Old Town Mystery, Part Five!

Part Five of Old Town and only 5 days until Day One of Hanukkah (Evening of Wed, Dec 25, 2024 – Thu, Jan 2, 2025) and 5 days until Christmas!
It has to be something good when good things align like this, don't you think?
I've been following along with what folks are posting in our Quiltville's Open Studio Group on Facebook and love what I am seeing.  The variety of color plans..woweeee!  Keep the photos coming!

Making Pierogies in Poland!

I love the kind of travels that immerse us in cultural experiences, and cooking classes are so much fun!

In this case, we are making that traditional pierogi with a variety of fillings.

We had many folks of Polish descent on this trip, and it was marvelous to hear the stories of "My grandmother always did it this way..."  "Well, my grandma always did it THAT way."  "It wasn't a holiday unless my Bubba brought her pierogis..."

In most cases, we being of a "certain age"  It brought the memories of grandmothers long gone close to us again.  Tears were shed.  Stories were told.  Memories were shared.  It was marvelous.

Making dough -

Kneading and adding more flour -

Rolling out dough balls.

Putting in dollops of filling.

Folding over and crimping edges - 

And nope - there are on photos of the finished pierogis as we quickly ATE THEM ALL! LOL!

One of my favorite memories is of our Polish bus driver just coming right in, putting on an apron, sitting right with us and showing us how HIS Grandma taught him to do it. Good times. Great memories.  

I'm so glad I had the chance to go back through these memories and sit through them again.

Are you ready for Part Five?

Click HERE for Part Five PDF.

25 Square in a Square units!

Aqua/Turquoise centers

Melon/Coral corners.

Units will measure 4 1/2'' unfinished and finish at 4'' in the quilt.

There are MANY ways you can make these. Choose which method works for you.  Just keep in mind the finished and unfinished sizes - and remember - you need to keep that 1/4'' margin at the outside edge of your units so you don't go pointless when we join units into blocks.

Easiest!

For those who love foundation paper piecing: I have included printable templates at the back page of today's Part Five PDF.

If you wish to print ONLY the Square in a Square foundation click HERE.

While I will not be including paper piecing instructions for this part, and assume the maker has some understanding of basic foundation paper piecing, I can suggest sizes to cut for these pieces that are a tad bit over-sized (instead of crazy math) and should give you enough room for sliver trimming after piecing.

From Aqua/Turquoise centers cut: 25 squares 3 1/2''.

From Melon/Coral for corners cut: 25 sets of 2 squares 3''.  Slice squares on the diagonal to yield 4 marching triangles per unit.

Printing templates

Open up the PDF page you wish to print in Adobe.  

Make sure you have clicked ACTUAL SIZE.  Try a test copy. Measure the printed unit including the seam allowance.  It should measure 4 1/2'' on the printed page.

Print the number of copies needed. (13 total as there are 2 per page)

Traditional rotary cutting.

(with no fudge room)

If you wish to traditionally piece - you can cut your center squares 3 3/8''.

Cut your corner triangles from 2 7/8'' squares sliced on the diagonal.

This method requires very accurate piecing to reach unit size.

You can over-size your corner triangles, and trim them down after piecing, but the center square can NOT be cut larger or you WILL lose your points when you trim. The accurate measurement of the center square AND where the points fall at the seam allowance are key.

And yes, you can cut your corner triangles from 2 1/2'' strips with the Essential Triangle Tool the same way we did for the half-square triangles in Part Four.  But the piecing is the same and needs to be very accurate.

Another option!

This method is very much like the Flying Geese we made in Part 1 - only you are adding stitch-n-flip corners to all corners of the center square.  It creates some waste, but is very accurate.

In this option, cut 25 aqua/turquoise center squares 4 1/2'' from aqua/turquoise.  Cut 4 corner squares 2 1/2'' to partner with each aqua/turquoise center. All corners match per set. Cut 25 sets of 4 matching corner squares to go with the 25 aqua/turquoise center squares.

Draw a line method.

Draw lines from corner to corner on the back of the melon/coral corner squares.

Place a melon/coral corner square in one corner of the aqua/turquoise base square with right sides together.

Place the sewing machine needle just barely to the RIGHT of the drawn line into what will be the seam allowance. 

The drawn line is not the seam line.  It is the FOLD line where your fabric has to fold up and over the thread to reach the edges of the base unit.  DO NOT SEW ON THE LINE. Sew next to it. 

Sew slowly, and carefully. Press.  

*Pressing Tip!* 

Instead of pressing blindly from the fold toward the corner, align the edges of the triangle you are pressing even with the edges of the base square FIRST.  

Once these are even, press down on your unit.  

This will block your unit to help it keep its shape and size.

Once pressed correctly, fold triangle back and trim seam allowance 1/4'' from stitching. 

 Repeat the process, adding the next square to the opposite corner, either drawing a line, or cutting with the Simple Folded Corners or Simple Folded Corners Mini following the square in a square graphic above.

Adding opposite corner after trimming with the Simple Folded Corners or Simple Folded Corners Mini.

We went over the Simple Folded Corners method in Part One. Refer back to it if you need to.

All seams are pressed toward the corner triangles.

Add 3rd and 4th corners in the same manner.

Sewing in opposite corner fashion.

Finished unit! Make 25

No matter which method you choose, keep measuring and double checking your unfinished unit sizes.  4 1/2'' is needed!

And that's not all.  There is one more task to add to  Part 5:

From red fabrics cut:

76 squares 2 1/2''

From neutral fabrics cut:

76 squares 2 1/2''

These are completely scrappy.  No sets needed.  Feel free to use as many fabrics (or as few) as you like. 

Place squares in a baggie and set aside!

I love basing our yearly Quiltville Winter Mysteries on places I've traveled to.

I would love to have you join me on my 2025-2026 lineup of exciting tours.

June 2025: crafts, culture and cuisine of Iceland.

September 2025: Germany, Switzerland and France winding up at the Fantastic quilt show in Alsace!

Nov/Dec 2025: Bavarian/Austrian Christmas Markets!

January 2026: exclusive arts and crafts experience in Morocco.

June 2026: culture, crafts and traditions of Romania.

September 2026: quilting Inspirations of India.

Click the All My Tours tab at the top of the blog for more info.

And yes, Craftours is offering a discount on all tours booked before January 1, 2025!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

A huge shout out to everyone who has heard my plea for aqua strings and has placed a string or strip in an envelope and sent it my way - your strings are going into a wonderful project I can't wait to share with you!

This quilt has me thinking forward to SPRING!

(It's the only way I make it through winter.)

Your aquas from your Old Town Quilt are pairing with creamy neutrals and some buttery yellows. And - there is pink to come when I get there.

Would you, could you - if you feel so inclined - Send me a string/strip of the aqua you are using in your Old Town quilt?  Minimum width is 1'' but I can use anything above that and they don't need to be straight cut.
Simply put a strip in an envelope, put the needed postage on it and mail it to me at:
Bonnie HunterQuiltville12615 Wilson HwyMouth of Wilson VA 24363
I hope you'll enjoy seeing your fabrics in this quilt as it comes together.
Yes, I know what happened when I asked for grey strings a few years back - but bring it on! LOL! (And Thank You!)

Quiltville Quote of the Day

I'm in for all of the above, aren't you?

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

 

This mystery pattern is given for personal use only. 

No part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical including printing or photocopying for sharing, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the author.

Please no uploading and saving of this file with intent to share, email or distribute, either digitally or in hard copy.

It is a reader appreciation mystery, something I give back to my readers for their support over the years.

Please help me continue to design and show your support by sending your friends to my blog to print their own copy. 

Please check out my other designs found in the Quiltville Store where my books (paperback) notions, tools, and other goodies along with my digital patterns are found right at your fingertips. 

©2024 Bonnie K Hunter. All Rights Reserved