Blog Tour Bitty Blocks: Doris Does Pumpkins

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This is the final Blog Tour Bitty Block in celebration of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Volume 12, on newsstands now. I hope you’ve enjoyed these little darlings. They sure are fun to make.

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I asked Doris Rice to design today’s block. She’s known as the Quilting Queen Online and she’s a member of our Addicted to Scraps team. This group makes quilts using Bonnie Hunter’s Addicted to Scraps blocks, found in every issue of Quiltmaker.

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Doris Rice designed this 4″ self-sashing Bitty Pumpkin for Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Blog Tour. Free quilt block pattern!

I was pretty excited when Doris sent me her idea, because these little pumpkins are what I call self-sashing: the space between the blocks is included in the block itself. Very clever!

Here’s how to make Doris’s Bitty Pumpkins. They finish at 4″ x 4″ (4-1/2″ unfinished).

Materials and Cutting
(printer-friendly instructions here)0patchesneeded 300x300 Blog Tour Bitty Blocks: Doris Does Pumpkins

Orange (pumpkin)

1 square 3-1/2″ x 3-1/2″

Green (stem)

1 square 1″ x 1″

Cream (background)

1 rectangle 1″ x 3-1/2″
2 rectangles 1″ x 1-3/4″
4 squares 1″ x 1″
1 rectangle 1-1/2″ x 4-1/2″

 Sewing

Make the stem:

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Join these patches to make the stem.

Use Stitch-and-Flip to make the pumpkin: Put a 1″ background square on all 4 corners.

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Background squares go on all four corners.

Sew across diagonally. Trim off, leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance. Open out and press.

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Stitch-and-Flip complete

Sew the stem and the pumpkin together.

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Sew the stem and the pumpkin together as shown.

Sew a 1″ strip to the top and a 1-1/2″ strip to the side as shown below.

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Sew a 1″ strip to the top of the block and a 1-1/2″ strip to the side as shown.

One Bitty Pumpkin complete!

You might like to try putting them on a dark background, as Doris did. These have the 1-1/2″ strip on the other side, but it doesn’t really matter.

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Try dark backgrounds for something different.

See how cute they are all lined up? Now you can see how that final strip creates space between the pumpkins.

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Bitty Pumpkins in a row.

Doris had some serious fun.

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Make yourself a whole pumpkin patch!

You can make the stems a little wider on some pumpkins. So very cute.

Send me photos of your Bitty Blocks and I’ll share them with Quiltmaker readers worldwide. Please use [email protected].

Use #qmbittyblocks on social media to help us spread the word about these free quilt block patterns.

See all of the Bitty Blocks on one convenient page.

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Get your copy of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Volume 12 when you see it on newsstands!

Get your copy of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Volume 12, on newsstands now, or from us in print and digital versions.

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