African Village Hut 1 B and 1 A Blocks
The dog trainers I work with are all of African American descent. One of them collects ethnic art work and she also adores babies. Every time a baby comes in to the training center with a parent (and dog), my trainer lights up. So when I found this un-named pattern, house brand ethnic fabric at Jo-ann's Fabric and Craft Store I knew I had to make an African Village quilt for her.
Jo-ann's Fabric and Craft Store Ethnic print
Isn't this fabric delightful?
I decided I wanted to have a village and a river since some of the women are carrying water jugs on their heads.
Here is the design I created on my computer with the program EQ7 (Electric Quilt 7). I scanned and imported the ethnic print fabric and the batik I'm using for the river. The other fabrics are in EQ7's stock fabric library and are close approximations of what I plan to use.
African Village Quilt Design 41 x 58 inches
I'm working on this quilt this week and will post new blocks and PDF patterns for them on Wednesday, August 6 and Friday, August 8.
Here are links to the PDF paper piecing patterns for African Hut 1 A and 1 B. The huts are the same but the door face slightly different directions. Print out 2 copies of step B, one for each hut. The 1/4 inch seams are very faint on these PDF files. Make sure you allow for the 1/4 inch seams around the outer edge of each section. The unfinished block measures 9.5 x 9.5 inches and will finish at 9 inches square.
This is a great quilt for using your scraps. If you wish to purchase fabric, here is the estimated yardage.
3/4 yard of the Focus ethnic print fabric
1/2 yard inner red border
1 yard outer orange border
1 yard tan background fabric for the paper pieced hut blocks
1/2 yard various yellow or similar color for thatched roofs
5 Fat Quarters (Fat Eights should do if you have them) or scraps for the 5 hut walls if you want the all the huts to be different
1 1/4 yards various greens, I recommend getting 1/2 yard pieces if you get more than 1 green
1/4 yard for blue in the river
1/4 yard for the brown in the river section
1 3/4 yards backing IF you have a full usable 42+ inch width and don't mind tight margins OR 2 2/3 yards if you wish to piece the backing if you need wider margins for quilting
Binding 1/2 yard
Let me know if you plan to make this quilt too so I set up a link or place to share your work. I hope you'll join me!