Cinco de Mayo

A lot of talk of margaritas and Mexican food today. I can't handle a margarita (just ask my kids!), but I've always loved Mexican food. Raised in California and loved all things Mexican.

I was reminded of the block I designed for Quilt Magazine in 2007 which I called Olé. And I remembered the Benartex "What's in My Pantry" Collection which I featured here a few months ago. I was thinking CHILI PEPPERS and there are two fabrics in that collection with chili peppers on them.

What's in My Pantry?
Here are my steps to quickly cut and stitch these two blocks (which I made this morning in one hour's time). I used these two pepper fabrics as the center of my blocks. Aren't they yummy?

Chili pepper fabrics with black background

Chili pepper fabrics with yellow background

First I cut the parts (pattern follows at the end of this post):

Block parts for Olé
Then I began stitching:
Orange triangles at the top of the blocks

Green triangles at the top of the blocks
I decided to use a stripe to finish the sides. There really is a trick to cutting striped fabric so that the stripes all go in the same direction. Here is what you do:

Two squares with stripes oriented the same way; cut as shown

Stripes are horizontal in the yellow chili pepper block
I audition the stripes by folding and putting next to the block.
Stripes oriented horizontally are cut this way
And these corner squares go with the black pepper block:
Stripes are oriented vertically
The key is to cut two squares and put them side by side. Then cut in a "mountain" cut. You can't get the triangles to work if you cut both squares at the same angle.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Comments

  1. I can just taste the salsa and guacamole! Thanks for the neat block - I think it would make a great quilt of valor.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great block to use novelty prints. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the tutorial.Fantastic block and fabric.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love your block. Very definitely a Mexican flavor. Thanks for the pattern! I love Mexican food, and the restaurant on the corner by my house has the best - could even get by in California, Arizona or Texas. They just make sopapillas wrong - as does everyone else in Knox! They aren't supposed to be cinnamon and sugar tortilla chips. =)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great block! We lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico when we were first married, and I had to learn to like New Mexican food which is similar but still different than Mexican. There are just some things that you can't get at a Mexican restaurant that you get at a New Mexican restaurant, like green chilis. As long as I can get chili con queso though, I'm happy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your blocks are beautiful and totally show off that fabric! Happy Mother's Day!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by Debby Kratovil Quilts! If you had a question and don't get an answer from me, please feel free to email me at: kratovil@his.com