block is composed of 4 repeated units, which can be arranged as a stand-alone star block. Alternately, it can set in the Cube Lattice pattern, which is a wall-to-wall all over quilt design. This block includes large scale Y-seams. Instead of templates, we will learn to use the angled lines on our rulers to mark and cut the star components of this block. Settings and size variants will be discussed in class, as well as an exploration of the construction breakdown and math involved in the Cube Lattice pattern.

Block 3: Solitaire
Background + centre - 1 FQ (medium to light fabric)
Large triangles and squares - 1 FQ (dark)
Small triangles - 1 FQ (light/bright accent)
Skills/fabric selection notes: We will be focussing on the pieced perimeter units composed of triangles and elongated angled shapes. We will build on the skills from block 2 to use
standard rulers to create shapes that would otherwise require templates. We will have the
opportunity to work with Flying Geese, which are prominent units in this block. The outer
corners of this block are mitered using Y-seams. Consider working with a “fussycut” for the centre of this block- it will be cut 4.5” square, so choose a motif that fills that area nicely.

Block 4: Best of All
Centre + smallest triangles - 1 FQ (light A)
Block background (around outer edges) - 1 FQ (light B)
Medium triangles - 1 FQ (dark A)
Large triangles - 1/2 FQ (dark B)
Small and medium squares (block interior) - 1 FQ (medium)
Skills/fabric selection notes: The sample uses 2 light and 2 darks for interest and variety. You could use one light and one dark throughout along with the one medium if you like. Our main focus will be on the pieced rectangular units that touch the centre square. Potentially tricky to construct, we will learn how to create a complex “square on point” unit using basic shapes and standard rulers. We will discuss how to deconstruct this block into simple components without introducing additional seams. Consider working with a “fussycut” for the centre of this block- it will be cut 4.5” square, so choose a motif that fills that area nicely.