It is week three of the Mod City Center Quilt Along. We have picked out our fabrics, cut up the fabrics, organized the pieces and this week we will be making Block 1 & 2, the Central Park and Hacienda block. The quilt is based on the Courthouse Step block. These are the two easiest blocks in the pattern. They have less pieces and it’s all straight edge piecing so they are great blocks for a beginning quilter to practice new skills.

When I was making my test quilt for this pattern I had fallen in love with a set of linen fabrics at my LQS. I bought about six 1/2 yards of these greens, blues, blacks and tans fabrics. Then went home to start making some Courthouse Step magic and quickly found the error of my ways. Linen, as beautiful as it is, is a loosely woven fabric. Meaning it gives, takes and quickly becomes wonky. Most of the time this wouldn’t bother me but as a test quilt, where I am trying to make sure all of the dimensions are correct… well, this just wasn’t a good fit for the project. LOL. Lesson learned.

I wrote a blog post about seam allowance about a year ago but I haven’t published it yet. Hopefully I will be able to put it out into the world sometime this week. This quilt really altered some of my ideas on seam allowance. Generally, I do what I want on seam allowance, many times taking a greater seam allowance than needed. But with so many seams that fit together perfectly like in these blocks, seam allowance really matters. The pattern is written with a scant 1/4″ seam. Taking a larger seam will be less obvious in these bocks but when you make block 2 & 3 the seams add up and the finished block size will be much smaller.

Really, the way to fix it is wait until you have all your block finish, take your smallest block, measure it and trim all the block to that size. Then it will be easy to nest all your seams when putting the rows together. In this quilt, trimming a block will be something that will go unnoticed because there are no points to line up or chop off. So keep in mind, this solutions doesn’t alway give the same result.

Making Block 1 & 2

Start with the center of the block.
Iron pieces open so you have a nice flat surface to work with.
When adding the new piece cover the last seams, this will give you the stair stepped effect, thus the courthouse step name.

Enter to win

I love looking at all of your progress photos on Instagram. Share your progress for this week’s topic making block 1 &2 on Instagram using #modcitycenterquiltalong and #MCCQAblock1&2 (each week this one will change). The more weeks you participate, the greater your chance of winning. When I reveal the next step, I will announce a new winner here on my blog. The prizes will get larger as the quilt progresses, so stick around.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
The winner for week 1 is @sewritaquilts. WoooHoo!

Privacy on Instagram

Since I want to make this a fun and interactive experience, I would like to use Instagram. If you don’t have it and need help setting it up, let me know. To participate, please make your Instagram account open to the public. If it is not public, I won’t be able to see your photos and won’t be able to pick you in giveaways. If you have issues with this, I understand. Direct message me and let me know.

Can you still Join?

Of course!! I want this to be a laid back and fun experience. It is ok if you miss steps; life always gets in the way and that is okay. If you would like to learn more about the Mod City Center Quilt Along, click here.