Ben quickly made friends in busy Philadelphia! He was a fine printer and soon his reputation made it to the ears of Sir William Keith, the colony's governor. Govenor Keith wanted to see if Ben was the printer he was said to be, and sent Ben to London England to buy the equipment necessary to set up his own shop! When he got to London, Ben realized there would be no equipment nor shop...the governor had sent no money, letters, or notes, only empty promises.
To print a copy of Page 1, click here-->Download London Roads-Block 7 Benjamin Franklin Mystery Quilt page 1
To print a copy of Page 2, click here-->Download London Roads-Block 7 Benjamin Franklin Mystery Quilt page 2
To print a copy of Page 3, click here-->Download London Roads-Block 7 Benjamin Franklin Mystery Quilt page 3
(We stongly advise downloading all three of these pages)
London Roads block tutorial
Start the London Roads block by drawing diagonal lines across the back of one Beige scrap 4 1/4-inch square. Layer with the remaining Beige scrap 4 1/4-inch square. Then sew 1/4-inch to each side of one of the drawn lines. Cut on the sewn line and press the two resulting squares open.
Do exactly the same with the colored 4 1/4-inch squares: draw two diagonal lines across the back of the Red scrap 4 1/4-inch square, layer on top of the Blue scrap 4 1/4-inch square, sew, cut, and press the two resulting squares open.
You will need to finish drawing the diagonal line across the back of the Biege units...this will guide your sewing as before! Layer these Beige squares on top of the Blue and Red squares; sew 1/4-inch to each side of the unsewn line, cut and press open just like before. Repeat with remaining squares to make 4 Corner units.
The 4 Corner units are pressed and ready to be sewn into the block. Each one should measure 3 1/2-inches square. (They are actually 'hourglass' blocks.)
Make the Side units by sewing together the Biege, Red, and Blue scrap 1 1/2 by 3 1/2-inch rectangles. You will need to make 4 Side units that measure 3 1/2-inch square.
Use the Page 2 diagram to lay out the three rows of the block. Make sure that your Beige triangles are placed in the right direction! Sew the units together.
Then sew the rows together matching the corners carefully!
Sew the top and bottom borders to the block; triming as needed.
Next, sew the side borders, trimming as needed.
The London Roads block is now finished! Give your block a spritz of spray starch, if you like, and a good press. See you next month for another block!
If you are missing a page, or need further copies of any of the instructions posted to date, click on the Benjamin Franklin Mystery Quilt button under DON'T MISS A STEP to find what you need. If you have a question, or need further assistance, please contact Erik HOMEMADE®.
Do not forget to visit OUR READERS SHARE Photo Album and see what blocks our readers have made! To share photos of your own work, simply send a jpeg photo to the email address listed on our Contact Us Page--we will be happy to post them!
