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Quilt Blocks to Knit

Send some cheer by post! Mail a special friend a note embellished with one of Ann Budd's knitted quilt blocks.

Ann Budd Dec 26, 2020 - 9 min read

Quilt Blocks to Knit Primary Image

Ann Budd’s knitted quilt blocks mounted on note cards. Clockwise FROM LEFT: Fence Rail, Mini Mitered Square, and Log Cabin. Photo by Joe Coca

In this age of emails, cell phones, and text messages, a handwritten note is a welcome rarity. To add a personal touch, I decorated note cards with knitted quiltlike blocks. Using size 8 pearl cotton and size 0000 needles, I worked all of the blocks in garter stitch and changed the direction that the colors were worked so that the garter ridges would have different orientations. I mounted the blocks on prescored, acid- and lignin-free cards that I purchased in a craft store.

Materials

  • Presencia Finca Pearl Cotton, 100% cotton thread, size 8, 77 yards (70 m)/10 g ball, 1 ball each of #3556 Light Teal (A), #3560 Medium Teal (B), #3574 Dark Teal (C), #3319 Royal Blue (D), #4218 Light Sea Foam (E), #4228 Medium Sea Foam (F), and #1902 Dark Red (G)
  • Needles, size 0000 (1 mm) or size needed to obtain gauge
  • Tapestry needle, small-eye

Finished design size: Log Cabin block, about 21⁄4 x 21⁄4 inches (6 x 6 cm); others, about 1¾ x 1¾ inches (4x 4 cm)
Gauge: About 12 sts and 24 rows = 1 inch (2.5 cm) in garter stitch; exact gauge is not critical for this project but will affect the finished size

Visit pieceworkmagazine.com/abbreviations/ for terms you don’t know.

Instructions

Notes: It’s important to CO and BO loosely so that the edges don’t pull in.

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When picking up sts along the selvedge edge of garter st, pick up 1 st for every garter ridge. See the schematics below for color key, block diagrams, and knitting direction.

quilt-blocks-to-knit-key

quilt-blocks-to-knit-fence-rail

Fence Rail Block

Mini-Block 1: Loosely CO 12 sts with E. K 7 more rows. Change to F and k 8 rows. Change to A and k 8 more rows. With RS facing, BO all sts loosely.

Mini-Block 2: Turn Mini-Block 1 90° so selvedge is across the top. With B and RS facing, pick up and k 12 sts evenly spaced (1 st for every garter ridge) along selvedge edge. K 7 more rows. Change to C and k 8 rows. Change to D and k 8 rows. BO all sts loosely.

Mini-Block 3: Turn piece so Mini-Block 2 is on the left, Mini-Block 1 is on the right, and stripes of Mini-Block 1 are running horizontally. With A and RS facing, pick up and k 12 sts evenly spaced along top (selvedge) edge of Mini-Block 2. K 7 more rows. Change to F and k 8 rows. Change to E and k 8 rows. BO all sts loosely.

Mini-Block 4: Turn piece so stripes of Mini-Blocks 1 and 3 are running vertically. With B and RS facing, beginning in corner where 3 blocks meet, pick up and k 13 sts evenly spaced along selvedge edge of Mini-Block 3 (12 sts plus 1 st for seam). K 7 more rows. Change to C and k 8 rows. Change to D and k 8 rows. BO all sts loosely.

With A threaded on the tapestry needle, sew selvedge edge of Mini-Block 4 to BO edge of Mini-Block 1.

quilt-blocks-to-knit-mini-mitered-squares

Mini Mitered Squares Block

Mini-Block 1: Loosely CO 25 sts with C. This counts as RS Row 1. Continue as foll:
Even-numbered Rows 2–22: K.
Row 3: K11, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k11—23 sts rem.
Row 5: K10, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k10—21 sts rem.
Row 7: K9, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k9—19 sts rem.
Row 9: Change to B, k8, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k8—17 sts rem.
Row 11: K7, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k7—15 sts rem.
Row 13: K6, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k6—13 sts rem.
Row 15: K5, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k5—11 sts rem.
Row 17: Change to E, k4, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k4—9 sts rem.
Row 19: K3, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k3—7 sts rem.
Row 21: K2, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k2—5 sts rem.
Row 23: K1, sl 1, k2tog, psso, k1—3 sts rem.
Row 24: Sl 1, k2tog, psso—1 st rem.
Cut yarn and pull through rem loop to secure.

Mini-Block 2: With C, CO 12 sts, then with RS facing pick up and k 13 sts along right selvedge edge of Mini-Block 1—25 sts total. Rep Rows 2–24 of Mini-Block 1.

Mini-Block 3: With C and RS facing, pick up and k 13 sts evenly spaced along left selvedge edge of Mini-Block 1, then use the backward-loop method (see the sidebar on page 36) to loosely CO 12 more sts—25 sts total. Rep Rows 2–24 of Mini-Block 1.

Mini-Block 4: With C, pick up and k 12 sts evenly spaced along the left selvedge edge of Mini-Block 2, then pick up and k 1 st in top corner of Mini-Block 1, then pick up and k 12 sts evenly spaced along right selvedge edge of Mini-Block 3—25 sts total. Rep Rows 2–24 of Mini-Block 1.

quilt-blocks-to-knit-log-cabin

Log Cabin Block

Loosely CO 6 sts with G. K 11 rows—6 garter ridges on RS. With RS facing, BO all sts loosely. Turn piece clockwise 90° so left selvedge (end of RS rows) is across the top. With C and RS facing, pick up and k 6 sts along selvedge edge of G block. K 11 rows—6 garter ridges on RS. With RS facing, BO all sts loosely. Turn piece clockwise 90°, and with D and RS facing, pick up and k 12 sts evenly spaced along C and G blocks. K 11 rows. With RS facing, BO all sts loosely. Turn piece clockwise 90°, and with B and RS facing, pick up and k 12 sts along selvedge edge of D and G blocks. K 11 rows. With RS facing, BO all sts loosely. Turn piece clockwise 90°, and with F and RS facing, pick up and k 18 sts evenly spaced along B, G, and C blocks. K 11 rows. With RS facing, BO all sts loosely. Turn piece clockwise 90°, and with D and RS facing, pick up and k 18 sts evenly spaced along F, C, and D blocks. K 11 rows. With RS facing, BO all sts loosely. Turn piece clockwise 90°, and with B and RS facing, pick up and k 24 sts evenly spaced along both D blocks and B block. K 11 rows. With RS facing, BO all sts loosely. Turn piece clockwise 90°, and with F and RS facing, pick up and k 24 sts evenly spaced along both B blocks and F block. K 11 rows. With RS facing, BO all sts loosely. Turn piece clockwise 90°, and with G and RS facing, pick up and k 30 sts evenly spaced along both F blocks and D block. K 11 rows. With RS facing, BO all sts loosely.

Finishing

Weave in all loose ends. Block as necessary.

Attach block to card: Cut 12-inch (30.5-cm) lengths of yarn to match the corner colors of the block. Position the block as desired on the card, then tack each corner to the card with its matching color, and tie off the ends on the inside of card. Rep for the other blocks.

Ann Budd was a book editor for Interweave Press and is the author of Getting Started Knitting Socks and The Knitter’s Handy Book series (Loveland, Colorado: Interweave Press, 2007, 2002, and 2004). She lives in Colorado.

This project was published in the September/October 2007 issue of PieceWork.

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