Blackwork Roads: November Chunk

Hello Friends and Happy November!

With the arrival of a new month, I'm excited to be sharing the next step in the Blackwork Roads chunk of the month quilt along!

I've had a very productive couple of weeks since posting the October chunk instructions and am finally down to working on my last chunk! On top of that, I've been assembling my chunk as as I go and now have over half the sample quilt top all in one piece!

While I was hoping to be able to show off the finished sample quilt with the release of this month's instructions, that hasn't quite worked out, but I'm so incredibly close!

I'll keep working away at it, but in the meantime, let's take a look at the November chunk!

November Chunk

The November chunk is pieced with inspiration from two traditional quilt blocks; the King's Crown (left) and Sawtooth Star (right)!

I combined these two blocks, placing the King's Crown at the centre, breaking up the Sawtooth Star into several pieces, and overlapping the unpieced corners to create the block used in Blackwork Roads!

After those alterations, the block turned out looking pretty similar to the another traditional block known as the Amish Star, but is still a little bit unique! And though the Sawtooth Star was broken up to make this block, when many blocks are tiled together, that Star reappears in the finished chunk!

And speaking of the finished chunk, here it is!

Once again, this chunk is a bit of an unusual shape, so I highly recommend stay stitching around the outer edge to prevent the block form warping before we put the quilt top together!

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: 20 squares at 2" (16 for FG, 4 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)

4 bars at 2½”x 1½” (for GaBs)

6 squares at 2" (for HSTs)

6 squares at 1½” (for QSs)

Md.1: 8 bars at 2½”x 1½” (for GaBs)

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

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)

4 bars at 2½”x 1½” (for GaBs)

8 squares at 2" (2 for TiaTs, 6 for HSTs)

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: 20 squares at 2½" (16 for FG, 4 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)

4 bars at 3½”x 2” (for GaBs)

6 squares at 2½" (for HSTs)

6 squares at 2” (for QSs)

Md.1: 8 bars at 3½”x 2” (for GaBs)

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

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)

4 bars at 3½”x 2” (for GaBs)

8 squares at 2½" (2 for TiaTs, 6 for HSTs)

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: 20 squares at 3" (16 for FG, 4 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)

4 bars at 4½”x 2½” (for GaBs)

6 squares at 3" (for HSTs)

6 squares at 2½” (for QSs)

Md.1: 8 bars at 4½”x 2½” (for GaBs)

6 squares at 3" (2 for TiaTs, 4 for HSTs)

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)

4 bars at 4½”x 2½” (for GaBs)

8 squares at 3" (2 for TiaTs, 6 for HSTs)

4 squares at 2½” (for QSs)

Unit Piecing Instructions

Four at a Time Flying Geese (FG):

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

Place two Acc 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 Acc 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 16 Acc FG units.

Goose and Bars (GaBs): Select one Acc FG unit and one Lt.1 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

November Side Left: 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:

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

Assemble as shown:

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

November Centre:

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:

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

Assemble as shown:

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

November 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 November Side Right as shown:

November Chunk Assembly:

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

These instructions, as well as a few additional notes, can be downloaded as a PDF here:

Blackwork Roads Sample Quilt

As previously mentioned, I've been making my way through my first sample of the Blackwork Roads pattern, and though it's not quite done yet, I'm really happy with all the progress I've made so far!

A little over half the quilt top is all together in one piece and it's so exciting to see the pattern coming together into a real quilt!

Looking at the picture above, you can see all three of the chunks we've made so far; September is at the quilt centre (currently the bottom centre), October is at top centre, and in the top right corner is the new November chunk!

I only have one chunk left in the bottom section of the quilt top (not shown) and then the last step to finish is adding some narrow background borders!

Of course, I also needed to check in with my studio assistant and see if she had any thoughts.

Meara also seems to like the progress I've made and thinks the quilt is just about big enough for a nap! Although at the time this photo was taken, she was hoping for a walk instead, don't worry, we got on that once the quilt was off the floor!

Friends, I have thoroughly enjoyed working through this project with along with all of you! Mine is so close to being finished, while all of yours have just gotten started, but at the end of this quilt along, each one of us will have a gorgeous and unique quilt of our own!

As you get to work on your November chunks, I'm looking forward to seeing your photos and reading about your progress! Please share those in the comments below, via email, or by visiting me on Instagram! If you share posts elsewhere on social media, please use #blackworkroadsquilt so I can find those posts too!

I'm looking forward to piecing the last chunk of my sample quilt and continuing our trip along the Blackwork Roads together!