Sunday, April 6, 2014

Merry Kite quilt block

Merry Kite
October 18, 1933-Merry Kite is the name of Nancy Cabot's quilt pattern today.
 

"Inspired by the kites every boy flies with more or less skill is the quilt pattern known as the Merry Kite. Their shapes and designs are as varied as the imagination of small boys can make them, but no more varied than can be the prints and colors used in this quilt," she wrote.


I wasn't able to find any old Merry Kite patterns or quilts. Maybe it had another name?


Nancy Cabot's Merry Kite quilt block pattern went together like this-



I changed my block from Nancy's original design to make it easier to make using today's modern methods. I eliminated the "y" seams. It is a very easy block to make.



All of the pieces can be rotary cut. There are two basic units in this block as shown below.



This first unit is made from two 1 1/2" squares and a 1 1/2" X 2 1/2" strip.







This second unit is a flying geese unit that is 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" before being sewn into the block. Any method of making a flying geese unit that finishes at 1"X2" will work.
To  make my flying geese units, you need 1 1/2" X 2 1/2" strips and 1 1/2" squares to make the corners. The corner squares are sewn on the diagonal and flipped.





The center is a 2 1/2" square.  The pieces layout like this-



Just sew these parts together in rows and the block is done.


The Merry Kite block can be found in Electric Quilt's Blockbase program as #4034.



Tomorrow-A Breath of Springtime

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