Quilt City Traffic

www.QultrNwlttr.coOct./Nov. 2012 #430 PAGE 1 of 5©2012 Qu Nw All rights reserved.

FREE PATTERN

www.QultrNwlttr.co | ©2012 Ca Caf goup | A | Fo pona u ony, no o b o o pouc

“In the beginner’s mind there

are many possibilities, but

in the expert’s mind there

are few.” This Zen proverb

inspired Pam Rocco of Santa

Cruz, California, to look to

children’s art as a source

of quilt design inspira-

tion. In the spirit of Rocco’s

approach to design, we’re

giving you the basic com-

ponents and approximate

measurements for her seven

different vehicle blocks. Keep

your tape measure and scis-

sors close at hand to cut your

blocks the size you want.

Read the basic instructions,

then put your “beginner’s

mind” – or the minds of the

kids in your life – to work to

make your own version of

City Traffic.

You can read Rocco’s

full column, “Words to

Quilt By,” in the October/

November 2012 issue of

Quilters Newsletter . City Traf-

fic was machine quilted by

Linda Barbin of Hollister,

California.

CtTrffcD e s i g N e D a N D m a D e

b y P a m RC C

m a T e R i a L sAssorted Medium/Dark Solids

Yellow/Orange Solids

Background Fabric

Also Needed: foundation paper

TeCHNiQUes UseD: foundationpiecing, improvisational piecing,machine piecing, machine quilting

l

Mak u you pn o 100% “no can” bfo you pn you pan.

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FREE PATTERNwww.QultrNwlttr.coOct./Nov. 2012 #430 of 5©2012 Qu Nw All rights reserved.


bc intructonChoose fabrics for eachblock: a medium or dark solidas the main vehicle fabric; a yellow or orange solid for thewindshield(s); a dark solid forthe wheels; and an additionalfabric for the tailpipe if called

for. You will also need a back-ground fabric, which in City Traffic is light blue.

Each block finishes at 6˝ highand is made up of three hori-zontal components – a wind-shield unit, the vehicle bodyand a wheels unit. The blocksare constructed in the same

general manner regardless of what vehicle you’re making.For each block you will needthe following:

VeHiCLe bDy

The vehicle bodies finish at2H˝ tall, but the length isdetermined by the type of vehicle you want to make.

Cut a strip from your mainvehicle fabric that is 3˝ wideand trim it to the desiredlength – don’t forget to addH˝ for seam allowances(Fig. 1). Add a tailpipe unit if desired.

TaiLPiPe UNiT (PTiNaL)

Join a 1I˝ x 1˝ dark solidpatch to a 1I˝ x 2H˝ back-ground patch (Fig. 2).

WiNDsHieLD UNiTs

For each vehicle, print ortrace a foundation pattern forthe front windshield. Founda-tion piece the front wind-shield using your main vehiclefabric, yellow or orange forthe windshield, and the back-ground fabric (Fig. 3). Print ortrace a foundation pattern forthe rear windshield if calledfor. Foundation piece the rearwindshield using the main

vehicle fabric and the back-ground fabric (Fig. 4), or piece

Foundation is the reverse of the finished block.

Front WindshieldFoundation Pattern

1

2

3

G˝ seam allowances

G˝ seam allowances

Foundation is the reverse of the finished block.

Rear WindshieldFoundation Pattern

12

the rest of the windshield unitaccording to the instructionsgiven for the specific blocks. Join the foundation units andpatches to make the wind-shield unit then trim it as nec-

essary to make it fit the lengthof the vehicle body. Join thewindshield unit to the vehiclebody (Fig. 5). l

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 5

3˝

1I˝ Fig. 3

Fig. 4

3˝

FrontWindshield

Unit

Vehicle Body

Vehicle Body

RearWindshield

Unit

TailpipeUnit

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WHeeLs UNiT

For each vehicle, cut two 2H˝ x1H˝ patches from a dark solid forthe wheels. Cut a 1H˝ strip fromthe background fabric. Arrangethe wheel patches along thebottom edge of the vehicle bodyto determine their placement.When you are satisfied, improvi-sationally piece the wheels unitby joining the wheel patches topatches cut from the backgroundstrip. Trim as necessary to makeit fit the length of the vehicleblock (Fig. 6).

mkn thVhcl blockReferring to the basic instruc-tions above, piece patches and

foundation units as described foreach type of vehicle.

PiCUP TRUC

1 Rocco’s pickup truck blocks finish at approximately 9G˝ long.Decide how long you want your pickup to be and cut a vehicle bodypatch to this length plus H˝ for seam allowances.

2 Foundation piece the front windshield. Join a 1H˝ x 3˝ patch of your main vehicle fabric to the right edge of the foundation unit tomake the truck cab (Fig. 7). Position the truck cab along the vehiclebody. When you are satisfied with the placement, measure the dis-tance from the right raw edge of the truck cab to the right raw edgeof the vehicle body. Cut a 3˝ strip from the background fabric thentrim it to the length you just measured plus H˝ for seam allowances. Join the background patch to the truck cab to make the windshieldunit then join it to the vehicle body. Trim raw edges as necessary.

3 Piece a wheels unit as described at left. Join the wheels unit to thebottom of the vehicle body to make a pickup truck block.

smaRT CaR

1 Rocco’s smart car blocks finish at approximately 7H˝ long includingthe tailpipe. Decide how long you want your smart car to be and cut avehicle body patch to this length plus H˝ for seam allowances. Add atailpipe unit.

2 Foundation piece a front windshield and a rear windshield, then join them to make the windshield unit. Referring to the quilt photo,position the windshield unit along the vehicle body, aligning the seamsof the rear windshield with the vehicle body patch as shown. Join thewindshield unit to the vehicle body. Trim raw edges as necessary.

3 Piece a wheels unit as described at left. Join the wheels unit to thebottom of the vehicle body to make a smart car block.

seDaN

1 Rocco’s sedan blocks finish at approximately 10˝ longincluding the tailpipe. Decide how long you want your sedanto be and cut a vehicle body patch to this length plus H˝ forseam allowances. Add a tailpipe unit.

2 Foundation piece a front windshield and a rear windshield,then join them to make the windshield unit. Position thewindshield unit along the vehicle body. Join the windshieldunit to the vehicle body. Trim raw edges as necessary.

3 Piece a wheels unit as described at left. Join the wheelsunit to the bottom of the vehicle body to make a sedan block.

bUs

1 Rocco’s bus block finishes at approximately 11G˝ long.Decide how long you want your bus to be and cut a vehiclebody patch to this length plus H˝ for seam allowances.

2 Foundation piece the front windshield. Depending onthe length of the bus, cut three patches approximately 1H˝x 3˝ and two patches approximately 2I˝ x 1G˝ from themain vehicle fabric. Cut two patches approximately 2I˝ x2G˝ from the windshield fabric. Join the patches to makethe bus roof and windows, then join the front windshield to make thewindshield unit. Join the windshield unit to the vehicle body. Trim rawedges as necessary.

3 Piece a wheels unit as described at left. Join the wheels unit to the

bottom of the vehicle body to make a bus block.

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

l

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big Rig

1 Rocco’s big rig blocks finish at approximately14˝ long; the cab portions are approximately 3G˝long and the trailer portions are approximately9H˝ long. Decide how long you want your trailerto be. Cut a dark solid patch 5H˝ tall and thedesired length plus H˝ for seam allowances forthe trailer patch.

2 Foundation piece a front windshield. Decide how long you want your cabto be and cut a vehicle body patch to this length plus H˝ for seam allow-ances. Join the windshield unit to the vehicle body and trim raw edges as nec-essary to make the cab.

3 Join a 1H˝ x 4˝ background patch to a 1H˝ x 2˝ dark solid patch to make aconnector unit (Fig. 8). Referring to the block photo for placement, join the cab,connector unit and trailer patch.

4 Cut patches for a wheels unit as described in “Basic Instructions;” cut anadditional wheel to go under the cab. Piece the wheels unit then join it to thebottom of the vehicle body to make a big rig block.

VaN

1 Rocco’s van block finishes at approximately 9˝ long. Decidehow long you want your van to be and cut a vehicle body patchto this length plus H˝ for seam allowances.

2 Foundation piece the front windshield. Position the frontwindshield along the vehicle body. When you are satisfied withthe placement, measure the distance from the right raw edge of the front windshield to the right raw edge of the vehicle body.Cut a 3˝ strip from the main vehicle fabric then trim it to thelength you just measured plus H˝ for seam allowances. Join this patch to thefront windshield to make the windshield unit, then join it to the vehicle body.Trim raw edges as necessary.

3 Piece a wheels unit as described in “Basic Instructions.” Join the wheels unitto the bottom of the vehicle body to make a pickup truck block.

TRaiLeR

1 Print or trace a foundation pattern forthe trailer unit. Foundation piece the unit.

2 Piece a wheels unit as described in “BasicInstructions.” Join the wheels unit to thebottom of the trailer unit to make a trailerblock.

Puttn it all TothrOn a design wall or large, flatsurface, arrange your vehicleblocks in rows of roughly evenlength. When you are satisfiedwith the arrangement, cut sashesfrom your background fabric to join the blocks. Adjust the widthof the sashes as needed to makethe rows even with one another;the vertical rows in City Trafficare 55˝ long. From a mediumsolid fabric, cut strips 6H˝ wideand trim them to the lengthof the block rows. Matchingcenters and ends, join the block

rows alternately with the solidstrips. Measure the quilt verti-cally through the center and cuttwo borders this length that are7H˝ wide. Add these bordersto the sides of the quilt. In thesame manner, measure the quilthorizontally through the center,including the borders you justadded. Cut two borders thislength that are also 7H˝ wide.Add these borders to the topand bottom of the quilt.

Layer the backing, batting andquilt top. Baste. Quilt an alloverdesign or quilt as desired. Bindthe quilt to finish.T

Fig. 8

1H˝

5H˝

Pan fo ta on

nx pa.

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l l o w a n c e s

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