PBS

I am a fairly new quilter and have been learning so much from you wonderful people here! I have a question and don't believe I have seen it asked before. How do I go about changing the size of a block? I'm talking about a simple block (like Bear Claw or Rail Fence) not a complicated one with a lot of piecing. How do I enlarge it from say a 8" block to a 12" block? Or make it smaller from a 12" block to a 8" block?

hotsusie

All you need to do is figure out the percentage you want to enlarge or reduce your pattern by and then copy it by that percentage.

hotsusie

In your case, you want to copy it at 133 percent. I hope this helps.

Susie

Prism99

Are you talking about paper piecing? Then the enlargment percentage should work.

However, if you are talking about piecing a block, it's different. Usually you can find free block patterns online in the size you want. That will give you the dimensions of the cut pieces.

When you want to enlarge a pattern like this yourself, it's probably best to work it out on graph paper. Going from an 8" block to a 12" block, you would first draw the block on graph paper. Calculate how large each finished piece is, then add 1/4" to each side of each piece. For example, if a finished square in the pattern is 3", you would need to cut a 3.5" square (.25 added to each side of the square). Try this first with a simple block, such as a 9-patch (maybe going from a 6" block to a 12" block) to get the hang of working with the graph paper.

Or, invest in a quilt design program such as EQ7 or Quilt Pro. With those programs, you can automatically re-size a block and it will tell you what size to cut all of the pieces.

AliKat

I suggest you either buy EQ or make a friend of someone who has it. I have done many resizings for friends. It doesn't take much time. On EQ you can decide what size blocks you want and see the over size of the quilt when you lay it out. You can change the quilt top or blocks whenever you want.

I just tried a pattern with 5", 6", and 7" blocks. Decided to go with the 6" blocks.

However, I used to be a math teacher years ago, so doing it the old fashioned way is OK too.

stillclock

or you could just to it the old fashioned way with a pencil, a ruler and a piece of paper.

i have said this before, but i am so thankful for the way i was taught to draft a block in my introductory quilting class. it taught me to break down blocks into their elements, to see how most blocks are 4 and 9 patches and to understand how to resize or alter blocks. once you start drawing them out, you get a better sense of how you might chain piece, or different tricks to make the piecing go a little faster. time well spent, for sure.

aileen

ckcowl

I often use 1/4" graph paper to sketch out- resize blocks. but you can also visit places like 'quilter's cache' which has many free blocks- you can choose what size you want and find the block you want in that size category. one thing doing it by math---always subtract the seam allowance (1/2") then resize the block- then add the seam allowance back on. an example of why this is important----if you have a 6" finished block (6 1/2" unfinished) and you want a 9" block- 6" X 1.5 = 9" then add the 1/2" seam allowance- so your unfinished would be 9 1/2" --if you leave the seam allowance (6 1/2") and increase by 1.5 you get 9 3/4" your blocks will not go together correctly- so, remove seam allowance measurement- figure the finished size of the block- then add the seam allowance.

PaperPrincess

Basically, you subtract the seam allowance from the patch, enlarge the patch, then add the seam allowance back on.
So, to take a 9" 9 patch block down to 6", each patch starts out as a 3.5" square. Subtract the seam allowance, and you get a 3" square, multiply that by 6/9, and you get 2". Add the seam allowance back on and you cut a 2.5" square.

You have to keep in mind that it's much easier to reduce/enlarge a block to a multiple of the original size.
In the above example, if you wanted to go to a 5" 9 patch, you would have to cut your patches 2.1667 inches. Hmm. so to reduce it to 6" or enlarge it to 18 inches makes more sense, unless you want to paper piece the unit.

pocoellie

Quilter's Cache has a 14" bear paw:http://www.quilterscache.com/B/BearPawBlock.html

GrannieAnnie

Don''t try to make this hard.

Rail fence is easy. 3 or 4 rails? Anyway for a 12" square, a 4 rail block would need 4 pieces that are each 12.5 inches long and 3.5 inches wide-----includes seam allowance

Now, the bear claw is yet another problem. It is a 7 unit by 7 unit block. Trying for any number not based on 7 or 3.5 will be hard to do since the measurements will be choppy.

For a 14" block, the claw squares will be 2" finished. Can't think what the measuerment is to make a 2.5" hst. 2 3/4 or 2 7/8.

Anyway the palm will be a square 4.5" cut, finished 4". The center square will b e2.5 cut adn 2 finished. teh 4 cross bars will be 6.5 long and 2.5 wide, finishing at 6x2

A block based on a 2 unit by 2 unit design (akas 4 patch), will translate easily to a 12" block. As would a 3 unit by 3 unit.

I don't think you'll find a 9 patch that is 8". You'll not be dealing with normal measurements. You can easily redude a 12" to a 9 on a 9 patch. Or change a 12" to a 15".

Do I need to define "unit". a 4 patch, can be 64 small pieces wide by 64 pieces tall and still be a 4 patch square. Each 32 by 32 square would be a unit. Same with a 9 patch---------could be 6 pieces by 6 pieces or 15 pieces by 15 pieces.

OOPS. Starting to sound like I made this hard. But if I could show you, it would be easy.

BTW, you can buy quilting graph paper at JoAnn's and probably other places. I you have any intention of enlarging very often, it would pay to buy some. Not really cheap, but it certainly serves a purpose.