Okay, those two weeks went by way faster than I expected.
Two more blocks this time, and both will measure 12.5 inches pieced, 12 inches finished in the quilt.
I decided to piece both of these at the same time, since many of the pieces and units were similar.
Cutting the Pieces
Block 6
- Background:
- (8) 3½” squares
- (2) 3 7/8″ squares, cut in half diagonally
- Medium:
- (2) 3 7/8″ squares, cut in half diagonally
- (4) 3½” by 1½” rectangles
- (10) 1½” squares
- Dark:
- (2) 3½” by 1½” rectangles
- (8) 1½” squares
Block 7
- Background: (4) 3 7/8″ squares, cut in half diagonally
- Light:
- (16) 1½” squares
- (4) 3½” squares
- Medium:
- (4) 3 7/8″ squares, cut in half diagonally
- (16) 1½” squares
- Dark: (4) 1½” squares
Make the Units
I pieced all of my half square triangle units together, and then I pieced my other units and set them into separate stacks to piece into the two blocks.
Block 6 Unit 1: rectangles “rail fence” – make 2 units using 3 rectangle pieces in the order Medium/Dark/Medium
Block 6 Unit 2: 9-patches – make 2 units using 1½” squares – Arrange 5 Medium squares as the outer corners and center square and 4 Dark squares in between them.
Block 7 Unit 3: 9 patches – make 2 units using 1½” squares – Arrange 4 Medium squares as the outer corners, 1 Dark square in the center, and 4 Light squares in between them.
Piece Block 6
Arrange block 6 pieces and units as in the photo. I chose to sew mine together as four-patch units, then sewed those together as one big four patch.
Piece Block 7
Block 7 is essentially made of one 4-patch unit that is rotated a quarter turn in each quadrant. If you piece 4 units exactly the same, you’re less likely to have a piece turned incorrectly. That’s what I did for this block. It did make pressing a bit trickier, as I like to spin my seams, but I made it work.
Dark Background Version
When you do a dark background version, you have to reverse the instructions – where it says “light” use “dark” and vice versa.
And when I realized that instead of piecing two 3½” squares together, I could use a 3½” by 6½” rectangle, I did that instead for block 6.
