Daredevils Block #1: Amelia's Circle

Daredevils #1 Amelia's Circle

Scroll down to see the two-page pattern for a 15" finished block.

The Daredevils Quilt Along starts here today.

I asked Dorry Emmer (ColvinKiwi) to make some model blocks.

I always love her color ideas and her way of telling stories with fabrics.

Blue sky, puffy clouds and flying creatures.

Every Saturday into October we'll be doing a Daredevils Quilt Along,

Piecing---not for the faint of heart.

Becky Brown's block altered a bit.

See below for Becky's real block. I love her ways with fabric too.

The first block, named for Amelia Earhart, is adapted from Friendship Circle, a pattern designed for the 1930s newspaper quilt column appearing under the name Laura Wheeler. Their anonymous designers drew some very modern patterns emphasizing secondary corner designs, an inspiration for Daredevils, which substitutes a circle for the corner square here.

Laura Wheeler pattern for Friendship Circle with triangles in the corners.

I eliminated the ring of triangles too.

Here's an old quilt in a similar pattern from about 1950.

Same pattern. I liked the repeating squares in the corners

where the blocks meet. Dots would be better.

12 blocks

#1 Amelia's Circle

 Denniele Bohannon's Block 

Denniele's a daredevil to use so much pattern and tame it in her blocks.

She machine-appliqued the curves in the corners as one circle

after seaming all the blocks. 

Mark Lauer is following the same plan. You do have to

alter the pattern for the appliqued circles idea, but all

you need is a ruler and a straight line into the corner.

Becky Brown's actual block. She couldn't resist adding a few

seams to that empty center.

Each week I'll feature a photo of a woman daredevil. We start

with the most famous---Amelia Earhart. Dorry's blue background

fabric is named Amelia (from Moda). The perfect color for a Daredevil.

No stories about daredevil pilots though....sometimes they end too sadly.

Laura Wheeler logo from the 1930s.

The Laura Wheeler art department (like much of the U.S. in the 1930s) was fascinated by two conflicting trends: Colonial Revival and Modernism. Here we have a Colonial seamstress in mobcap stitching a thoroughly modern quilt.

The Block

Daredevils pattern for a 15" block.

Cut paper templates. Add seams to the fabric.

Below the center template F.

How to print:

Create a word file or a new empty JPG file that is 8-1/2" x 11".

Click on the image above.

Right click on it and save it to your file.

Print that file out 8-1/2" x 11". The small square should measure 1"

Adjust the printed page size if necessary.

You can buy the whole pattern (12 blocks & border) as a set in my Etsy shop for $12.
See a PDF you can print yourself:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/707210984/daredevils-quilt-along-12-challenging?ref

If you'd rather not worry about printing these out I will print the set in black and white and mail it to you for $16. Order through Etsy.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/707213776/daredevils-quilt-along-12-challenging?ref