QAF Block of the Month

October 2005

Harvest Time Pumpkin

7-1/2" (unfinished), 7" (finished)

 

This month's block comes straight from the pumpkin patch to dress up your holiday table or decorate your wall. Since it is easy to make, this is a good beginner-intermediate level block.

Our Pumpkin block was designed so that swapped strips could be used in its construction. An option is included for those who do not have strips.

FABRICS:

Use only pre-washed, pressed, quilter's quality 100% cotton fabrics.

For the pumpkin, you may use any one orange per block. The stem and leaf can be any medium to dark green. The background can be unbleached muslin, beige, tan, or any brown of your choice.

Keep in mind that the block will look best if there is a good contrast between the background and pumpkin. If you use a dark orange for the pumpkin, use a light to medium background. If your orange is light to medium, use a dark brown background.

Note: If you use muslin for your background, it is very important that you pre-shrink it before cutting your pieces, because muslin often shrinks (a lot). Wash in hot water and dry in hot dryer. If you remove the muslin from the dryer when it is still slightly damp and press immediately, the muslin will be pre-shrunk but wrinkles won't be hard to press out.

From your BACKGROUND fabric cut the following:

(2) 2-1/4" squares (for pumpkin's top corners)
(2) 1-1/2" squares (for pumpkin's bottom corners)
(1) 8-1/2" x 1-3/4" strip for top of block (this is 1: longer to allow for adjustments)

From your ORANGE fabric cut the following:

(2) strips 4" x 6-1/4" (for pumpkin body) -- OR -- 1 rectangle 6-1/4" x 7-1/2" (if not using swapped strips)

From your GREEN fabric cut the following:

(1) 3" x 1-1/2" strip (for stem)
(1) 3" square (for free-form leaf)

CONSTRUCTION:

PUMPKIN BODY:

Layer both 4" x 6-1/4" strips RST (right sides together) and sew along one long edge, using a scant 1/4" seam. Being careful that the joined strip lays straight on your pressing surface, press to set the seam and bury the thread. Then from the front side, press the seam allowance to the right. Your pumpkin unit (after pressing) should measure 7-1/2" wide x 6-1/4" tall.

Note: If not using strips, just mark the center point of the top raw edge of your rectangle. You will use this mark to center the base of the stem unit.

PUMPKIN CORNERS:

Lay one 2-1/4" background square RST on upper left corner of Pumpkin. Using a ruler and pencil, draw a diagonal line from lower left corner of square to upper right corner. Sew along this line, not directly on top of it, but JUST next to it about a thread's width away on outside. Fold sewn square back along the sewn line and press toward the upper left corner of block.

Lay second 2-1/4" background square RST on upper right corner of Pumpkin. Using a ruler and pencil, draw a diagonal line from upper left corner of square to lower right corner. Sew along this line. Fold sewn square back along the sewn line and press toward the upper right corner of block.

Lay one 1-1/2" background square RST on lower left corner of Pumpkin. Draw a diagonal line from upper left corner of square to lower right corner. Sew along this line. Fold back and press toward lower left corner.

Lay second 1-1/2" background square RST on lower right corner of Pumpkin. Draw a diagonal line from lower left corner of square to upper right corner. Sew along this line. Fold back and press toward lower right corner.

You can now trim out the middle layer of background fabric in these 4 corners, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. To insure a perfectly sized block, do not cut off the back (orange) layer of fabric. If your corner background pieces don't extend all the way to the corners, that bottom orange layer keeps the block size accurate. If, after pressing this unit, your corner background pieces overlap beyond the orange, you can lay the unit face down and trim off the excess, being careful to not trim away any of the orange fabric. This completes the Pumpkin unit, which should now measure 7-1/2" wide x 6-1/4" tall.

PUMPKIN STEM UNIT:

Fold 3" x 1-1/2" strip green stem fabric in half lengthwise, right side out. Press. (You will now have a folded strip 3" x 3/4".) This will be the stem of the pumpkin.

Fold 8-1/2" x 1-3/4" strip of background fabric in half, with wrong sides together. Press this fold. (You will have a 4-1/4" length on each side of your fold.) This fold marks the center line of the strip. With fabric strip opened and right side facing up, use a permanent marker to put a dot at bottom raw edge, 3/4" to the left of fold. Put another dot at top edge of fabric, 3/4" to the right of fold. These two dots mark the placement of the stem fabric.

Lay folded green stem fabric diagonally across the background strip so that the FOLDED edge just touches the bottom dot and the doubled RAW edge touches the top dot to right of center fold.

Note: In order that the stem strip extends far enough after folding and stitching in place, it will have to overhang slightly at the bottom and about 1" at the top as described below. Don't panic. This is easier than it sounds.

The lower left (folded) corner of the green stem unit should be even with the lower raw edge of the background strip. There will be a slight overhang of the lower right (raw edge) corner of green stem unit.

The upper left (folded) corner of the green stem unit will overhang the top edge of the background strip about an inch.

When the green strip is aligned as described above, pin in place. Now sew the green strip to the background strip by stitching on the green strip, 1/4" away from its doubled raw edge. Fold the stem unit to the right so that the seam and its raw edges are covered. Press in place. You can now sew the folded edge in place by hand. Alternatively, you can top stitch by machine or hem stitch. Trim off the overhanging green even with the background strip.

JOINING THE STEM TO THE PUMPKIN:

Align the stem unit so that the stem base is centered over the vertical seam of the pumpkin body (OR over the center mark of the rectangle). Pin in place and check to see that the alignment will be correct after sewing. You might have to shift the unit to one side or the other. There WILL be some overhang of this background strip, when joining it to the pumpkin body. This excess will be trimmed off after sewing and was a built-in 'fudge factor'.

You are now ready to raw-edge applique a free-form leaf. Use the above picture as a suggested leaf shape. Iron a 3" square of freezer paper to the right side of your 3" square of green fabric. Draw a leaf onto the dull side of this square of freezer paper. Cut out the leaf leaving 1/4" seam allowance outside your drawn line. Pin into place next to stem base. Using a very small stitch (15 stitches to an inch), sew through the freezer paper, along the drawn lines of your leaf design, attaching the leaf to the pumpkin. Tear away the freezer paper.

Optional: After removing freezer paper, you may sew over your first line of raw-edge applique stitching with a decorative machine stitch, if you like.

Do a final press, square up and trim your block, if necessary. Your block should measure 7-1/2" square in order to be entered in the BOM lottery.

Check out the sample table runner, wall hanging and table topper below.

© 2005 Mary Evans