Cheddarback Challenges, Blocks 1-5

Cheddarback is a Block of the Month sew-along offered by Gay Bomers at Sentimental Stitches.  The blocks are free to download during the month they are published.  The quilt is a delightful, quirky, antique with blocks in two sizes, 12" and 5".  You can see it at the link above.  This is the first time I've tried to recreate an antique quilt.  It should be fun -- both the doing and the having.

Right off the bat with the first block Cheddarback offered a challenge.  (This is a 12" block.)

Cheddarback Block 1

I love square-in-square and economy blocks but I struggle to place the triangles just where they need to be.  I finally figured out that if I folded the squares and triangles in the centers and pressed a crease at the edges, I could align the pieces.  It worked a charm for the four corner squares in this Rolling Stone block.

That system worked well when there was only one round of triangles, but not so well for a block with more.  The second round of triangles in the block below was harder to place accurately because there was no center crease on the first round of triangles, only the points of the squares.  Still I think I managed okay.

Cheddarback Block 2

I'm trying to copy the original quilter's blocks, following her colors first, and then fabric patterns/style (stripes, plaids, small print, large print, etc.) next, if I have fabrics that are close.  In the original, Block 2 had a delightful green clover motif, but I didn't have anything close.  This was the best I could do.

Cheddarback Block 3

I love how the creator of this quilt used clothing fabrics for some of the blocks, including finely corded fabrics.  I tend to think of them as less durable, but this quilt has lasted a very long time.

Block 4, below, used squares cut at 1¼" inch!  Just tiny!  

Cheddarback Block 4

Block 5 was the hardest block of all to make because of it's set-in y-seams.  I'd never sewn them before and hadn't a clue what I was doing.  The construction seemed simple at first but not so by the end.  I should have researched how to stitch these kinds of seams when they turn at such a sharp angle.  The block came out okay but not great.  In the end I thought perhaps I should have started stitching from the center instead of from the edges.  This is one block that may get remade.  Do you have any tips to make y-seams easier?

Cheddarback Block 5

As I look at the original Cheddarback quilt I think I may be in for even more challenging blocks over the coming months!  These are this month's blocks all together.

The original quilt's sashing has a white/off-white fabric with a small, loosely-scattered print.  I'll need  about three yards of whatever fabric I choose.  The only light fabric I have enough of on hand is this little rosebud print.  I think it is a little too feminine for this quilt.  And the background leans toward yellow/green instead of being strictly off-white.  I'll have to see what I can come up with.



As I've been working on this quilt I've been thinking about the person (probably a lady) who made it.  Where did she find the patterns, or did she create them?  How long had she been making patchwork blocks?  How did she choose her colors and fabrics?  Were they pieces of fabric left over from clothing she'd sewn or were they lightly worn fabric from old clothes?  Did she sew by hand or by machine?  Certainly she didn't have a rotary cutter and acrylic ruler:  all fabric would have been cut by hand.  That in itself is amazing to me.

And then I thought about Gay, so carefully recreating the patterns, figuring out measurements, writing directions, making pdfs of the the patterns available to us.  Isn't she wonderful?  Thank you, Gay! 

Gay called this quilt Cheddarback because that exactly describes the back of the quilt.  But what I want to know is this:  what is the difference between cheddar and orange?

I just learned that today is Piano Day 2019, always on the 88th day of the year in honor of a piano's 88 keys.  So I'm sharing "The Orange Fox Waits," a beautiful, gentle song created and played by Robin Spielberg.  Enjoy!



I'm linking this post to
> Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More
> Finished or Not Friday and Busy Hands Quilts and
> Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

I hope you have a great weekend.
--Nancy.
.