Adventures With A Layer Cake

A few weeks ago, while out for brunch and a mini shop hop, I bought a kit for a quilt I saw on display.  The kit was labeled as containing all the fabric for the top and binding plus a pattern.  However, instead of a pattern, I found a brief typed descrption of how to cut and sew an hourglass block.  And the quilt I saw on display was not an hourglass block.  Yes, frustrating! 

The fabric in the kit was a layer cake of Lately Arrived From London by Barbara Brackman for Moda, a 19th century reproduction collection, along with some yardage for border and binding. 

I decided I better tackle this project sooner rather than later, while the image of the finished quilt I saw on display was fresh in my mind.  So after finishing Summertime/the Dresden plate quilt, I put Fig Tree Harvest aside and got to work on my "kit." 



I managed to recreate the block I saw using the layer cake squares. This is a finished block. I'm calling it Magic Eight Square, because it has eight pieces and it took a little magic to get it figured out.  But I did it and the quilt top is coming together rather well, at least so far (I am nowhere near finished).  After working on it, I've come to think that this block could be easily made from a jelly roll, but a layer cake works.  Come back tomorrow for a tutorial on how I did it.  It doesn't require anything difficult like mitres, y-seams, or those other, avoid-at-all-costs construction techniques!