Patchwork and Quilting: Card Trick Block

For the card trick block you will need three different coloured fabrics.

I am using a pack of templates from ‘Prym’, I have had them for 8 years, they are in constant use and they are still going strong. The pack contains 6 templates, 3 squares (2”, 2&4/5”and 4”) and 3 triangles (2”, 2&4/5”and 4”). I recommend buying some templates as they will last for many years and so they are definitely worth it if you are planning to do a lot of patchwork, but if you are unable to buy these templates, you can make your own. I drew around the templates and scanned the images for you to download with the following link, print them out and carefully trace them onto a vinyl template sheet and cut them out (it is very important to be accurate when tracing and cutting otherwise the patches will not match up).

1. Wash and iron your fabrics and decide which ones you would like to be the cards and which one will be the background. Play around a bit with different colours, make use of the downloadable pattern below and colour it in to give you an idea of what it will look like.

2. Using the largest triangle (4”) template cut out 12 paper templates and using the medium sized triangle (2&4/5”) template cut out 12 paper templates.

3. Cut out 4 large triangles and 4 small triangles from each of the fabrics, remembering to add the ¼” seam allowance all the way round.

4. Pin the paper templates to the centre of each patch of fabric and tack in place, making sure all edges and corners are neat and crisp.

5. Lay out all the patches out in front of you in their correct place, this will help you see which patches will be sewn together.

6. Assemble each of the nine patches by following the pattern and photos provided. Remember always pin the patches with right sides facing and use oversewing stitches to join them together. Sew the patches together starting with the smallest triangles and adding the larger triangles where needed. Sew the larger triangles together that make up the corner squares. When all the triangles are joined together you will have made 9 squares.

7. You can now start sewing your rows together. Start with the top left hand corner square (made up from 2 large triangles) and sew it to the middle square (made from 1 large and 2 small triangles). Please double check that you are sewing the correct sides together by referring to the pattern and photos provided. Next, sew the top right hand corner square (made from 2 large triangles) to complete the row.

8. Sew the middle and bottom rows in the same way, referring to the pattern as you go.

9. Once you have completed the three rows, pin and sew the top row to the middle row, then the bottom row to the middle row, always double checking that the pattern is correct. Remember when pinning to carefully match up the edges and points where the patches meet.

10. Take out the pins, but DO NOT take out the tacking or papers. You have now completed the ‘Card Trick’ block and it is ready to be used in a project or stored to be used at a later date.

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