Bitty Kite Blocks

As I came to the end of the piecing of blocks for my Bitty Blocks Quilt, I thought that little kites would be cute. Not finding one in my pattern resources, I searched for one on the Internet. I found a cute kite quilt similar to the one I made but it had 4 kite ties and sashing between rows of kites. I only saw a picture so don't know what size that quilt was.  Though I wanted space between the kites, I didn't want sashing as I wanted to make a 12" block consisting of many little kites.  So I drafted my own pattern for little 4" kites, using only 3 kite ties rather than 4 which gave me the space I wanted between the kites. 

Each kite block consists of 4 2.5" squares: 1 kite, 1 tail and 2 plain squares. For the kite, I made a paper pieced pattern, drawing a 2" square and marking a mid point on 2 opposite sides. I then drew a line between those 2 marks and a line from each point to the furthest corner. This makes the kite shape and after adding seam allowance, my pattern was made. 

The tail section is a 4 patch consisting of 4 1.5" sections. The little squares are 1" cut squares which finish at 1/2". The paper piecing of the kite and piecing the rest of the block worked well for me. 

It will be fun to lay out my 24 bitty blocks and arrange them into a quilt. I intend to put sashing between the blocks. 

Butterfly Bitty Blocks

Today I began making 4" (finished size) butterfly blocks to use in my Bitty Blicks Quilt. I made 1 paper pieced block but it took longer than I wanted to spend on these blocks. I next made a couple pieced blocks but I wasn't as pleased with them so I kept looking for butterfly patterns. I then found a photo of one where the wings were half square triangles. After making one of these butterflies flying in a diagonal line, I decided that I'd found the pattern for the rest of my 4" butterfly blocks. I placed the first 3 butterfly blocks in a diagonal line and then filled in the rest of the space with the little HST butterflies and now have another 12" block for my Bitty Blick quilt.  This block has a variety of butterfly blocks. It would have looked nice to have had all the same block but I chose not to scrap the first butterfly blocks.

5 Point Star Bitty Blocks

I've completed another 12" (finished size) block made from Bitty Blocks. This time I used a 5 point star paper pieced pattern designed and published by Shirley Liby. Each of these little stars finish at 4" blocks. 

Misc Bitty Blocks

This 12" block went together very quickly as I already had the house and bow tie blocks left from early in this project. So I made some 4 patch blocks and then stitched them together. 

3 more blocks to go!

Arrows Bitty Blocks

Did you ever change your mind mid-stream / mid- project?  That's what happened on this block. Using the tree pattern from the Quiltmaker.com Bitty Blocks, I began making arrows that were black and white. After getting several done, I decided that they weren't going to blend well with the rest of my blocks so, keeping the black and white ones, I continued making arrow blocks  - this time using colors. When I had 16 arrows, I arranged them in a maze pattern so that one can follow an arrow pathway around the block. This is block 20 so I need to make 4 more 12" blocks for my quilt to have a 4 x 6 block setting. 

9 patch Bitty Blocks

Having a collection of mini (3" finished size) 9 patches available to me, it seemed reasonable to use some in my Bitty Blocks quilt. I didn't have any with light corners so I made what I needed from the dotted fabrics I've been using for the Bitty Blocks. The result is this 12" (finished size) block. 

Pinwheel Bitty Blocks

The pinwheel block was this month's Bitty Block on Quiltmaker.com. 

Pinwheels were used early this year but they were on point pinwheels so this block is different. The photo shows my 12" finished size block made from 16 3" pinwheel blocks. 

Maple Leaf Bitty Blocks

This cute little block made from 3" maple leaves and a finished size of 12" will go beautifully in my Bitty Block quilt. This is a pattern I had in more than one of my Miniature Quilt magazines. 

This month's Bitty Blocks pattern from Quiltmaker.com is pinwheels. I'll make 1 or 2 sets of those blocks next. 

Bitty spool blocks

The pattern for these 3" Bitty Blocks is from Quiltmaker.com. The pattern is adapted from one in the current issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. They were fun and easy to do. These 16 little blocks together make a 12" finished block. It'll go well in my Bitty Blocks quilt. 

Friendship Star Bitty Blocks

This month's Bitty Block from Quiltmaker.com is a friendship star. I've made and put 16 stars together to make a 12" finished block. Each star finished at 3". 

Sawtooth Stars Bitty blocks

I've made 2 12" blocks using this month's Bitty Block pattern from Quiltmaker.com. These little stars finish at 4" per star. 

I chose to use the no waste method flying geese to make the star points. That made making these go easier and quicker. 

Tree Bitty Blocks

The October Bitty Block pattern is a 3" finished size paper pieced tree. Here is a 12" block - bitty tree forest. 

The October pattern also showed this same block pattern used for arrows. I'm considering making the arrows also. 

August Bitty Blocks

This Month's Bitty Blocks pattern from Quiltmaker.com is a 4" (finished) log cabin.  I made 9 log cabin blocks and then assembled them into the above 12" block. Most of the blocks are made from my collection of small dotted fabrics with novelty print centers. A couple were made from pre-cut strips I had. 

Having decided to make 12" blocks rather than rows of the Bitty Blocks, I've begun stitching all my blocks into 12" blocks and am also giving thought to quilt settings, sashings and borders. 

July Bitty Blocks

With rain, rain, and more rain and water standing everywhere, I haven't yet built an ark. What I have done is this month's Bitty Blocks from Quiltmaker.com. I've completed a fleet of little sailboats. What great timing these were for the unusual cool, wet July weather we're having!  And what fun they are to make!

These little boats are 3" finished blocks. I've made enough for a 12" square. I still need to trim the blocks and then they'll be ready to stitch together. 

June Bitty Blocks

This month the Bitty Blocks on Quiltmaker.com were hearts that finish as 3" blocks. I made enough for a 12" block. The darkest looking fabrics are purple though they look black in this photo. I couldn't permit myself  to use black this month - not for hearts. Now that these are done, I can focus on other projects, maybe give some thought to the setting for these blocks.  

May Bitty Blocks

The Bitty Block pattern for May on the Quiltmaker.com site was 3" finished size bear paws. I'm doing all of my blocks in dotted fabrics and plan to set them in 12" finished blocks. Now I'm ready for the June blocks. 

April Bitty Blocks

18 pinwheel Bitty Blocks

Finished size - 4"

Pattern Source - Quiltmaker.com

This quilt block of the month is intended to be a row quilt. The blocks could also be made into 12" (finished) blocks. The row quilt the size I'm making needs 15 blocks but I'm still deciding whether to do rows or blocks so I made 18 of these. That way I'll have enough for 2 12"blocks if I decide to go that way. 

Each of these blocks has a different fabric for the pinwheel, though some look very similar in the photo. Most of them use dotted fabric. 

April Bitty blocks

The Quiltmaker.com Bitty Blocks pattern for April came out today. This month it's pinwheels. They are 4" finished blocks. The block is made from cut squares and rectangles, using the fast, no waste method for making flying geese then adding the rectangles. It's a great way to make this block. I have made 2 so far. 

Bitty Blocks Quilt

After seeing the layouts for the Bitty Blocks quilt, I decided to make enough for the 66 x 85" size. This size quilt needs for each row either 15 4" finished blocks or 20 3" finished blocks. I had made enough of the basket blocks but had only 16 each for the bow tie and house blocks. So today I made 4 more of each one. At least the bow tie and house blocks are both quick to make. They're all colorful and cute. Though the photo doesn't show it well, these houses all have different colors for the rooftops. 

On My Design Wall

Bitty Blocks

These are little 3" (finished size) house blocks that I made today. The pattern is posted on Quiltmaker.com. These were easy, quick and fun to make. All the pieces can be cut from 2" strips. So I gathered fabric from my bin of 2" strips and also used a few strips that were in with my dotted fabric. 

I also found on Quiltmaker.com the layout instructions for several sizes of quilts to use the blocks in. All are row quilts. Now I need to decide what size quilt to make so that I make the correct number if blocks each month. That way, when the end if the year comes and all the blocks have been posted, all I'll have to do is put the quilt together.