| Drunkard's Path Block
Making the Drunkard’s Path Block
The steps for the drunkard’s path block
1. Cut swatches
2. Make yoyos
3. Sew yoyos onto swatches
4. Cut swatches into block
Now you have an overview - let’s begin making the blocks
Let's begin on the first block. It is best to do these steps in an assembly line fashion for all the blocks you will need. But for now let’s just look at one block at a time.
Making a flat yoyo -you will need 9 of each
color swatches
Cut a swatch of each fabric
 
A dark burgundy a light burgundy
Cut a 2” circle of cardboard for a circle template. Lay the circle on the back side of the light swatch. Trim the swatch to about ½ ” from the circle. It doesn’t need to be cut perfectly round but don’t cut it much smaller.
Thread a needle with a length of thread at least 10” Sew a running stitch around the edge of the light burgundy swatch.
  
Draw up the thread gathering the fabric slightly. Lay the cardboard circle inside the drawn fabric. Draw the thread tightly but don’t pucker the circle. Hold the thread tight against the back side of the fabric and lay it down on your ironing surface. Don’t trim the thread yet. You can snip the needle off if you want but you will need to pull the thread again later.
Tip: I thread several needles at a time so you have what you need at hand.
Spray with sizing and iron. I soak mine with sizing. I like them stiff because they are easier to work with. Turn it over and spray the other side. Set aside to let it dry. I like to let it dry overnight for the stiffest results. But you can work with it if you iron it as dry as possible. You just have to be more careful to maintain the circular shape after you remove the cardboard circle. A hair dryer might dry it quicker also. Just an idea.
Tip: If you don’t want to get sizing all over your ironing board ( it can get sticky) you might protect your ironing board with a thin cotton tea towel before you spray. You still need a flat surface to iron on so don’t use a fluffy towel or you will not be able to get it flat enough
After your yoyo is dry - pry up one edge and pull the cardboard circle out gently. Your circle should maintain it’s shape but you need to gently pull the thread to pull it back into a circle. I like to put my thumb against(NOT ON) the thread to keep the circle in shape as I pull. Pull gently on which ever side you need to to draw it back into a good circle shape. Now you can trim the thread off.
 
 
pull out cardboard -thumb against thread finished flat yoyo
gently pull thread til the circle is a good shape
Tip: If you cut all the swatches at one time it will save you time. I highly recommend that you make all of your yoyos at the same time before going on to the next step. If you leave them to dry overnight or for awhile this is especially important to make all of them now. They will be very stiff and easier to work with the longer you can leave them to dry.
Making the block
The best way to do these is to make a lot of them at one time.
Overview
Cut all swatches
Lay the circle templates on the swatches and trim
Baste the circle fabrics (all of them)
Spray and iron the circles
Sew the circles onto the swatches
Cut the squares
Now lay the yoyo face up on the swatch( also face up). Pin in place.
Place the yoyo under the foot on your sewing machine. Sew around the edge slowly. Take a couple stitches and then evaluate whether you can take another stitch or do you need to lift the foot and turn your fabric. Make sure you always leave your needle down before you lift the foot! When you get practiced at doing this you can slide the fabric so it spins under the needle. But spinning them is not easy to do.
Continue to sew around the circle a few stitches at a time until you get back to where you started. This is the only curved sewing you will do on this project. With practice this is not really hard. It may seem intimidating but if you go slow it isn’t really that difficult to do. I can’t drop my feeddogs so I just sew it normally.
Next it is time to cut the swatch apart. You need to cut this into four but they need to be the same size. Basically you want to measure the width of your yoyo and cut down the middle with your rotary cutter.
I have an 18” ruler cut into two sections. I like to use both of them so I can position them on the yoyo. Then I take away the right one leaving the left one in place and cut. I don’t have to figure any fractions that way. Just use the lines on the rulers to center your yoyo between both rulers.
Some math is unavoidable but why bother if you don’t have to- right?
 
Make sure to lay ruler parallel with the edge of the swatch or you will not have room for the template.
Now take the half swatch and turn it so you can do it again and cut the half into two. Repeat with the other half.
You should have 4 rough squares.
Lay one rough square on your mini cutting mat. Place the 2” template on the rough square. Match up the corner of the template with the corner of the square.
Cut out the square. Remember to keep the template from moving as you turn the mat to cut.
Repeat this step with all the other rough squares.
Fold back the light fabric and trim the bulk underneath. You can do this before or after you cut the rough square into a 2” block. Trim within a ¼” of the seam.
 
Now you have a drunkard’s path block.
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