Arizona Quilt Block – Around the Block US Tour
We are excited to end off the year with one more fun and free quilting project. We are participating in the Around the Block – US Tour hosted by Kathryn of Dragonfly’s Quilting Design Studio!
Each week, a different designer is sharing a quilt block based off their home state! The quilt blocks contain an assortment of different techniques and designs and each features something unique about where it’s from. You can see more information on the Block Tour on the main page, and find links to see all the previous blocks. We are on week 22, so there is still lots more to see.
Last week we were in North Carolina and next week we’ll be going to Utah!
While we recently moved to Southern Utah, I called Arizona my home for almost 13 years and this week we are representing the Grand Canyon State. There are so many things I came to love about Arizona while living there, the weather, recreation, sunsets, and endless opportunities for exploring!
For our free quilt block pattern, we opted to use foundation paper piecing to quilt the shape of the state, but we couldn’t just do the state, we wanted to incorporate more! Inside the state of Arizona, you will find the state flag. The state flag contains red and yellow rays on the top half and the bottom half is blue. The blue of the flag symbolizes liberty and is the same color as the blue found in the United States flag. The red and yellow rays symbolize Arizona’s unique picturesque landscape. To keep things simple, we did eliminate the copper star in the center, but fun fact, the star is there representing copper as Arizona produces more copper than any other state.
This block finishes at 6″ square. It consists of 3 sections and while it has some little pieces, can be completed by a beginner quilter if you go slowly. If you haven’t done any foundation paper piecing, head to our Scrappy Flower Tutorial Blog post for instructions.
To make this quilt block, you’ll need to print off the templates (link at the bottom of this post). To make sure it finishes at the right size, when printing, choose to print at 100% or actual size. Double check the 1″ box to ensure it is the right size before beginning.
You’ll also need fabric. Grab some red, yellow, blue, and white scraps. When deciding what shades to use, the red and yellow are nice and bright, and the blue is a slightly darker shade. Don’t stress too much over it though, if your blue is a little brighter we won’t tell.
You’ll first complete each section. The template will appear to be backwards, but when you finish it will look right as you’ll sew the fabric onto the back of the foundation paper piecing template. When we foundation paper piece, we shorten our stitch length to make removing the paper easier. After all the sections are complete, press them really well and trim them along the outside line of the pattern, this is your seam allowance. Then sew B and C together, making sure they line up along the top, then sew them both to section A to finish the block. You can either remove the paper foundation before sewing the section together or after. If you have trouble removing the paper from your foundation pieced block, grab a squirt bottle and some tweezers. Getting the paper a little wet and grabbing it with tweezers usually gets even the most stubborn bits. If there are a few tiny pieces left, don’t stress, they’ll quickly dissolve the first time you wash your quilt and will be hidden in the batting layer anyway.
Download your template below and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. If you post your block to social media, please tag us @onwilliamsstreet so we don’t miss it!
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We also post a new quilting video each week full of tips, tricks, and quilt alongs with our next quilt along starting the beginning of January. You can check out our 2020 project here and we’ll be sharing more info for 2021 next week! See you soon!