Monday, May 10, 2021

The Harmony Block


It's time to stitch up your Harmony block!  The Harmony block is a large block - 28 1/2 '' square unfinished - and requires you to join together your 4 Corner Unit, your 4 Rectangle units and that Square in a Square block we created way back in week one of the QAL!


Ready to get started?  


Stitching Tips

(1) Press each of these units really well.  Work to get them nice and flat.  There is no magic answer (sadly) on how to press the seams so listen to your fabric and see how everything wants to fall naturally and work with that.  Press on the wrong side first, concentrating on the seams and then flip to give the right side a brief press too.

(2) Lay the units out on your design wall (or floor) and make sure everything is as it should be.  Compare your block to the one on the pattern and then double check.   


 (3)  Carefully pin the seam between the Triangle in a Square unit to the Square in a Square unit.  Right sides together, take a small pin and align the two points.  Place the pin there and then pin the rest of your seam from that point moving out to each edge.


(4) We've talked before about sewing through intersections when hand piecing.  This is typically straightforward.  With our Harmony block, there are two tricky sections that need extra care because a lot of seams are coming together in one spot.  

The first is the intersection of the Triangle in a Square to the Square in a Square.  

The second is the spot where the Half Square Triangle of the Corner Unit means the intersection between those two Triangle in a Square units.  There is a lot of fabric in both of those seam intersections!  


Work with the Rectangle Units on top - in other words, the wrong side of the Rectangle Units is facing you.  With the Triangle in a Square seams facing you, bring your needle through each of these seams one seam at a time.  (In the photo above, the series of photos in the top row shows the needle moving each seam and then the next seam.

Then, push your needle through to the seam underneath - the Half Square Triangle seam, through that seam, back up to the front and through each of the seams one more time.   (In the photo above, the photos in the bottom row show this needle action.)

(5) If you are making the throw sized quilt, take a minute to lay each Harmony block on your design wall (or floor) and compare it to the pattern.


  Enjoy the secondary pattern and stitch everything together!  



The Basics

Still need the pattern for Harmony?  Grab yours now!  

Harmony is a large single block - make one and you've got a lovely wall hanging (28'' x 28'') or join 4 Harmony blocks together for a lovely throw sized quilt (56'' x 56'').  Did you miss the QAL announcement?  You can find more information here!  If you have any trouble ordering the pattern, please don't hesitate to email us at handpiecedqal@gmail.com - we'll be happy to help!

Whether you are making the wall hanging or the throw sized quilt, we recommend you cut just the pieces you need to make a single Harmony block.  Once you've sewn a few units and have some experience cutting with templates, you can go back and cut the rest of the pieces for all the Harmony blocks you need.

Please consult the tutorials for Using TemplatesMarking Stitching Linesand the Running Stitch if you need some tips.


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Have a wonderful day! Patty

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for another great QAL. Everything is pieced, but getting is quilted is a whole different thing. LOL

    ReplyDelete

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