Missouri Bicentennial Quilt Project

MYSTERY BONUS BLOCK -- “Scenic Riverways”

There are 5 parts to this Mystery Quilt Block...please just work on one part at a time and you’ll have the block all done in no time!

Detailed instructions for each part are provided! Have fun!

Here is a picture of the completed block:

SEPTEMBER MYSTERY BONUS BLOCK -- Part 1 of 5 -- Carpe Diem!

UNFINISHED SIZE: 5 ½” X 6 ½”

TECHNIQUES: Piecing, snowballing, scant ¼” seams, patience, sense of humor :)

OBSERVATIONS

I decided not to use blue fabric for the background. It would be too much blue for me -

all my other blocks have a predominately white background. I used my main fabric for

the body and other prints for the fins. Use whatever fabric makes you happy! (My co-

worker Olivia tested the pattern for me--she is a fish person--she added a 3-D side fin

using a fusible product and some applique!) Here is a pic of her fish:

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

FROM BACKGROUND, CUT:

● TWO rectangles 2” x 3 ¾”

● TWO rectangles 1 ¾” x 2

● TWO rectangles 1 ½” x 1 ¾”

● ONE rectangle 1” x 5 ½”

● ONE rectangle 1” x 2 ½”

● FOUR squares 1 ¼” for snowballing on the four

corners of the fish body

● TWO squares 1 ½” for snowballing of the fish tail

FROM OTHER FABRICS, CUT:

● ONE rectangle 2 ½” x 4 ½” for fish body

● ONE rectangle 1 ½” x 3” for fish tail

● TWO squares 1 ½” x 1 ½” for snowballing to form top and bottom fins

ASSEMBLE THE FISH

Lay out your fish parts as shown in the picture below:

The places where you should snowball have red Xs↑

● Snowball (4) the four corners on the fish body. Trim and press. Add the 1” x 2 ½”

background rectangle to the mouth of the fish.

● Looking at the picture, take the two background 2’ x 3 ¾” pieces and snowball (2)

the correct corner on each one to form the fish fins, top and bottom. Trim and

press. Add the 1 ¾” x 2” background rectangle as shown to each fin piece.

● Sew the upper and lower fin sections to the body of the fish.

● Using background squares, snowball (2) the fish tail. Trim and press. Add the 1

½” x 1 ¾” background rectangles to the top and bottom of the tail as shown.

Press. Finish this section by adding the 1” x 5 ½” background rectangle to the left

of the tail. Press. Sew this tail section to the body section. DONE!

SEPTEMBER MYSTERY BONUS BLOCK -- Part 2 of 5 -- Surf’s Up!

TECHNIQUES: Flying Geese, accurate seams

UNFINISHED SIZE: 2 ½” X 12 ½”

OBSERVATIONS Cut well and sew accurately! Have fun! This is the top of the block, as you can probably see!

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS FROM BACKGROUND, CUT:

TWENTY-FOUR 1 ½” x 1 ½” squares FROM PRINT FABRIC, CUT:

EIGHT 1 ½” x 2 ½” rectangles

ASSEMBLY

1. Sew a 1 ½” square to each end of the EIGHT rectangles...snowball style...trim and press. This is how they should look...you have made

Flying Geese!

2. Yes, the point of your Flying Geese Unit should be ¼” away from the edge. (This is more easily seen in the upper part of the picture at the top of the page. You can see in the bottom part of the same picture where this ¼” extra disappears in the seam later on, with the points touching the next seam just right!) Now, to finish our Surf’s Up section...

3. Lay a Flying Geese Unit pointing up and sew a 1 ½” square to the right side only. Repeat for all 8 Flying Geese Units. Press.

4. Take FOUR Flying Geese Units and arrange them like the top row in the picture at the top of the page (points up). Sew. Press.

5. Take FOUR units and arrange them like the bottom row in the picture at the top of the page (points down). Sew Press.

6. Join the two rows together...press.

You’re Done!

SEPTEMBER MYSTERY BONUS BLOCK -- Part 3 of 5 -- Log Jam!

TECHNIQUES: Accurate seams and patience!

UNFINISHED SIZE: 4 ½” x 5 ½”

OBSERVATIONS Cut well and sew accurately! Use scant ¼” seams if possible. You can add additional log details as desired...to possibly include some bark texture lines. Press as you go!

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

FROM BACKGROUND, CUT: ONE 1 ½” x 5 ½” rectangle ONE 4” x 4” square to make HSTs ONE 1” x 3 ½” rectangle ONE rectangle 1” x 1 ½” ONE square 1“ x 1”

FROM LOG FABRIC, CUT: ONE 4” x 4” square to make HSTs ONE rectangle 1” x 2” ONE rectangle 1” x 1 ½” ONE square 1” x 1”

ASSEMBLY

MAKE THE HSTs: From the 4” BG square and 4” LOG fabric square, make a HST unit. Trim one HST to 3 ½” x 3 ½” and trim the second HST to 2” x 2”...make sure the diagonal seam lines stay centered! RAGGEDY EDGE OF LOG:

1. Sew the 1” x 1 ½” BG rectangle to the 1” x 1” LOG square (on the short side)

2. Sew the 1” x 1” BG square to the 1” x 1 ½” LOG rectangle (on the short side)

3. Using the picture above as a guide, arrange these BG/LOG pairs in the correct order, adding the 1” x 2” LOG rectangle to the bottom of the section. Sew the three little parts together to form the raggedy edge section of the log. When complete, this section should measure 2” x 2”.

FINISH UP THE LOG:

1. Sew the 2” HST under the raggedy edge of the log as shown.

2. Add the 1” x 3 ½” rectangle to the left side.

3. Add the 3 ½” HST to this right side of this section.

4. Finish by adding the 1 ½” x 5 ½” BG rectangle to the top.

DONE!

SEPTEMBER MYSTERY BONUS BLOCK -- Part 4 of 5 -- Mr. Whiskers!

TECHNIQUES: Accurate seams and patience!

UNFINISHED SIZE: 4 ½” x7 ½”

OBSERVATIONS Cut well and sew accurately! Lay everything out on a design board. Use scant ¼” seams if possible as you sew. Press as you go! You can add additional details as desired, possibly some fishy whiskers (fusible applique or embroidery). Olivia from the Augusta Branch, who helped design this Mystery Block, also added a 3-D side fin using a fusible product and a few stitches. Here is a picture of my completed catfish...without the 3-D side fin...whiskers to be added later.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

FROM BACKGROUND, CUT: ONE 2” x 2” square (to snowball the face) THREE 1 ½” x 1 ½” square (TWO used in snowballing, one for lower fin

section) ONE 1 ½” x 2” rectangle (upper fin section) TWO 1 ½” X 3” rectangles (one for upper fin section, one for lower) TWO 1 ½” x 1 ¼” rectangles (to finish tail) TWO 1 ¼” x 1 ¼” squares (to snowball back end of fish) ONE 1” x 2 ½” rectangle (for lower fin section) ONE 1” x 2” rectangle (for upper fin section) ONE 1” x 4 ½” rectangle (added last) FOUR 1” x 1” squares (to snowball top and bottom fins)

FROM FISH FABRIC, CUT: ONE 2 ½” x 6” rectangle (fish body) ONE 1 ½” x 3” (tail fin) ONE 1” x 2” rectangle (top fin) ONE 1” x 2 ½” rectangle (bottom fin)

ASSEMBLE EACH SECTION

Lay out all your pieces on your handy dandy design board, then assemble each section. Please refer to the pictures that follow as needed.

TAIL FIN SECTION

Snowball the tail fin print, using the TWO 1 ½” x 1 ½” BG squares Add the 1 ¼” x 1 ½” BG rectangles to top and bottom to finish the tail fin section

TOP FIN Snowball the top fin print by using the TWO 1” BG squares Add the 1” x 2” rectangle to the top, then add the BG rectangles to either side

BOTTOM FIN

Snowball the bottom fin print by using the TWO 1” BG squares Add the 1” x 2 ½” rectangle to the bottom of the fin, then add the BG rectangles

to either side HEAD

Using the ONE 2” BG square, snowball the fish’s head BODY

Using the TWO 1” squares, snowball the back end of the fish body

SEW BLOCK SECTIONS TOGETHER

Sew the bottom and top fin sections to the body. Add the tail fin section. Add the 1” x 4 ½” BG rectangle near the nose to finish!

Way to go!

Here is the layout with all the pieces pinned into place and grouped into their sections...followed by a picture of the sections sewn together:

Design board layout of the main pieces (before snowballing squares are

pinned in place):

Layout of cut background pieces for the “snowballing”:

You’re Done!

SEPTEMBER MYSTERY BONUS BLOCK -- Part 5 of 5 -- Garface!

OBSERVATIONS

Cut well and sew accurately! Use scant ¼” seams if possible. Use your design board. Did you know this fish is part of an ancient group of fish dating back to the late Jurassic/early Cretaceous period? This fish has lots of teeth! You will be making a pair of Gar fish....even a Gar fish has friends. Someone suggested he “definitely needs the teeth”...so we thought one could zig zag a row of teeth on the snout when this section is complete.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

----- These instructions are for ONE fish...double for BOTH Gar-----

FOR THE TAIL FIN SECTION: Cut ONE print rectangle from 1 ½” x 2 ½” for tail fin Cut TWO background squares 1” x 1” to snowball the tail fin Cut ONE background rectangle 1” x 1 ½”

FOR THE UPPER FIN SECTION: Cut ONE print square 1 ¼” x 1 ¼” for upper fin Cut ONE background rectangle 1 ½” x 5” Cut ONE background rectangle 1” x 1 ½”

FOR THE LOWER FIN SECTION: Cut ONE 1” x 2” print rectangle for lower fin Cut TWO background squares 1” x 1” to snowball the lower fin Cut ONE background rectangle 1” x 3 ½” Cut ONE background square 1” x 1”

FOR THE GAR BODY: Cut ONE print rectangle 1 ½” x 5 ½” for GAR body Cut ONE background square 3” x 3”

ASSEMBLY

THE FACE: 1. Take the long gar body piece and mark two dots as shown in diagram below.

Draw a line between the dots. Using a rotary cutter, cut at this line. 2. Take a square of background fabric roughly 3” x 3”and center this piece and sew

to the cut diagonal line as shown. When finished, press back the BG piece. 3. Now remeasure the gar’s body to equal 1 ½” x 5 ½”, trimming the background.

You’ve just made the special nose section.

THE UPPER FIN: 1. Take the 1 ¼” x 1 ¼” fin print and snowball the right end of the 1 ½” x 5” background rectangle as shown in the picture. 2. Add 1” x 1 ½” background rectangle as shown

THE LOWER FIN: 1. Snowball both ends of the lower print fin rectangle using the 1” background squares as shown in the picture. 2. To this lower fin piece, add the 1” x 3 ½” background rectangle and 1” x 1” background square as shown.

THE TAIL FIN: 1. Snowball the two parts on

the tail fin. 2. Join the 1” x 1 ½”

background rectangle to the top of the fin.

ASSEMBLE THE PARTS Sew upper fin section to the

top of the long body piece. Sew lower fin section to the

bottom of the long body piece.

Sew tail fin section to the back of the fish...make sure to center it

Repeat for the second fish! Sew the two completed Gar together! You got this!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

🐟 🐠 🐠 READY TO PUT THIS MYSTERY BLOCK ALL TOGETHER? 🐟 🐠 🐠

There is one last thing to cut out!

Cut ONE 1 ½” x 12 ½” print rectangle for the muddy river bottom of your block! Assemble all the sections to look like the completed block...press as you go...sew

the catfish to the log, the pair of gar to the carp. Then add the waves at the top and the mud at the bottom!

Feel free to add more detail to your under-river scene. Turtles? River plants? Rocks? Bubbles? A boot (haha)? Fishing pole? Have fun!

As usual, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Cindy at

cmccormack@stchlibrary.org or Leslie at lblanchard@stchlibrary.org

We would love to see you join our Missouri Bicentennial Quilt Facebook page...there you will see lots of pics of completed blocks and sharing of quilt block ideas!