Tumbling blocks quilt hand embroidery pattern

Advanced · 8 colors · 3 kinds of stitch

Tumbling blocks quilt: preview of the stitched design

Nineteen tumbling blocks are set in a six-sided piece, with no stitched seams: every block is three diamonds that read as the top and two sides of a cube, with a hairline of bare cloth between them. Every diamond is filled with satin stitch laid across its short way, the top of each cube pale, its right side teal and its left side navy, and the one cube in the middle is worked in three pinks and corals of its own. Round the piece runs a wreath: a ring of stem stitch with six woven wheel roses on it, one over the middle of each side of the piece, and between the roses pairs of plump satin stitch leaves, the outer ones in one green and the inner in another.

Size and details

Advanced. Uses woven wheels, satin stitch over about a third of the cloth in a 6 inch hoop, eight colors and a great deal of stitching.

8 colors of floss and 3 kinds of stitch:

The stitched size and the widest satin stitch, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters	Satin stitch up to
3 in (8 cm)	1.9 × 1.9 in	4.8 × 4.8 cm	1/8 in (3 mm)
4 in (10 cm)	2.9 × 2.8 in	7.4 × 7.1 cm	3/16 in (5 mm)
5 in (13 cm)	3.8 × 3.8 in	9.7 × 9.7 cm	1/4 in (6 mm)
6 in (15 cm)	4.8 × 4.7 in	12.2 × 11.9 cm	5/16 in (8 mm)
8 in (20 cm)	6.7 × 6.6 in	17 × 16.8 cm	3/8 in (10 mm)

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 152 Medium Light Shell PinkTop of the block in the middle
DMC 351 CoralRight side of the block in the middle and roses on the wreath
DMC 3831 Dark RaspberryLeft side of the block in the middle
DMC 3811 Very Light TurquoiseTops of the other blocks
DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseRight sides of the other blocks
DMC 336 Navy BlueLeft sides of the other blocks
DMC 320 Medium Pistachio GreenRing of the wreath and outer leaves of the wreath
DMC 989 Forest GreenInner leaves of the wreath

The floss is six-strand cotton; the stitch guide says how many strands to use. You also need a hoop, an embroidery needle (a size 7 to 9 suits two or three strands) and plain cotton or linen fabric. To frame the piece in its hoop, cut a square 3 inches (8 cm) wider than the hoop: a 9 inch (23 cm) square for a 6 inch hoop.

Stitch guide

Satin stitch 2 strandsTop of the block in the middle, right side of the block in the middle, left side of the block in the middle, tops of the other blocks, right sides of the other blocks, left sides of the other blocks, outer leaves of the wreath, inner leaves of the wreath
Stem stitch 2 or 3 strandsRing of the wreath
Woven wheel stitch 2 strandsRoses on the wreath

Getting it onto your fabric

The PDF holds the pattern twice at actual size: once as drawn, and once mirrored for an iron-on transfer pen. Print it at 100% with scaling off and check the one-inch square (25.4 mm) with a ruler before you trace. How to transfer a pattern explains tracing, carbon paper and the other ways. The files are under Downloads.