Well, here’s a delectable sounding block to make and it looks the part too. Raspberry Cheescake is always a winner so let’s get a slice of the action.
RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE QUILT BLOCK
Finished Size 12″ (Unfinished 12-1/2″)
Our tenth block is called the Raspberry Cheesecake quilt block and we are going to make it with ‘Half-Square-Triangles’ and ‘Diamond in a Square’ units. Both these units are commonly used in quilt making and just like many types of units this one can be made in more than one way. I’m going to show you the methods I used to make my Raspberry Cheesecake block.
CUTTING
You will need three fabric colours as well as the background fabric. For fabric C I cut four squares first then for the last one I fussy cut it, you don’t have to do this just have fun with your blocks.
A. Two 5-1/4″ x 5-1/4″ squares (white)
B. Two 5-1/4″ x 5-1/4″ squares (doll)
C. Five 4-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ square (flowers)
D. Eight 2-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ squares (white)
E. Eight 2-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ squares (yellow)
The background fabrics for this block are A & D.
BLOCK ASSEMBLY:
- All seams are 1/4″ and I use a stitch length of 1.8.
- As a rule, you would press your fabric seams towards the dark side (darker fabric) but not always. I finger press my seams before pressing with an iron. This allows me to change the seams’ direction if needed without stretching my fabrics.
- In bulky areas press your seams open as this will help reduce thickness.
First are the corner units. These units are known as Half Square Triangles (HST) and for this block we are going to make them using the ‘two at a time’ method (this method isn’t as stretchy as the ‘four at a time’ method). We will make them a little larger than they need to be then trim them to the perfect size.
Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of one of your 5-1/4″ x 5-1/4″ white fabric squares A.
Then take one of your fabric B squares and place it right sides together (RST) with fabric A and sew 1/4″ away from each side of the diagonal line.
Now cut in half along your diagonal line to make two HST, open and finger press your seams towards the light side fabric A.
Trim your HST by placing your ruler’s 45° diagonal line along your seam line, then square your block up to 4-1/2″ and trim away the excess fabric. Using this method will give you a truly accurate 4-1/2″ block.
Repeat this method with your remaining A and B squares to make a total of four perfect HST units.
Now for the ‘diamond in a square’ units. We are going to make these using the ‘stitch and flip’ method. Take one 4-1/2″ flower square C, two white 2-1/2″ squares D and two yellow 2-1/2″ squares E. Draw a diagonal line on the white and yellow squares.
Take one of your white squares and place it RST in the top left hand corner aligning edges and sew on top of your diagonal line.
Then trim away the excess fabric leaving a 1/4″ seam. Now open out your fabric and finger press your seam towards the white fabric, being careful not to stretch your fabric, then fix with an iron.
Then repeat this process with your second white square, trimming away the excess fabric and finger pressing open before fixing with the iron.
Now repeat with your two yellow fabrics on the opposite corners of the unit.
Make three more. You should now have four units in total.
Lay out all your units to form the Raspberry Cheesecake quilt block.
Keeping your fabrics in order, sew them together one row at a time. Finger press your seams in the direction of the arrows (left image) before fixing with an iron. Finally join your rows together matching your points as you go and this time press your seams open (right image).
If you have sewn your block together accurately it should measure 12-1/2″ square but if you need to trim it make sure you leave 1/4″ seam allowance on all your points.
Ten blocks sewn, super job!
