Marcus Fabrics - Make it with Marcus, Bleeker Street Quilt by Charlotte O'Leary

Bleeker Street Quilt
by Charlotte O'Leary

Don't be intimidated by this beautiful central design of Charlotte O'Leary's "French Quarter" quilt, done in BLEEKER STREETprints by Michele D'Amore. Charlotte uses easy paper piecing to build the blocks! Each quarter of the block is put together in three sections. The sections MUST be pieced in the order given, so follow the numbers that are shown on the block. (Paper piecing is an easy technique, with instructions readily available in books and magazines, and online; however, if you have any difficulty with the project, please contact Charlotte at Lottahen@gmail.com).

Center Block: Fabric layout for center block is as follows; (refer to fabric requirement chart numbered from top to bottom)

Fabric requirements, paper pieced layout and center lock pattern

Fabric requirements, paper pieced layout and center block pattern.

Small center star - fabric #3 dark teal background dot
#10 green fleur de lis
Larger Star - #2 teal paisley
#1 olive paisley
Background - #8 light background dot
Woven look frame #7 olive background dot
Small Stripe - #6 multi stripe
Outside - #4 overall floral

After the small multi stripe is in place and all four sections of the block are sewn together, block should measure 18-1/2" square.

To complete the center, the teal floral corners are be added. Cut a strip of the floral 10" wide across the width of the fabric from selvage to selvage. Sew the strip on straight and after all four corner pieces are on, re-square the block with the center square on point to the floral just applied. It is now 25-1/2".

Borders: All borders have corner blocks.

1st Border: Olive background polka dots #7. Cut border strips 1-1/2" this will finish to 1" wide. The corner blocks will be cut 1-1/2" square and are the light background polka dots #8.

2nd Border: These blocks are 6" and finished in the quilt at 5-1/2". There are 12 friendship stars and 12 blocks of 5-1/2" solid fabric. Six of the stars are blue with green background and six are green with blue background. The friendship stars are really fun and make wonderful blocks to add a little zip to an otherwise mundane border.

Friendship Stars: (nine patch method)

Cut 3 - 3-1/2" strips each of the green and the blue paisley tonal #1 #2. Cut into 3-1/2" squares. Draw a line from corner to corner through the middle of each blue block. With right sides together, one blue block and one green block sew 1/4" on each side of the drawn line. Now cut on the line and press your blocks and square the blocks to 2-3/8" each. Also cut 30 - 2-3/8" squares of each color. Lay out each block so that they are as the picture. Each block is made up of (top row) one solid square, one half triangle block, one solid square - center row - one half triangle block - one solid square, one half triangle-last row one solid square, one half triangle, one solid square. Make sure that all half triangles are turned and sewn in the correct direction. Sew these blocks together in strips as they have been laid out. Then sew the rows together. Press and square to 6". Finished in quilt 5-1/2" There are 12 stars with 12 solid blocks to make up this border.

Cut 6" solid blocks for the blocks between the stars #9 - #10. If you need to adjust the length of the strip of stars, adjust the solid blocks only. Sew the star blocks in strips of two stars with three solid blocks for sides, lay aside. Sew 4 star blocks with three solid blocks for top and bottom borders. Sew the two star strips to the sides. Now sew the 4 star strips to the top and bottom.

3rd Border: Cut 4 - 1-1/2" strips of the dark teal background polka dot #3. The corner blocks are 1-1/2" squares of the light background polka dot fabric #8. Sew these borders with 1/4" seams. All borders are sewn the same from here to the end.

4th Border: Cut 4 - 2" strips of light background polka dot fabric #8. The corner blocks are 2" squares of the dark teal background polka dots #3.

5th Border: Cut 4 - 4-1/2" strips of small stripe across the stripes from selvage to selvage #6. The corner blocks on this border are the same stripe set on the diagonal.

6th Border: Cut 5 - 2-1/2" strips of clam shell type fabric #5 the next border. Sew the strips together end to end as it will require more than one strip to fit one side. Corner blocks are teal paisley #2.

7th Border: Cut 5 - 6-1/2" strips of the large stripe #11. Sew these strips together end to end. The corner blocks are the olive fleur-de-lis #10.

Add backing, batting and quilt as desired. Try some trapunto on the stars to add dimensional interest to your design. The fabric is outstanding on its own, so the quilting was kept simple rather than intricate, which would be lost on this design.