Ok, it’s happening! Thanks in no small part to all of the positive reactions I received from you, I am going to take the risk and sew a neutral quilt made up of the Orchid flower block from my Nineteen Thirty quilt pattern. Thanks for the feedback!

As today is the first day of our Nineteen Thirty sew-along, I figured a how-to video would make for a strong start. Come watch as I piece the curves of the Orchid block - pinning, sewing, pressing and trimming.

See? You can do this. My top tip for you as you sew these curves is to make sure that you are sewing a scant 1/4” seam allowance. A scant seam allowance means one just a tad smaller than a full 1/4”. This creates edges that transform into smooth curves when the quadrants are sewn together with true 1/4” seam allowances.

Here are the initial quadrants, with funky-looking curves at the seam allowances

Poof! Transformed into pretty points when the quadrants are joined. In the same way, the outer curves will be smoothly finished when the block is sewn into surrounding sashing. Just mind those seam allowances differences.

Tip #2 - when trimming the 6.5” square quadrants, you can use a piece of cardboard cut to 6.5” square if you don’t have a 6.5” square ruler. A true quilting ruler is not necessary for this stage, since you don’t need to see-through the ruler to determine proper placement. Just match the 6.5” square to the already-squared corners of the block and trim the pieced area flush to match.

And, tada, my first neutral Orchid block! Fabrics: Solid Kona Black, Solid FreeSpirit Raw Sugar and Simple Growth low volume floral.

I’ve surprised myself by opting for the warm ivory solid as seed shapes in place of the fun bird print. I know, I know - the birds are so fun! But, at the moment that feels like precisely the problem. I want this quilt to feel simply beautiful, and I think the repetition of the bird print as seeds for every block would be too distracting.

Don’t worry, I still have lots of that bird fabric, so you’re bound to see it in action soon.

Wishing everyone success with their first Orchid blocks! Our sew-along goal in March is to sew 6 blocks, which is half the number needed for a full Nineteen Thirty quilt. I can’t wait to see your blocks start showing up in my Instagram feed!