Elegant Esme
Push your skills to the next level with intricate piecing.
YOU WILL NEED
■ Print fabrics one ( 1) fat quarter
■ White fabric ½ yd
■ Four ( 4) copies of Template A ( see page 101)
■ Four ( 4) copies of Template B ( see page 101)
FINISHED SIZE
■ 12 ½ in square ( 12in once piece into project)
NOTES
■ Seam allowances are ¼ in throughout, unless otherwise noted.
■ Press seams open, unless otherwise instructed.
■ Wash and press all fabrics well before cutting.
■ Shorten your stitch length to 1.5 for paper piecing.
■ RST = right sides together.
FABRICS USED
■ Flowers in Mandarin from Mimosa collection for Windham Fabrics.
CUTTING OUT
1 Cut the print fabric as follows:
■ Eight ( 8) 1 ¼ in x 1 ¾ in rectangles ( for section 2 on each template).
■ Eight ( 8) 1 ½ in x 2 ½ in rectangles ( for section 5 on each template). ■ Eight ( 8) 1 ¾ in x 3in rectangles ( for section 8 on each template). ■ Eight ( 8) 2 ¼ in x 4in rectangles ( for section
11 on each template). 2 Cut the white fabric as follows:
■ Eight ( 8) 2in x 2 ½ in rectangles ( for section 1 on each template).
■ Sixteen ( 16) 1 ¼ in x 1 ½ in rectangles ( for sections 3 and 4 on each template).
■ Sixteen ( 16) 1 ½ in x 1 ¾ in rectangles ( for sections 6 and 7 on each template).
■ Sixteen ( 16) 2in x 2 ½ in rectangles ( for sections 9 and 10 on each template).
■ Eight ( 8) 2in x 3in rectangles ( for section 12 on each template).
■ Eight ( 8) 4in x 4 ½ in rectangles ( for section 13 on each template).
PIECING UNIT A AND B
3 The Esme block is made up of eight units – four ( 4) Unit A and four ( 4) Unit B. Each of the units is foundation paper pieced, trimmed to size, the papers are removed
and then the block is assembled as shown in the layout diagram.
4 Place one white section 1 rectangle on the back of one of the templates with the wrong side facing the back of the paper and ensuring that the rectangle covers the whole of section 1 plus at least ¼ in all round ( Fig 1).
5 Pin one of the print section 2 rectangles RST with the white rectangle so that when flipped over at the seam line, the print rectangle will cover section 2 plus at least ¼ in all round ( Fig 2).
6 Flip the template so that the paper is uppermost and sew along the seam line between sections 1 and 2, extending the seam line approximately ¼ in beyond each end. Fig 3 shows the seam as it appears from the back of the template.
7 Fold and then press the print fabric over so that it covers section 2 ( Fig 4).
8 Fold the paper back at the seam line between sections 2 and 3 and trim the fabric to ¼ in beyond the paper fold. Repeat for the seam line between sections 2 and 4 ( Fig 5).
9 Repeat the process to cover sections 3 and 4 of the template. Once sewn and pressed, trim the seam before adding the section 5 piece ( Fig 6).
10 Continue piecing the templates in the same way until all eight are pieced. Trim each pieced template to size along the dashed lines.
11 Remove the papers from all the units by tearing carefully along the seam lines.
ASSEMBLING THE BLOCK
12 Attach one Unit A to one Unit B along the diagonal, as shown ( Fig 7). Repeat with the remaining units.
13 Arrange the four pieced A/ B Units as shown ( Fig 8). Sew the units together into two rows of two.
14 Now sew the two rows together to make the finished block, taking care to align seams neatly. Press the block and check it is 12 ½ in square.