corner beam airplane quilt

last weekend i headed back to my mom’s house for a little “mom” therapy and sip and sew. i had my summer sampler block all done and i didn’t feel like toting everything for my perfect half square triangles. so, i took my serendipity supplies, a fat quarter bundle i’ve had since last summer from fabric bubb, and my deb tucker tools.

i have wanted to play with my tools since mom bought them at market. my fat quarter pack had seven in it and i figured that was small enough to get an idea of how things rolled. so, i looked to see what tool would make a good quilt block on it’s own (i really wanted to get the hang of one, not mess with multiples). i settled on the corner beam tool.

so, the first step is figuring out what finished size square you want - i didn’t want too small of square, so i settled for five inch finished - this meant i needed to cut 6 inch strips (all the instructions are on the tool). which meant, using fat quarters, i got three strips out of each fat quarter. you then need a square and two “beams.”

since i was playing, what i did was start with using one strip for cutting my square pieces and then one for the beams. so i ended with the right amount of pieces, i’d cut a square and then cut a pair of beams. i ended up getting five square and beam sets.

remember, with deb’s tools, you cut everything a bit bigger to trim down later.

you don’t use the tool to cut your square, but you do the beams. you also use the tool to cut the middle square down to the beam shape. finally, you use the tool to square up the block. it’s really a fun process. the tools work for both right and left handers - i’m right handed, so all my pictures i cut right handed.

for the beams, i folded my strip with the right sides out so i’d get mirror image pieces. you line the strip up to the template on the “side triangles trim #1.”

after that, i flipped my ruler and found the “side triangles trim #2” line that lets me cut from the diagonal line i just made (isn’t that cool!). and yes, the words will be upside down on the tool for this cut.

next, i cut down the square middle. you find your finished size and the “center beam trim #1.” you line everything up on the ruler and then cut.

then, after i cut, i lined up the new edge to the “center beam trim #2” for the final cut on the square.

the resulting pieces below make our corner beam unit. finally, you sew them together with a traditional 1/4 inch seam. you do want the pieces to overlap a bit and sew from the broader edge to the skinny point.

you’ll see the finished unit here soon, but now it’s time for trim down - the important thing is to line up with what you need WITH the seam allowance (not to the finished size) - i had to make an adjustment because i cut too much off my first piece (these became my corner stones - i made it work!).

so, you align your seam line and the cross points with the “tip” of the beam in the right (again, for right handers). you can see the template makes sure you’ll keep your point after the trim down and shows where that 1/4 inch seam is - so, we trim and square up these side and then flip it 180 degrees to square up the other side.

with the flip, there are dash marks to line up your seam edges to get that perfect square.

at this point, i think deb tucker is one of the most brilliant people in the universe - you can do all these cuts with one tool. and it’s for righties and lefties!

anyway, there are many options for placement, but below is what i ended up with for a block. due to my error, i ended up with seven blocks. i decided i’d put six on the front with sashing and i’ll put the seventh in as a part of the backing.

i did try to alternate my seams for nesting, but after putting this together, i do think i may try the next blocks pressing open.

so, this quilt ended up being three blocks wide, two down, with sashing and corner stones. i’m calling this an airplane quilt because it is the right size for a lap quilt to cover your legs on a plane. also, it won’t take up a lot of bulk in a carry on.

here’s the finished product - as well as a fun shoe pic with my mama because why not?!?!?!

this really was a fun project to put together. i’m going to refine this some more and maybe even write it into a pattern. what do you all think - do you have a traveler that could use a good quilt for company on their journeys?

ps - to my prairie flower craft regulars - paula got these for the store. ask her and tell her jenny sent you. i also heard a little rumor she’ll have classes too!

finally, if you are visual people, deb tucker does demonstrate all of her tools on youtube. click here for a link to her youtube channel.