Please help a newbie?

The directions say cut a 2" strip, and a 3" strip, and another 2" strip, then sew them...and I'm supposed to end up with a 6" block??? I don't get it.

I have been looking at the "Warm Wishes" quilt here:
http://www.quiltmaker.com/patterns/d...html?idx=5185_

Could someone explain?
Thanks

If you take 2 + 3 + 2 inch (total 7in) strips and sew them together with an exact scant 1/4" you will wind up with a 6" width. Then you would cut the length to get 6" blocks unless your strips were 6" long. If you get more or less than 6" when you sew the strips together, you need to readjust your 1/4" and try again. The extra is taken up in your seams.

If you use a 1/4" inch seam you will have used 1" in the seam, thus 6" block. The seam allowance takes off 1/4" from each strip. Hope this helps.

That does make sense. How does it fit into the quilt?

If you look closely at the pattern, the 3 strip 6" block is every other block. I really like that pattern.

when you add the widths of the 3 strips together and subtract off all of the seam allowances your strip will measure 6 1/2" and when you cut this strip into 6 1/2" blocks, take a 1/2" off that for additional seam allowances your block will finish at 6".

Almost every block in every pattern will be a 1/2" bigger all the way around when "unfinished."

I still don't understand the math part, but if it makes sense to you guys, then I'll give it a try and see what happens. Have some FQs coming from Ebay that I can play with.....soon I will have "a stash"!!! I'm so excited!

I feel like a kid in a candy store...I want that fabric, and I want that fabric, etc.

Thanks again!

Amma, Just checked the referenced pattern and checked the math, and when the 2 -3-2 strips are joined, they should indeed measure 6 inches, not 6-1/2. The pattern then calls for cutting that strip unit into 6 inch squares. I know that is odd as 6-1/2 unfinished is the norm, but not in this case. Just don't want to get our new quilter even more confused. (Usually it is me that is confused, but for some reason, this morning I can see this issue very clearly...mark it on the calendar! lol)

So the unfinished block is 6" but after it's finished it will be 5-1/2", right?

It sure makes a cute quilt.

That sounds about right to me.

When you sew a quarter inch seam allowance you are using up 1/4 of an inch from the two fabrics you are sewing together, so you lose a whole 1/2 inch. So if I sew two 3" strips together, I will lose a 1/4 inch off of each (you can see this when you sew, to the right of your sew line you have 1/4 inch of the two fabrics) thus ending up with a 5.5 inch strip. So when I sew three strips together I lose a 1/2 inch from the first two sewn together, then another 1/2 inch when I add in the third piece. Then when I eventually sew that to other blocks I will lose a 1/4 inch on each side, thus another 1/2 inch total.

So I sew a 2 to a 3, I end up with 4.5, sew the 4.5 to a 2, end up with 6, sew that to other 6s I get 5.5 finished blocks.

Rachel