Squaring up Your Quilt Blocks
and February Free Quilt Block Patterns

Greetings Quilter -

I will readily admit that I'm not well versed in winter sports, and as I watch the Olympics this last week, I realized how un-informed I really am.

Oh, I know about figure skating, skiing, ski jumping and bobsleding. There was an article recently in our local newspaper about Shaun White, the Gold Medal Snowboarding guy.

But I was fascinated the other night with the women's curling competition. It was the first time I had seen the game played, and it was amazing.

Watching the care with which these athletic gals slid each of the 42 pound stones to get it to glide into position was nothing short of amazing. And then the guidance given to the sweepers certainly added to the excitement of the event.

By the end of the matches I was still trying to figure out how the scoring went, and a quick Google search landed the answer. Not that I could explain it on my own, but I am hoping to be able to watch another match to see if I can figure it all out.

And I hear that people don't understand quilters - we who cut fabric and sew it back together to keep our loved ones warm!

Not that curling isn't interesting, but I'm happy that at the end of the day, I have a quilt to cuddle up in.

And now for the quilting news - -

Happy Quilting!

penny halgren

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Block of the Month - Rocky Road to Kansas

If you are browsing through a list of quilt patterns, it might seem like the state of Kansas is home of the quilting tradition.

This is probably due to the fact that the Kansas City Star newspaper published quilt block templates back in the late 1920s and into the 1960s. Because of those newspaper features, the state of Kansas seems to have some influence in the world of quilting even today.

The Rocky Road to Kansas is a name actually given to two quilt block patterns. One of them is commonly called Drunkard’s Path. The Women’s Temperance Movement made the block popular in the late 1800s as they fought alcohol sales. Quilts with this pattern were raffled to make money for the organization’s cause.

The other Rocky Road to Kansas is also known as Kansas Troubles. The block pattern appeared in a publication in 1877, but the name Kansas Troubles was not attached to it until after the turn of the century.

The name Kansas Star is another popular quilt block name. There are at least two blocks that claim this name.

Also known as the Star of Many Points, this pattern’s original printing was actually in a Maine magazine that is difficult to accurately date. Some estimate its first printing was in 1868, while others date it much later – in the early 1930s.

It was printed again in the late 1920s to early 1930s, likely in the Kansas newspaper’s quilting feature. The other Kansas Star pattern is also known as Montpelier. This one is a four point star within another four point star.

Another popular Kansas-related quilt block pattern that doesn’t have the state as part of its name is the Farmer’s Daughter block. It was used frequently in Kansas because many who moved to that state pursued farming as a way of life. The pattern has been traced back to around 1910.

You can find tons of patterns for quilt blocks using squares at: www.QuiltBlockLibrary.com, including the ones shown below:


Rocky Road to Kansas or Drunkards' Path quilt block	Kansas Star or Star of Many Points quilt block

Video - How to Square up a Quilt Block

It's always interesting to me that no matter how careful I am, my quilt blocks rarely end up exactly the same size and having all of the raw edges straight and lined up.

So then the question becomes - How do you trim them and square them up?

When I first began quilting, it never occurred to me to do anything other than just trim off the edges and even things up.

That was before I realized that not all of my blocks were the same size; and that not all corners were really square.

Faced with these challenges, I found a square rotary cutting ruler, and it has been my friend ever since.

Not only is this ruler great for cutting square patches, but I can easily square up most any size block:

You can find these rulers at amazon.com:

February Quilt Block Patterns

The January selection of free quilt block patterns includes a variety of 4 patch quilt blocks, ranging from the easy to make to some that are a little more complex.

Click here to download your February FREE quilt block patterns