Monday, July 22, 2013

Lantern-a-long Block 3: The Double Ladder Lantern

Welcome to Week 3 of the Lantern-a-long (also known as the LAL)! If you're just joining us, there's still plenty of time to make a quilt top! Feel free to join the Flickr group and post pictures of your lanterns as you finish them. We've had some beautiful blocks so far! There will be five lantern tutorials throughout July and August. See this post for more info on the quilt top sizes and fabric requirements, schedule (also below), sponsors, and this post for prizes. It's not too late to join!




Thanks again to the wonderful and generous sponsors of this QAL - 1 Choice 4 Quilting, I Don't Do Dishes, and Christa Quilts!



 My newly revamped logo :)


 LAL Schedule:
Tues. July 2 - Mon. July 8 - Gather supplies
Mon. July 22 - Lantern Block 3
Mon. July 29 - Lantern Block 4
Mon. August 5 - Lantern Block 5, finish up quilt tops
Mon. August 12 - Linky goes up for finished quilt tops/quilts (open for one week)
Mon. August 19 - Winners chosen at random from the linky pool!
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Block 3 - The Double Ladder Lantern
 Sharon of Vrooman's Quilts rightly stated that last week's block looked more like a ladder than a staircase - and I figured I should probably apply that to this week's lantern! The name from last week was decided on-the-whim - usually if I think of something quilty-wise, I just go with it :) Oh well! Here's your Double Ladder Tutorial. I like this one because it showcases all of your main fabrics very nicely (with more of a width visible than last week's, for example).
Finished size: 14" x 13"


 (see below for another version)

 Remember - all the blocks for the LAL are made of 2.5" strips, but they all measure a different size when finished. When you put your quilt top together, you will have to add in some extra 2.5" strips or blocks of solid fabric. Also, you don't HAVE to trim your blocks to the size I did above - that's the size mine ended up.
1. Choose your print fabrics for the lantern. You need 7, like last week. I made sure to stagger mine based on how much would be seen.You can see that my 4th strip was a scrap from an already-made lantern! Check your scraps to see if they fit :)


 2. Cut the following:

 3. CUT each strip of background fabric in HALF (Row 1's will turn into 4.75" each, and Row 2's will turn into 2.25" each).

4. Sew each of the 7 rows together  (background + lantern + background)
5. Press your seams to the side, out towards the background fabric. It's up to you, really (feel free to press them open if that's your preference), but I've that I like the visual effect of the lantern inset in the background.

 6. Sew the rows to each other. I find it easier to sew the strips together if I split the lantern up, like in this picture:
7. Trim to 14" x 13" (if you want). You're done! Congrats, now you have your THIRD block! If you're making a larger lap size, make sure you are sewing AT LEAST 2 or 3 of these.

I made this one in a gradient blue color scheme for some variety! Try to challenge yourself to try a new/different color approach to this block! See my recently reposted Color Harmony tutorial for some ideas.
Only 2 more blocks to go after this. Don't forget to post your progress to the Flickr group! 
I'll be writing a post this week about  all the beautiful lanterns so far!

Linking up to Let's Get Acquainted.

4 comments:

  1. You are too cute! Staircase or ladder, we all have our challenge to climb. This one will really make me think my colours and textures.

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  2. I'm enjoying making these blocks. There simplicity makes a nice impact.

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  3. I have been looking for fun ways to use up my scraps/stash. This looks like it would be a lot of fun. I love the way it looks. (And great instructions).

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  4. A little late to the party- no surprise there - I think this will be great for a few fabrics I have been reluctant to use.

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