QuiltBlock’s Garden Trellis Block One Tips & Tricks

Have you started your Garden Trellis quilt yet?  You may have noticed a slight change. The blocks are no longer numbered in order of difficulty, from easy to some experience needed. The blocks are now numbered in order of placement in the quilt, in this design, in columns.

Half-square triangles and Flying Geese usually don’t make an appearance until later blocks, so I’d like to share a few quick tips.

Step 1

The squares overlap in the center of the rectangle. This gives you the 1/4″ at the triangle point so it will not be cut off when you sew it to the borders.

Step 2

Be sure to square the units to 3 1/2″, don’t skip this step. Can you see the difference between the trimmed and untrimmed squares?   Remember to slice a tiny bit off two sides, turn the block and finish squaring to the right size.

Step 3

Measure to be sure the center is 6 1/2″ x 6 1/2″. Four out of five times a block isn’t right because the center is too small or too big.

Step  4

Measure the block to be sure it is 12 1/2″. Then add your skinny borders.  Your blocks will go together easily  and line up nicely ‘on point’ in the columns if they are all the same size. Start checking with block 1, don’t wait!

One last bonus tip

Save the little scraps from the Flying Geese. Use them to start your chain piecing. Later, you’ll have half square triangles to make some pretty pinwheels!