Update: at 8:36 pm the wonderful @nikkapotamus came to the rescue with this solution. At 9:07, the block is fixed, stitched & ready to be sent to Boston. The kindness, generosity and intelligence of this connected world never ceases to amaze me!
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SO, I was bound and determined to start, and finish my quilt block(s) for Quilts for Boston tonight. I was planning to make my blocks out of jelly roll strips I had lying around.
I was super excited when I found this tutorial:
The requirements for the Quilts for Boston block are “All blocks should be 12½” tall x the width of your choice.” So, I sewed together 6 strips so the height of the strips were 12 1/2. I cut two blocks of 12 1/2 by 12 1/2 with the intention of following the tutorial to make the block above. I cut two other blocks “width of my choice” with the remaining fabric.
I followed the tutorial exactly, and the block looks beautiful…but…mathematically minded friends, do you see where I went wrong?
The middle block is beautiful, and for the first block I have ever made it my entire life, one may even go as far as to say it’s perfect…but it’s 17 x 17. SO mathies & quilties, any suggestions on what I should do? I did not sew the 4 blocks for the big square together yet. At minimum, I have 2 simple blocks that can go to Boston BUT would love to find a way to salvage the pieces in the middle – they are each 8 1/2, by 8 1/2.
Tips & tricks welcome!
I think I’ve got this. You made your original jelly roll squares 12.5 square right? You didn’t
account for seam allowance or sewing them together to make a giant square. If you want your finished block to be 12,5 square with the 4 triangles, you’ll have to do some dividing and subtracting your 1/4 inch seams to get a finished 12.5×12.5 block.
The other 2 are just a mess (not your mess, directions mess, i mean) and I have no idea why they would say you can do a 12.5x whatever size block. That just makes no sense unless they are going to combine all those little pieces to make a border that is 12.5 wide around the other blocks.
To solve your first block without having to redo the whole thing: your little squares should be 6.5 inches tall each, to be sewn together to be 12.5 total. You will lose a quarter inch on each one, making them 6 1/4 each for a total hieght of 12.5. You can cut those little guys down by folding them along the seam and cutting off the excess and still have the cute little pattern.
Hope that helps!
Holy cow — just found the email with your plea in my spam folder. Huh? I’m glad you got your answer. I have never attempted anything as crazy as gorgeous piecing like this! You are amazing!