How to easily sew the tumbling block

As you may have already noticed, I like to learn from books. I can learn when it is convenient for me, at my own pace, and can refer back to the instructions later. I am particularly grateful to authors who invest their time (and money) to publish books with content which helps us achieve desired results but with simplified and clever methods.

With that in mind, did you know you could make a tumbling block quilt using strip-piecing instead of Y-seams?  Had I seen a couple of years ago the book that just landed on my desk, I would have already made a few more quilts with optical illusions.

“ABC 3-D, Tumbling Blocks… and More” by Marci Baker is the book I am referring to.  In this book Marci combines her strip-piecing technique with Sara Nephew’s designs and expertise with tumbling blocks. What a combination!

The introduction of the book covers optical illusions in detail, then moves on to how you can sew the tumbling block with the strip-piecing method. This section is very detailed, leaving nothing for you to guess at. You will learn how to choose fabrics that enhance the illusion effect, which tools are most effective, and how to cut and sew successfully. You will then be ready to work on the projects. The only difficulty you will encounter is the decision of which project to choose first…

Should you start with Your Radiant Beauty on page 92?

Or should you try Hollow Cube on page 44?

This book is definitely worth having in your library. One last thing: as you open the book, the title page features one of the most amazing examples of optical illusion in quilting I have ever seen. You won’t see it on this blog as I do not want to spoil your surprise…

Have fun quilting!