Back in the thirties my Granny started my Mother a quilt. It was never finished and Mom used it as a bed spread for years. It finally fill to me. I finished it off and put it away in my cedar chest. The old fabrics were not as well made as todays and it is a bit fragile. OK... now I decided I am going to do a copy. The quilt is iris blocks with plain blocks between and for a full size bed. I got out my ruler and pencil and made a copy of the iris block. I then made a block to test my templates and in turn made it into a hotpad. Bought the fabric and am ready to have a go at it. I have said all this to simply ask, is it possible to make this block using the paper foundation method? I'd rather not Cut out all those little pieces in order to piece it.

I don't have an answer for you but I wish you the best on this fabulous project. I know someone will have the answer. I hope you will keep us posted.

I dont know either, but that is really pretty!

If you would be willing to applique instead of piece, you would need only two pieces -- the underneath blue and the top green. This would be a fairly easy pattern to do this way using Harriet Hargrave's machine applique approach with freezer paper. (I use paper paste instead of a glue stick for her method; a lot faster for me.)

It looks to me as if the original is hand applique.

I think you could, but there would be more seams in it.

To make this into a paper piece pattern, just lay a ruler down and straighten all of the lines! It should not be to hard to do. I would suggest to give it a trial run and complete one block to see if you like the look before jumping in and chain piecing 72 blocks.

No the original is definitely pieced just like the hotpad sample I made.

You could PP the centers with that slight curve and it should be fine. You may want to piece the two outer sections, though JMHO.

I have drawn a black line where I think you would have to do sub-sections and numbered the pieces.

I love the block.

If you are going to store in a cedar chest please learn from my mistake. Wrap your fabric treasures (and paper ones) in either acid free paper or place in a muslin bag to protect it from the acid in the wood. I am trying to fix the damage that my chest created on my quilts. Don't use plastic unless you have no other choice, but it is a better option to use a plastic barrier between the quilt and the wood than no barrier at all.