Frugal Village- Frugal living community

You'll need:

- dark material
- med material
- light material
- ruler
- pencil
- sandpaper

First we need to make sure our material is washed and dried as we did in our other blocks. Once pressed, we then need to cut off the selvage edges on our material, if you haven't already done so. I'm going to give you a link to check out for washing, pressing and trimming instructions so that I don't have to repeat all the pictures again. Please make sure you have done this before starting this block Please check quilting prep 101 and the Nine patch tutorial to read prepping instructions.

http://www.frugalvillage.com/quiltprep.shtml

Again, your block will measure 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 when finished and will look like this:

Lets starting cutting. You will need: *1 - 4 1/2 inch block for your centre block. (mine is white) *4 - 4 1/2 inch blocks for your outside edge blocks (mine are mint green with white dots) Using your acrylic ruler, make sure you've measured and then cut. Lay those aside for further instructions.

More cutting. All these blocks need to be cut 5 1/4 inches square. You need: 2 - dark colors 1 - light color 1 - of the same color as your corner blocks TIP - You'll note that were cutting our squares 5 1/4 inches here. When we did our other blocks (half square triangles), we always cut the blocks 4 7/8 inches, so we had added 7/8 inches to a 4 inch block. Here (quarter square triangles) were adding 1 1/4 inches so that the blocks when ready to sew together will measure 4 1/2 inches each. (If you were doing a 3 inch block or a 7 inch block, you would always do the same thing.) Always remember that little trick and your blocks will come out the proper size.

Take your 5 1/4 inch light color and 1 - 5 1/4 inch dark color. Place face down, so that the colors are facing each other.

Place on top of sandpaper and draw a line corner to corner as in the following picture, with your pencil. Use a regular pencil, but do not push hard when drawing the line. DO NOT CUT!!!

Once the main line is drawn, take your ruler and move 1/4 inch on each side of your main line. Draw a line on both sides as in the following picture. DO NOT CUT!!

Take that block to your sewing machine and sew on each outside line. DO NOT CUT when finished. Wait for further instructions.

Now turn your block so that its exactly as in the following picture. Using your ruler and your cutter, cut from corner to corner, exactly as in the picture.

When cut it should look like the following picture.

Now take 1/2 of what you've just cut, and cut exactly as in the following picture, cutting on the centre line, not the outside lines.

Press, making sure your press towards your dark colored material.

Once pressed, it will look like the following picture.

Now do the exact same thing over, only with your dark color and your other 5 1/4 inch block.

Just repeat EXACTLY what you've just done over again.

Now take what you've just done and begin sewing it together, using the following picture. Make sure you have the right pieces together.

Once sew, press the back as in the following picture. Then square the block, making sure it measures 4 1/2 inches. If its off a wee bit, its okay. If its off a lot, you'll need to start over again.

Once pressed, the front will look like this.

We're now going to sew the blocks together. I always, always lay my blocks out this way and put them beside my sewing machine. It is so much easier to get it right, to only have to sew once, rather than having to take it apart a number of times. If you do this with all your blocks, it will become a habit, and a very good one.

So having said that, lay your blocks out on your large ruler or a large piece of cardboard and bring to your sewing machine.

Take your blocks in the top row and sew the 3 of them together. Do the same with the middle row and with the last row. Press as you go.

Once that is done then, take your top row and middle row and pin, making sure your seams in each block sit in together. You'll want to make sure your seams are pressed opposite so that they just "sit together" easily. Your points will line up much better that way.

Once sewn together, press. Your back should look like the following picture.

Square your block (as explained in previous tutorials), making sure it measures 12 1/2 inches. If your off by less than 1/4 of an inch its okay, although by now you should be getting closer to a perfect block of 12 1/2 inches, if you've been following each tutorial in procession. If your off by more than that, you'll need to start over!! First try pressing and see if that makes a difference.