Blackwork Roads: January Chunk

Hello Friends and Happy New Year!

I hope all of you had a warm and restful start to your new year and are looking forward to many exciting adventures in the months ahead!

My year started with a flurry of flakes and now we have a new foot of snow outside! It looks and feels much more seasonal now than it did last week and I'm planning to enjoy the view from inside with my sewing projects!

And speaking of projects; a new year also means a new month, so it's time to jump into the January chunk of the Blackwork Roads quilt along!

January Chunk

For the month of January, we'll be making the next corner of the Blackwork Roads quilt! Like November's chunk, the pieced design for January was inspired by the Kings Crown and Sawtooth Star blocks.

Initially, the colours in the block were arranged as seen on the left for the November chunk, but in January, we'll be changing it up to create the design on the right!

After tiling the block several times, the January chunk will turn out looking something like this:

And since this chunk is such an interesting shape, I recommend running a stay stitch around the outer edge to help prevent the chunk from warping.

Pattern Notes

sew all seams using a ¼” seam allowance
press each seam before sewing the next and before trimming units
to cut diagonally one, yielding two triangles should look like this:
to cut diagonally twice, yielding four triangles should look like this:
read all pattern instructions and notes before beginning to piece

Cutting Instructions

Cut the pieces that correspond to your chosen quilt size and sort them based on the units they will be used in as labelled.

Small Quilt

BG: 1 square at 6½” (for finishing)

4 squares at 3⅜” (for FG)

16 squares at 2" (for HSTs)

Acc: 16 bars at 2½”x 1½” (for GaBs)

4 squares at 2" (for TiaTs)

12 squares at 1½” (for QSs)

Lt.1: 1 square at 2⅞”, cut in half diagonally once to yield two triangles each

(for finishing)

1 square at 2½” (for finishing)

10 squares at 2" (6 for HSTs, 4 for FG)

6 squares at 1½” (for QSs)

Md.1: 14 squares at 2" (2 for TiaTs, 4 for HSTs, 8 for FG)

2 squares at 1½” (for QSs)

Dk.1: 1 square at 2⅞”, cut in half diagonally once to yield two triangles each

(for finishing)

1 square at 2½” (for finishing)

12 squares at 2" (2 for TiaTs, 6 for HSTs, 4 for FG)

4 squares at 1½” (for QSs)

Medium Quilt

BG: 1 square at 9½” (for finishing)

4 squares at 4⅜” (for FG)

16 squares at 2½" (for HSTs)

Acc: 16 bars at 3½”x 2” (for GaBs)

4 squares at 2½" (for TiaTs)

12 squares at 2” (for QSs)

Lt.1: 1 square at 3⅞”, cut in half diagonally once to yield two triangles each

(for finishing)

1 square at 3½” (for finishing)

10 squares at 2½" (6 for HSTs, 4 for FG)

6 squares at 2” (for QSs)

Md.1: 14 squares at 2½" (2 for TiaTs, 4 for HSTs. 8 for FG)

2 squares at 2” (for QSs)

Dk.1: 1 square at 3⅞”, cut in half diagonally once to yield two triangles each

(for finishing)

1 square at 3½” (for finishing)

12 squares at 2½" (2 for TiaTs, 6 for HSTs, 4 for FG)

4 squares at 2” (for QSs)

Large Quilt

BG: 1 square at 12½” (for finishing)

4 squares at 5⅜” (for FG)

16 squares at 3" (for HSTs)

Acc: 16 bars at 4½”x 2½” (for GaBs)

4 squares at 3" (for TiaTs)

12 squares at 2½” (for QSs)

Lt.1: 1 square at 4⅞”, cut in half diagonally once to yield two triangles each

(for finishing)

1 square at 4½” (for finishing)

10 squares at 3" (6 for HSTs,

4 for FG)

6 squares at 2½” (for QSs)

Md.1: 14 squares at 3" (2 for TiaTs,

4 for HSTs, 8 for FG)

2 squares at 2½” (for QSs)

Dk.1: 1 square at 4⅞”, cut in half

diagonally once to yield two

triangles each (for finishing)

1 square at 4½” (for finishing)

12 squares at 3" (2 for TiaTs,

6 for HSTs, 4 for FG)

4 squares at 2½” (for QSs)

Unit Piecing Instructions

Four at a Time Flying Geese (FG):

Select one large BG square and four small Lt.1 squares. Draw a diagonal line on the back of each Lt.1 square.

Place two Lt.1 squares in opposite corners of the BG square with the drawn lines running through the middle. Sew ¼” to either side of the drawn line.

Cut along the drawn line to separate into two units.

Place a third Lt.1 square on the BG corner of the pieced unit with the drawn line running towards the centre of the unit. Sew ¼” to either side of the drawn line.

Cut along the drawn line to separate into two units.

Repeat to yield four units total.

Trim to 2½”x 1½” for a small quilt.

Trim to 3½”x 2" for a medium quilt.

Trim to 4½”x 2½” for a large quilt.

Make 4 Lt.1 FG units.

Make 8 Md.1 FG units.

Make 4 Dk.1 FG units.

Goose and Bars (GaBs):

Select one Lt.1 FG unit and one Acc bar. Sew together along the long edge with the FG pointing at the bar.

Trim to 2½” for a small quilt.

Trim to 3½” for a medium quilt.

Trim to 4½” for a large quilt.

Make 4 Lt.1 GaB units.

Make 8 Md.1 GaB units.

Make 4 Md.1 GaB units.

Two at a Time Half Square Triangles (HSTs):

Select one BG square and one Lt.1 square. Draw a diagonal line on the back of the Lt.1 square.

Place the BG square on the Lt.1 square and sew ¼” to either side of the drawn line.

Cut along the drawn line to separate into two units.

Trim to 1½” for a small quilt.

Trim to 2" for a medium quilt.

Trim to 2½” for a large quilt.

Make 12 Lt.1 HST units.

Make 8 Md.1 HST units.

Make 12 Dk.1 HST units.

Quarter Stars (QSs):

Select one Acc square, one Lt.1 square, and two Lt.1 HSTs.

Assemble into a four patch unit with the HSTs in opposite corners and the BG triangles pointing to the centre of the unit.

Trim to 2½” for a small quilt.

Trim to 3½” for a medium quilt.

Trim to 4½” for a large quilt.

Make 6 Lt.1 QS units.

Make 2 Md.1 QS units.

Make 4 Dk.1 QS units.

Two at a Time Triangle in a Triangles (TiaT):

Select one Acc square, one Md.1 square, and two Md.1 HSTs.

Cut the Acc and Md.1 squares in half diagonally once to yield two triangles each.

Sew one Acc triangle to the right side of the BG half of the HST, and one Md.1 triangle to the adjacent BG half of the HST as shown:

Assemble the remaining pieces in the opposite orientation with the Md.1 triangle to the right of the BG half of the HST, and the Acc triangle on the adjacent side as shown:

Make 2 left and 2 right facing Md.1 TiaT units.

Make 2 left and 2 right facing Dk.1 TiaT units.

Finishing Instructions

January Side Left:

Select one Lt.1 square four Lt.1 QSs, two Lt.1 GaBs, and two Md.1 GaBs.

Assemble as shown:

Select one Lt.1 triangle, one Lt.1 QS, one Lt.1 GaB, one Md.1 GaB, and two Md.1 TiaTs.

Assemble as shown:

Using the two blocks above, assemble the January Side Left as shown:

January Centre:

Select one Lt.1 triangle, one Lt.1 GaB, one Lt.1 QS, one Md.1 GaB, and two Md.1 TiaTs.

Assemble as shown:

Select two Md.1 GaBs, two Md.1 QSs, one Dk.1 square, two Dk.1 GaBs, and two Dk.1 QSs.

Assemble as shown:

Select one Md.1 GaB, one Dk.1 GaB, one Dk.1 QS, one Dk.1 triangle, and two Dk.1 TiaTs.

Assemble as shown:

Using the three blocks above, assemble the January Centre as shown:

January Side Right:

Select one Md.1 GaB, one Dk.1 GaB, one Dk.1 QS, one Dk.1 triangle, and two Dk.1 TiaTs.

Assemble as shown:

Using the block above and one BG square, assemble the January Side Right as shown:

January Chunk Assembly:

Assemble the January Side Left, Centre, and Side Right into the complete January Chunk as shown:

Full pattern instructions for the January chunk, including a few additional notes, can be downloaded as a PDF here:

Blackwork Roads Sample Quilt

As the months continue to pass, I've done my best to assemble the first sample version of my Blackwork Roads quilt! While I'm sad to say it's still not quite finished, I have made more progress than last month!

There is still one chunk left to be pieced, and that is March! So far, I've cut the pieces needed for that chunk and am looking forward to putting it together!

While I get back to work on my March chunk, I hope all of you are excited to get started on the December chunk for your own quilts!

And as we continue to put our quilts together, I look forward to seeing your progress! You can share stories, photos, and questions in the comments below, by sending me an email, or by tagging me on Instagram! If you frequent other social sites, please us #blackworkroadsquilt so I can find your posts no matter where you share them!

Thank you all for visiting me again this month, I hope you're looking forward to the next chunk release on 04 February! I can't wait to take the next steps down the Blackwork Roads together!