Cat's Cradle Quilt Block Tutorial

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General Instructions

All seam allowances (SA) are 1/4" unless otherwise indicated.

When you are instructed to press, first press the pieced unit flat to set the seam. Then open the patch, pressing from the front.

You may want to reduce or eliminate the use of steam for pressing these paper pieced blocks. Steam tends to curl the paper.

Take a minute to review our favorite technique to getting the flattest quilt blocks you'll ever see. It works even with the paper attached. And there's nothing extra to buy!

Now THAT'S wickedly sweet!

Step 1: Download the pattern

You'll need the most current version of Adobe installed on your computer to download the pattern.

On the Adobe Print Menu page, under 'Page Size and Handling' set 'Custom Scale' to 100% before printing for accurate results. Click here to see what it looks like on the Print Menu page.

After printing, use the 1" square graphic on the printed pages to confirm they are printed accurately.

After printing, measure the 1" square to make sure the pattern is the correct size.

Step 2: Cut the Cat's Cradle patches

Cat's Cradle design

Sample Block Size: 9"(9-1/2" unfinished)

Grid size: 1-1/2"

Attributed to: Kansas City Star

AKA: Dove at the Window ( Comfort Magazine), Wandering Lover ( Hearth & Home), The Harrison Quilt, Harrison (Dakota Farmer), Harrison Rose, Flying Birds (Nancy Page), Hour Glass ( Nancy Page), Double Pyramids ( Mrs. Danner)

Design Type: Even 9-patch, Double Hour Glass

Patches 1-5 below are for the paperpieced unit and are generously sized to make positioning them quick and easy.

Patches 6 and 7 are cut exactly as needed.

All of the dimensions in the tables below are squares.

That means for Patch #1 for our 9" example, from your background fabric you'll need three 2-3/8" x 2-3/8" squares. Then sub cut once on the diagonal.

			Cutting Chart for a Cat's Cradle Quilt Block ~ Paper Piecing ~
Patch	Fabric	Qty	Finished Block Size				Sub Cut
			6”	7-1/2”	9”	12”
Background	1	3	1-7/8”	2-1/8”	2-3/8”	2-7/8”
A	2, 3, 4	9	2-3/8”	2-5/8”	2-7/8”	3-3/8”
Background	5	3	3-3/8”	3-7/8”	4-3/8”	5-3/8”
Background	6	2	2-1/2”	3”	3-1/2”	4-1/2”	na
A	7	1	2-1/2”	3”	3-1/2”	4-1/2”	na
Grid Size			1”	1-1/4”	1-1/2”	2”	na

If you don't want to paper piece...

...and would prefer use traditional piecing methods for this patch, substitute for Patches 1-5 as listed below.

			Cutting Chart for a Cat's Cradle Quilt Block ~ Paper Piecing ~
Patch	Fabric	Qty	Finished Block Size				Sub Cut
			6”	7-1/2”	9”	12”
Background	1	3	1-7/8”	2-1/8”	2-3/8”	2-7/8”
A	2, 3, 4	9	1-7/8”	2-1/8”	2-3/8”	2-7/8”
Background	5	3	2-7/8”	3-3/8”	3-7/8”	4-7/8”
Grid Size			1”	1-1/4”	1-1/2”	2"	na

Step 3: Stitch the Birds in the Air

Birds in the Air

Make 6

Make 6

From the two copies you downloaded, cut out 6 units. Don't worry about cutting exactly on the dotted lines, you'll trim the them in the final step. This trimming cleans up the edges and removes most of the thread tails.

Use a dab of Elmer's Glue Stick—the one that goes on purple and dries clear—position the back side #1 on the unprinted side of your paper pattern as shown below.

Step 4: Assemble the Cat's Cradle quilt block

Lay out the cut squares and pieced units for your Cat's Cradle quilt block into rows, paying particular attention to the orientation of each—it's incredibly easy to get them turned around.

Next time...

...I'd use a smaller scale black and white print for the background. Even in a 9" block it seems to distract a bit from all the perfectly pointy triangles.

What do YOU think?

Ready for more blocks? We've got a bunch of them waiting for you. Just click the image below to go to our Free Quilt Block Patterns Library.

What about a different quilt block?

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Click here if you're looking for blocks with at least some paper piecing.

Click here if you're looking for the basic building blocks of quilting, i.e., Flying Geese, half square triangles, quarter square triangles, etc., along with several techniques to make each.

And finally, use these links to find blocks in these finished sizes:

• 4"

• 4-1/2"

• 5"

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• 8"

• 9"

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• 12"

This article was printed from Generations-Quilt-Patterns.com

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