We discovered this wonderful Quilting tutorial for Squirrel in a Cage Quilt in YouTube. The literal transcription of the video is displayed below. We hope you find this selected tutorial useful. Enjoy it!
Hi everyone, this is Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. I have a fun project for you today.
This is the block we’re talking about. You might know it by some other names: Broken Wheel, Wagon Wheel, Rolling Stone. But actually, this block is inverted and when you turn it around, it’s a whole other block entirely. According to Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Blocks, it is called a squirrel in a cage. So that’s the name we’re going with.
I thought it was such a fun name! “A Squirrel in a Cage”, according to the Kansas City Star in 1935.
So let’s take a look at this quilt. Isn’t this fun? Now it’s a really easy block and it’s fun to make. It’s just one of those blocks that makes my mind go: what if.
What you will need to make your “Squirrel in a Cage” Quilt
So to make this quilt, you’ll need one packet of 10-inch squares. We used this gorgeous pack called Luscious Batiks by Kathy Ingle.
For Island Batik you’re also going to need some background. We used three and a half yards of background of this white.
Our border is one and a half yards and our backing is five and a quarter yards. This makes a quilt that is 69” by 83”.
Now I’ve used this cool quilting pattern called Sticky Buns. Anytime I have anything that’s kind of Blocky I like to do kind of a curved pattern. So it’s just really fun to make.
Let me show you how.
The Outer Corners
This block is really fun and it’s very simple. The first blocks we’re going to tackle are these outer corners out here. All of you are going to say “oh no, no, oh” but they are easy to make.
We’re going to start by getting two 10-inch squares that are the same. If you don’t have the same size, this center square could be different. I just made mine the same because my pack had two squares. It worked out well because this is an exclusive pack for Missouri Star.
It’s fun when we have those packs that are hand-picked, so first we’re going to make a cut that is four and a half inches from the edge like this.
We’re going to cut 4.5-inch squares from this so line your ruler up so it hits the 4.5-inch line right there. And we’ll just cut this one. Then we have to set them up here and then cut this one too.
Now this is your little leftover right here. We need one more 4.5-inch square, so I’m going to come off the side right here and cut one 4.5-inch square right here.
First, we’re going to cut a four and a half inch square and because you need five for the block. Then, out of this piece, we’re going to cut a two and a half inch strip and two two and a half inch blocks. These we’re going to use later in our cornerstones and sashing blocks. So here’s one, and here’s two.
And then out of this piece that’s left over here, we’re going to cut two strips that are two and a half by ten.
So let’s cut the first one and then we’ll cut this one. All right, and put this extra over here to the side because we won’t be needing that for this project.
The first thing in this tutorial for Squirrel in a Cage Quilt
The first thing we’re going to do is start with these four outer squares out here, and we’ve got 4 four and a half inch squares here; and we’re going to snowball them on all four sides.
To do that you’re going to need some two and a half inch squares. Now any time that we use different cuts of background yardage we will list it as yardage. But the cuts on these are actually two and a half inch squares which you can get in a pack like this, and two and a half inch strips which you can also get in a roll.
Now, you won’t use the whole thing for these but you know it’s if it’s more convenient for you to get those get them, because I love having fabric that I don’t have to cut, so if you do use these you won’t need your background Fabric or as much, anyway.
So what we’re going to do is we are going to snowball all four corners of these and we’re going to start by snowballing two corners on each square, and so we’re going to put one square here and you can draw the line.
Iron the line or use your diagonal seam tape, and we’re going to put one here and we’re going to sew on this line as well, so right down the center not on either side or both sides, but right down the center line up your needle. I line up my corner with my red line out here on my diagonal seam tape.
I can just sew straight across and I’m going to turn it and do the other side. Here we go, line up my point with the red line. We’re going to do this to four of the squares. Now I have two already done so I’m just going to do it to two, but you will need four.
All right, here’s this one corner to corner right down the middle and then put my other square over here.
Now what we’re going to do is we’re going to trim these off, and I have my other ones over here already done. So you can see what we’re going for right here, so I’m going to trim this off, and this off and then we’ll press that back.
And I’m going to trim these off as well, and I don’t actually measure a quarter of an inch, I just cut it off, you know, a little bit away from that seam. So I don’t worry about that too much.
All right, then we’re going to roll these back and roll this one back and then we’re going to put two more squares on these on the other corners as well.
And so this will go this way, all right we’re going straight on the line so put your needle right at the point and then sew straight across, keeping your point lined up with the little red line on your diagonal seam tape and you can draw the line as well.
Some people find that much easier, it’s just how our brains work. We all think differently.
There’s that one and this one. We need two more blocks. When I do these, you get to do these. You’ll do all four blocks. Then you’ll just chain piece all of one side and you’ll flip it around and chain piece all of the other. You’ll get four blocks done at a time.
That is the easiest way to do it in a roadway. I’m a rote sewer so I do the same thing over and over and uh, some of you are like that and some of you are a block at a time. We are all different, right?
Now let’s trim these and put that up there. Trim this side. There we go.
Allright, now let’s press these open, I can make the block now.
One of the things that I want to point out is that I am rarely perfect in my sewing so I tend to square things up. So if you have a four and a half inch ruler these blocks should measure four and a half.
You can lay this down here and see that it measures at least four and a half inches. It’s a little bit short over here, so I’m going to take mental note of that and fit it into the seam. This one over here looks pretty good. These two, I had to actually square up a little bit because my corner lines weren’t exactly straight. So you’re going to need four of these and we’re going to set these aside while we work on these bar blocks here.
The Bar Blocks
Now for the bar blocks, we have these two pieces that are two by ten inches and we’re just going to take a two and a half inch strip and sew them down the side. We’re going to lay this on top of here like this and go ahead and sew straight down the side, just one side. Then I’m going to lay my other piece right on top here.
We’re going to trim these up and these are going to be four and a half inches. I’m going to leave them and not press them open yet, I will cut them before I press them. I’m laying my ruler here for four and a half inches and you’re going to need four of these pieces for the block. We’ll trim this little piece off here and then four and a half and four and a half and then we’ll set this aside and we’ll press these open.
I’ll show you how this block lays out. So you need four of these bar blocks and four of the square blocks and then you need one block for your middle.
Let me show you how that goes together. These go in the corners out here like this. We’re turning the white to the center like this on all four sides.
Assembling the Squirrel in the Cage block
And that makes our squirrel in the cage block. But before we sew it together, I want to make sure that my bar blocks are the same size.
These are four and a half, so let’s measure them all quick to be sure. Sometimes when you use a jelly roll strip that has a pinked edge, it’s going to be a little bit bigger than your cut strip. So you just want to make sure that these are all four and a half inches.
They look pretty good, so let’s line this out again. Put our whites to the center toward our color block and our four corners in there. Then let’s just sew this together.
I’m going to go ahead and lay it like this and sew it all the way down one side, one column. And so we’re just going to come over to the sewing machine and sew a quarter of an inch from the edge and line them up nice and straight. Put this one to the center, making sure that your white goes to the center.
If I’m going to make a mistake, it’s going to be on the bar block. I’ve actually done that several times. And so then this one comes down here and we’re going to sew a quarter of an inch. If you’ve squared them all to four and a half inches, they should just go together so easily.
All right, so now what I’m going to do is flip these around and add my block to the other side like this. My threads are holding my rows together, so it’s kind of like I’m pinning but not really. There’s that one and again, white to the middle. Then my corner block right here.
Now I missed my quarter of an inch a little bit, so I’m going to go back over that and sew it a little deeper, watch my quarter inch line a little better. There we go.
As you can see, because I haven’t cut my threads, it’s all kind of holding my block together. And what I’m going to do now is just lay this over here and sew that side and then we’ll sew the other side. I like that, um, kind of how the thread holds it together when I do that.
Let me make sure this is lined up. You want to line up at the junctions. And if you’ve made sure your blocks are the same size, this will go together very easily. Then I’m going to flip this around and open this up and lay this over here like that. And then I’m going to make sure these seams nest nicely and these ones also nest nicely. There we go.
Press the Block
Now it’s time to press our block and see how we did. This is a really forgiving block and it’s a fun block too. So just with a little snowballing and some bar blocks, you’ve got this great little block.
Let’s come over to the quilt and look at how many we have. So we have one, two, three, four by one, two, three, four, five, so five because we use two layer cakes for each square.
So you’ll have two left over, but I’m sure you can find something to do with those.
Sashing Strip
Now in between our blocks, we added a sashing. So in between each block, you’re going to add this sashing strip right here. Now your block should measure about 12 and a half inches. So your sashing strips will be 12 and a half inches. Measure your block and make sure and then cut them that size. And then this sashing strip will also be 12 and a half inches, but you’ll put a little cornerstone at each junction.
Put them together
In this link you can learn How to assemble a block quilt.
Let me show you how you put these together. You’re going to take your block, which is 12 and a half inches, and your 12 and a half inch sashing. You’re going to sew it on here, open it up, and attach the next block to it like this. And open that up. And you’ll do this, you know, so you have four across.
Actually, this would be a great quilt if you wanted to make a big quilt for a bed. This would be a quilt that gets big really fast. And so we’ve got this like this. When you’re ready to put the next sashing in this block here, this sashing strip is also going to be 12 and a half inches. And then you sew your little cornerstone and then you put your other little 12 and a half inch sashing on it.
And you’re just going to do that all along that row. So this row, this is one row, and then this little sashing row is the next row that you’re going to put up. This is a nice big six inch border out here.
Then our back of course is just beautiful. I love the quilting pattern. Love these colors of blue and green. They’re the colors of life.
So I hope you enjoy this tutorial and I hope you have fun making the squirrel in a cage block from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.
This tutorial for Squirrel in a Cage Quilt seems very easy to make following Jenny’s way, although the pattern appears difficult at first view. Thank you for this extraordinarily simple way, Jenny!
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