Board & Batten QAL {Blocks}

After making the Board & Batten HSTs, I cleared off my design wall and started planning out how I wanted the rainbow gradient to work across the quilt top.

Board and Batten – Blocks – Design Wall Layout

I’m making the baby size version of the pattern, which has 5 blocks in 3 rows. What I chose to do was move from the upper left to the upper right, then down to the middle row and continue the progression from the right to the left, and then down to the final row from the lower left to the lower right. I started by placing the print squares in the sequence that I wanted. Then, because I have 2 HSTs of each of the prints, I thought for a bit about how I wanted to use those HSTs.

In the end, I started with these general rules:

• The top two HSTs in each block use the prints from the fabric squares in the block.
• The lower two HSTs in each block us the prints from the fabric squares in the next block in the color progression.

There were times when I opted to move the HSTs around in the block, but that was how I decided which prints went where in the quilt top.

Board and Batten – Blocks – Chain Piecing

From there, it was just a matter of chain piecing. To keep myself from switching anything up, I would sew a seam, press the previous seam and put the pair up on my design wall, and then sew the next seam. By this kind of chain piecing method, I was able to get each block sewn into two 4-patch blocks as I moved across the quilt.

Board and Batten – Half Blocks

Once all the half block pieces were created, sewing them together into my 15 blocks went really quickly.

Board and Batten – Blocks

Because I had a bit of time to think while I was sewing, I realized that I sewed 105 seams to piece my 15 blocks together. Not bad for a sewing afternoon!

Up next, we will be working on piecing our quilts. I’m pretty sure that means by this time tomorrow, I’ll have my quilt top pieced. Then I’ll need to ponder how I will want to finish and quilt it…