September In Our Garden – Blocks 15 and 16

I’m so excited to share my version of September’s blocks for the In Our Garden BOM.

This month’s designer was Pat Broe from Life in the Scrapatch. Isn’t that the perfect title for a blog about quilting!

This month’s applique block is all about North America’s favorite fall fruit… the pumpkin.

You may have seen an in progress shot @supermomnocape on Instagram (or in my Instagram feed at the bottom of my site) but here’s my finished Scrap Drawer Version of Block 15… which Pat oh so appropriately named Pumpkin Time.

I had to dig deep into the scrap drawer of my fabric dresser to find enough different oranges for all of the pumpkins. I love the text print so much I used it twice!

I did make a few changes to Pat’s design. I couldn’t find any fabric in among my scraps for the cornstalks, so I left those off.

I also re-positioned the squirrel. He just has to get that acorn that’s nestled in between the pumpkins to add to his stash lined up underneath the wheelbarrow.

And speaking of wheelbarrows… there’s a vintage wooden wheelbarrow on display in one of the yards on Main Street, so I changed the barrow of my wheelbarrow to look like it.

That’s one of the things I’ve discovered I love about doing applique. Each block can be switched up to make it uniquely yours.

I had lots of fun making my version of Block 15 and adding the stitching to make each piece pop, but I have to say that this month I’m most proud of my piecing for Block 16.

Pat called this one, Garden Granny. She took a traditional Granny Square block, turned it on point and added pieced triangles to each side.

It was the pieced triangles that had me a bit worried. The four triangles are formed from 2 nine patches cut in half on the diagonal. I knew that if I didn’t piece them accurately, they wouldn’t fit.

If I can give one little gem of advice for piecing this block… square up as you go along. Don’t leave it to the end.

It’s something I’ve started doing with all my blocks and it’s made a huge difference to my blocks finishing at the correct size.

If you square up as you go, you’ll be able to see if you haven’t gotten that scant 1/4″ seam allowance and you can fix it before going on to the next step.

Here are September’s blocks side by side:

September’s blocks are free for the entire month, so head on over to Life in the Scrapatch to find out how to get them.

Pat has even designed a super fun bonus block called Farm Girl Scarecrow.

I’ve got the pattern pieces traced onto the HeatNBond Lite and all cut out, but haven’t had a chance to dig through my scraps to find the perfect fabric for each pattern piece.

Click on the image below to pin September’s blocks.

I would be so pleased if you chose to share by clicking on one of the buttons below!