Snail’s Trail & Double Wrench Tutorials

On Friday – Vicki from SassyPacks posted a tutorial for my Christmas Sampler on how to make a Snail’s Trail block.  Her block turned out great – it had all current fabrics in it. I followed her tutorial and made block 15 for my Christmas Sampler this weekend. Check it out!

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out – and this is the first time I have used the cute bear material that has been hiding out at the bottom of my vintage fabrics pile.

Today I have a fun tutorial for you on a block that I’m not sure could possibly get more vintage – the Double Wrench – it is accredited back to the 1800s!

It is a timeless block and would look great in a quilt with any fabric if you ask me.

Get the know how after the jump:

To start out, I saw the block as a very small drawing in the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.  No measurements are given in the book – so if you want to do one of the blocks, I highly recommend graph paper to draw out the block in order to figure out your cutting measurements.

Once I drew the block out the measurements were easy – it also helps that I have quilter’s graph paper – it is 12″ x 12″ paper and lends itself perfectly to drawing out any quilt block.

Here’s how I did my cutting:

From White Fabric
2 – 5 7/8 x 5 7/8″ Squares
4 – 3 x 2.5″ Rectangles
1 – 2.5 x 2.5″ Square

From Print:
2 – 5 7/8 x 5 7/8″ Squares
4 – 3 x 2.5″ Rectangles

Now you need to sew your HST (Half Square Triangles):

I like to press my seams open, and trim down to 5.5″

Next, sew your rectangles together – sew along the short side.

Block Layout:

Sew together your rows.

Finish your block!

This is a super quick block.  Have you decided to join me in my sampler?  You can find the rest of the completed tutorials here.

Don’t forget to enter my current giveaway – sponsored by SassyPacks – for some gorgeous O’Tinsel Town Christmas fabric – it would make a really cute sampler!!!