318 Patchwork Patterns Quilt-along: Dog and Bone

The release of 318 Patchwork Patterns in English has brought a flurry of block making from the book making and in addition to the blog hop that I was part of a few weeks ago, Al at A Thousand Needles is hosting a 318QAL.  For each week of the quilt-along, she's making 4 blocks which will be part of a 318 Patchwork Patterns mini quilt.  She's choosing most of the blocks and having special guests- so far  Brenda from Pink Castle Fabrics and Penny from Sew take a hike and this week it's me! I love the animal blocks in this book, so I chose #136 dog and bone block.  I was so enamoured with the design that I didn't notice the million Y seams involved!  Apologies to Al who is making this block too!

I've marked the Y seams and some of the sections below.  I tried to plan this but I ended up being a very careful slow sewer and using the techniques covered here- precision is everything with so many Y seams! I did the ears, feet and tail actions first.  Then the head and bone.  Next the body and the final part was joining everything together.  The Y seams are marked in blue- there were so many and I had not think about how I was doing this too much and rely on instinct as it did get a bit confusing!  You could always add extra lines in to simplify the shape and construction as Penny did with her block.

I made the 6" block into a quilt as you go hot water bottle cover for our dog Lottie.  As the weather gets cooler, she loves a hottie to cuddle up with overnight.

It's a simple pattern adapted from Suzuko Koseki's Patchwork Style.  I lined it on the inside too with some cotton lawn to make it a thick cover that would insulate well and survive a lot of washes. 

Let's just say it was well received!

You can find the 318QAL schedule here, week one here, and week two here.  You can link up with Al by posting picks of at least 2 blocks you've made from the book and win a prize- see her posts for details.