Disappearing hour glass pattern
 

I just watched a video about a disappearing hour glass quilt from Missouri Star Quilts and she started out with 10" blocks..however I cant find the pattern anywhere that would give instructions on how to make the final block 12.5". I know after you sew the blocks then cut and sew them again its going to change the size and I was just wondering if anyone had made this block and could help me with the original size to start with? Its a VERY pretty quilt! THanks!

I believe it would come out to 11-1/4 finished size. Her's was 12-3/4 before the cut into 1/3's (each section would have 1/4 on each side, so that would total 1").

Some blocks (especially the disappearing ones) just don't add up to a perfect 12-1/2" size. You could experiment with different size blocks and see if you can come close. If you are doing a whole quilt with this block, you could just make as is and adjust the border size to get the overall size you want.

You can always try making them out of paper so you don't waste fabric experimenting.

I have made similar ones and they often end up a little wonky. I trim them down to a consistent size many times 1/4 to 1/2 inch less than they say. But mine come out perfect and go together easily.

Starting with a 10" square and then making a couple of HST's with part of it, will never come out 12.5".
If you make each part of the 9 patch with 4 - 5" square, after you take off the 1/4" seams for a finished block, you will only have 12.5". By having to make HST's you are going to lose more size. Then you cut it twice, losing another inch. The final finished could only end up about 11 and that's if you don't do the HST's.

I haven't made the block, but since you will be doing the same thing to every block, and these are usually the only blocks in the pattern, it doesn't really matter what size you start with, they will all end up the same.

Having said that...The Hour Glass block is a 9 patch block, with a couple of HST's thrown in for fun. The same principles should apply to making a disappearing hour glass that you do for the D9P. Please let us see what you come up with. I always love seeing new stuff.

I was going to make a 12.5 single block of the D. hour glass for a swap Im in but think Ill make something else then make a whole quilt using the 10" square as in the video and then I wont have to worry about it being exactly 12.5. Thanks for the hints...I tried 12" block to begin with and its gonna be WAY bigger than 12.5 when finished even with all the cuts you make. IF I ever get one figured out Ill post it! I loved the finished quilt in the video!

I really like the theory behind Jenny's videos but they sometimes lack in execution. This is one of those blocks.

The problem is that Jenny is trying to make HSTs (half square triangles) in the first step, but she is actually cutting pieces for QSTs (quarter square triangles) and then sewing them into HSTs. This is no small difference because it means that every piece you are working with after the first step has only bias edges. This leads to a lot of stretching and distortion even if you are very careful.

In theory if you start out with the same size squares from a single layer cake your blocks would all end up the same size. In practice they don't because as you are cutting and sewing and then recutting and sewing they will be distorted differently.

I made a sample block using Jenny's method. After the first step the four squares were about 6 3/4". I trimmed them to 6 1/2" square to give myself a better shot at a good block. After the second step (sewing the four squares together into a four patch) the block measured 12 1/2". I made my cuts for the third step at 2 1/16" from the center of the block. After sewing the block together into the nine patch it measured 11 5/8" more or less. Even with being incredibly careful, making sure I was pressing and not ironing, it's still wonky.

I do appreciate what Jenny is trying to do - bring quilting to the masses and make it easy enough that a beginner can finish a quilt in a reasonable amount of time. I'm just not sure that teaching bad fundamentals to beginners or other quilters is a great idea. I would have been frustrated if I hadn't learned the difference between making HSTs and QSTs, and ended up with a wonky quilt as a result. Quilting quickly is not always quilting well.

Off my soapbox and back to putting together my progressive learning BOW program.

Here's my block:

I've put together an EQ rotary cutting chart for the block if you want to make it without the bias edges. The block is 12" finished - 12 1/2" unfinished. The only piece it doesn't show is the large corner squares. EQ leaves out any pieces it doesn't think can be rotary cut. You'll need to cut two 4 3/4" squares of each fabric to make the corners. The rotary chart does include the triangles for those corners.

Here it is:

I made it as Jenny did and didn't have a problem with the bias edges. I made four blocks and they are all the same size. You can always make the hour glass block any way you want first and then cut it. Here is a chart I have for a DNP. It may help with the size question.

Good point Onebyone! I'm glad you didn't have a problem with the bias edges.

Your DNP chart is fantastic! I DNP a lot of different nine patch blocks so this is very helpful. Is it your original chart? If it is, is it okay to share it?

Thanks,

Lynda

Well - for sure you cannot start with 2 10" squares and come out with a 12 1/2" block. You can't even start with 2 12 1/2" blocks and do it with all the cutting and sewing back together - looks like a good math equation, algebra anyone? Will look forward to seeing your final answer.

I like this block a lot-putting it on my bucket list

That's a really interesting problem. Even though you have enough area with the two 10" squares, it's hard to figure out. If you cut each into 4 squares that are 5" each, you still wouldn't have enough for a nine patch. You'd only have eight squares.

If you cut each into thirds, you'd have 18 squares that are about 3 1/3" square. From 15 of those you could sew a block that's 5 x 5, which would turn out to be about 11 1/3" square. I think you'd have to cut them so that you could use the maximum number of the squares that you cut.

Very interesting...

I practiced using 11 1/2 block to start with and it was "almost" right for 12.5 but not quite so I looked thru my patterns and found one that used 4 1/2" blocks, 3 rows to make a 12.5 and had the 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles so instead of making an hourglass and then cutting it I just made it using a combination of patterns.... I also made one but I think the darker and white is much better than the lighter and white. Thanks for all the suggestions! I will definitely make the disappearing hour glass using the 10" blocks like in the video some day! Not sure what size it turns out but if its ALL the same size it wont matter :)

I made the disappearing pinwheel block from Jenny's tutorial. The finished block measured 12 1/2" using a 10" print and a 10" white sq.

The reason you can start with a 10" and end up with a 12.5" block is because you are starting with TWO 10" blocks one on top of the other. After sewing them together and cutting you open them up which gives you the full size of both of the blocks minus your seam allowances. In reality you're starting out with the equivalent of a piece of fabric that is 10"x20" and shrinking it down through cutting and seam allowances to a 12.5" square.

This is just too clever ! I can't wait to try the disappearing hour glass ! I'm glad I have a laptop to sit on my cutting board and walk me thru step by step. I'd love to see pics of the fabrics used by ones that make this.

If you're having problems with your bias edges and you know it's not your pressing habits, try easing off your pressure foot tension a little bit and use a walking foot

I don't remember where I found the chart. It's free to share as far as I know.

boone, I sure didn't get my 2-10" squares cut and come out 12 1/2. Im going to have to try that one again! LOL
Thanks for all the hints!

Seems logical to me if I sewed two 10" squares together I would have 20" to work with.

I cut my original squares 9.5. This would help with inconsistent layer cakes sizes also. You are then able to cut the sections exactly 4 inches. I have made several and have no problem with bias edges. I am using red, blue and cream background for a Veteran quilt. They are turning out beautiful.


I cut the fabric from my very ample stash. It looks so complicated and is really easy.

Luv what size was your finished block?

Another member put up a tute on how this was done. She started with 10.5. I tried it out last night. I still came up short on the sizes. After sewing those together and cutting the 10.5 inch blocks in quarters, I came up with around 7.25, not 7.5 and after sewing those into the Hourglass, my 13.5 inch block was still short and ended up as 13 inches, I wasn't able to cut those in 4.5 inch squares and had to trim a bit off -- so in the end, it is a 12 inch block, not 12.5. But it is still a beautiful block!!

Edited to add: Tartan on the board is the one who did the tute, check the tutorial's section.

I love your block - I love the center star.

I'd love to see your blocks. I am about to start a Veteran quilt.

LyndaOH What size is square B? Im assuming 4 1/2"

Good luck if your using a Layer Cake as they are so off square (ask me how I know) I will never buy a layer cake again! Just trimmed down 120 to 9 1/2 squares. :hunf:

My first six Disappearing Hourglass blocks, maybe a table topper! The colors are really brighter than they appear and the bottom middle is really a muddy blue color. This is a fast fun block to make.

seems to me, if you sewed them together, you would only have 19.5" to work with [1/4" X 2]....just sayin'...

gramquilter2, that is an awesome [maybe gonna-be] tabletopper!!! love your fabric choices!

Good point LindaOH!

And it would be a rectangle, not a square. So it would measure 9.5" x 19.5". In order to get a 12.5" square nine patch, each square would have to be 4.5". You cannot get nine 4.5" squares from a rectangle of that size, you can only get eight.

I was getting not so great blocks and then decided to trim the HST to 6 inches. That really helped. The finished block was a little wonky and around 10 1/4. I trimmed them to 10 inches and they look great. I lost a little bit of the small corner triangles but now have nice even sized blocks.

I think on this subject we must remember that Jenny is doing a take-off of a traditional block using a precut. It would be much easier to start, in this case, with a square that is divisible evenly by 3 and add 1/2" for seam allowances. But because a layer cake is 10" those cut pieces and her final block are going to be oddly fractioned measurements, and sometimes biases where we normally would not put a bias, she is just showing her version....to fit into her precut fabric market. I think what she is trying to get across is - here's a quicker way to get a quilt done, using the precuts and a different way of cutting some of those shapes.......

I have read some cutting directions in mags that call for what I think of as odd fractions....like, ---3/8.....if I do one like that I will revamp the whole block if I can, or just pass on it...I hate those "off fractions". JMHO

I love this block. Here's a photo of the top I've been working (sorry, the lighting's not very good) on by following Jenny's video. I used two Moda Joy Batik layer cakes to get enough of the light color. I'm still deciding on exactly how I want to do the border, but so far I'm pretty pleased with the way it's coming out. There are a few areas with bias issues but I think I can get everything to come out fine when I quilt it. I used a TON of starch. My finished blocks are 11 1/2 inches.

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If it were mine I would put a border on just to keep those bias edges from waving when you bind it..JMHO. What color border? Maybe a modern print w/your primary colors in it.........

I was going to do a ten inch piano key border to use up the leftover red and green layer cake fabric. That turned out to be completely overwhelming. I think I may go with a 2 1/2 inch light strip, 5 inch piano key, another 2 1/2 inch strip and the other 5 inch piano key border. I had to order more light batik fabric (I'll use it for the backing too) so am waiting for it to show up. I do like the idea of going with a completely different red and green print though. If I end up not liking the piano keys I may go with that. Thanks!

Beautiful Deb! I will eventually get around to making this quilt...its in my bucket list with about 20 others :)

My disappearing hour glass block turned out to be 12.75" so I cut 2.125" on either side of the center seam. They turned out perfect. I am almost finished with the top. Will post a picture when finished.

I cut mine 2", didn't even measure the size of the block. It worked fine for me.