Tutorial: Quilt Block

Quilting is not just for grandmothers anymore. There are so many different styles, from modern to traditional, and quilting is a great way to showcase cool fabrics and use up scraps that would otherwise just sit on your shelf.



Ayumi at Pink Penguin offers a tutorial on making this cute teapot block. Her free pdf is available here and she agreed to let us share her tutorial.



Ayumi writes: Cut out the pattern from the pdf printout. (I recommend you enlarge the pattern, because it's too small as it is, but here I am using the pattern of the original size.) Cut it into pieces along the lines.



Using a small piece of double-sided tape, attach each piece onto the right side (not shiny side) of freezer paper, making sure there is plenty of space between the pieces. (The layout shown in this picture isn't a great example. I figured later that I needed more space between each of them.) Using a ruler, add seam allowances of 1/4". (Throughout the process, the seam allowance is 1/4".) Also, make sure to name all the pieces so that you'll know which one goes where in what way.



Take off the original pieces of the pattern and name the new freezer paper pieces. You can discard the original paper pieces now. Cut out the pieces of the freezer paper. There should be 13 pieces total. Let's make the funnest part - the main teapot body. I really don't care the height of those two pieces for the teapot base. Here I cut out them that measure about 1" x 5".



Sew them together and press seam open. (Pressing after every time you sew each line will really help you work on this project easier).



Using the same technique, cut out other pieces too. Yay! 13 pieces done! I know it's tempting to peel the patterns off at this moment, but I strongly recommend you don't. It will be helpful if you peel it off right before sewing the piece so that you'll know which piece goes where.



Place the freezer paper pattern on the RIGHT side of the fabric and press on it to attach the pattern to the fabric temporarily. (Remember to always do this on the RIGHT side of the fabric!!) Cut out the teapot body along the pattern edges.and peel off the pattern! (This freezer paper pattern is reusable for many many times!)

Ayumi gives great detailed instructions here to take you the rest of the way so you wind up with something like this:



So cute! What do you think?