Welcome to my 2024 Block of the Week sew along! If you are a new reader, I have done these sew alongs in years past. My last one was in 2022. Over the next nine weeks, I will be sharing a pattern for a pieced traditional block along with some information and tips. When all the blocks are done, you can either piece it into a sampler wall hanging, add borders for a lap quilt or make multiples of the blocks and make a larger sampler quilt. Your choice! So let’s get started on block 1.

Block of the Week

Here is block 1:

The name of this block is Garden Path. For the pattern, click here: 2024 BOW Block 1.

I had a difficult time finding any history for this block. I do know that it is classified as an equal nine-patch block because there are 9 equal pieced sections that make up the block. 

When you download the pattern, I do have a simpler piecing process for the block, but I wanted to show you the above to demonstrate that nine-patch blocks encompass many different types of blocks.

Notice the diamond shape in the middle. This is a fun element to play with. You can either make it subtle by keeping the color scheme of your fabrics closer in shade and tone, or you can make it stand out by using a bold color for that part. Here’s the two examples:

See how in the block on the right, the diamond doesn’t stand out as much as in the colors I used for my block.

Finally, you can have some fun by just using a lot of different fabrics:

Notice how I still kept the pieces that make up the diamond in the center the same color family even if I use different fabric scraps. I still want that diamond design to come through.

Tips of the Week

This block requires accurate piecing to so seams line up and create the design. Because of this, I will review my tips on piecing and aligning seams. For this block, you want crisp, sharp points where they flying geese from the center meet the other geese unit in the outer section:

And then you want to align seams when piecing the block so the sections create the diamond center:

Now I will admit sometimes if you look closely, even my seams don’t line up perfectly. But if you follow the steps I show below, with practice, you will get close to perfect!

• Sharp Points

Tip #1: Measure the seams of your flying geese as you go when you are piecing them to make sure the top of the point is 1/4″ from the edge of the unit. Trust me, it saves you from headaches later!

Tip #2: When you are joining a piece with points, like the flying geese, to another piece, stitch them together with the geese unit on top. This way you can make sure your stitching doesn’t cut off that point.

Tip #3: As you are stitching, watch the point to make sure the stitching line passes just above the point. This guarantees the point will not be cut off when you press open the unit. See the photos below and where my pointer is:

In the photos below, you will see how the finished seam passes above the point and how the point is not cut off when the unit is flipped over and pressed open (photo on right):

Follow these tips and your points should never disappear into the seam allowance.

• Aligning Seams

The below example is of a Jacob’s Ladder block I was piecing. It’s important that the diagonal units of the block align to create the flow of the design, just like in our block this week. 

As you can see above, these sections of the block have diagonal seams that need to align so they appear to create on long diagonal seam.

Start by lining up seams of the block units and pinning before pinning other areas. First, I line up the raw edges of the units that need the seams to align. Then I peel down the top unit to work on aligning the seams. Once seams are aligned to my liking, I pin the units in place so the alignment doesn’t shift while stitching. After aligning and pinning seams for this block, then I pin in other areas as needed.

Once the stitched block units are pressed open, you can see how the diagonal sections line up so the diagonal line of the design flows evenly from one unit to the other.

Perform these seam alignment steps for as many seams as there are in the blocks you are joining. A challenging design could have many seams and points to align at the same time, so it’s a good idea to practice this skill.

So that’s it for this week! I hope you enjoy making this block. If you do… make several! Leave a comment or ask a question below and be entered into a drawing for a fat quarter pack.

The drawing will take place a week after this sew along ends.

Until next week, 

Happy Quilting!
Deanne