Doin' the Pine Burr

I've become a little obsessed with making Pine Burr blocks.

This is my first.  I thought I'd make only one.

But then I couldn't stop!

I've made one each evening for the last four nights.  

Talk about a stash buster!  Each one has at least 144 three inch squares.

It all started with this quilt at the Bold Expressions show.

Did you know that the Pine Burr is the official state quilt of Alabama?

Em's mom, Marian, sent me this wonderful box of 1970's fabrics cut in 3" squares.  And Mary sent some lovely small scale gingham.  What's a girl to do?

Want to make one yourself?   

You can go here, for instructions from Loretta Pettway Bennett of Gee's Bend, Alabama.  

 Geesh, I discovered these instructions AFTER I made the blocks!

Or you can just wing it like I did.  My method is below.

  First you need a ton of 3" squares and a 12.5"square of muslin or other fabric.

Put a square of in the middle.  The color should match your middle "burrs."

Fold 4 - 6 squares diagonally twice and iron them.  Then pin them on.  

Sew a ring of stitching.  This could be done by hand too.

Then do another ring.  I lined mine up just so they would just cover the raw edges of the prior ring.

I think of the raw edges as the little triangles' "privates."

Keep goin'.  You get the picture.

It took 8 rings to cover the square.  You could do yours thicker and it may take more.  

If you end up with not enough to cover the fabric on one side, just add some more triangles.  You can see I had to do this at the top of this one.  

Then you fill in the corners.

You end up with this.

Get out your 12.5" ruler and cut off the extra.  Wa-la!

Betcha can't make just one!

If you do make one--or more--you can post them on the "Inspired by African American Quilts" Flickr group!