Sept 2012 Block of the Month

For September, we'll be making a variation of the traditional log cabin block that looks like a Wonky Donut. It is very forgiving and...practically no measuring!

Choose a white background and bright colors. I made two blocks, one with 1 1/2 inch scraps and another using 2 1/2 inch scraps, but any scrap will do, really. It would be nice if some of us made the small size donut while others made the larger size.

Start with a sort-of-square white piece that will be the center of the donut:

Add a strip to one of the sides and press the seam outward (all seams are to be pressed toward the outside):

Trim to the edges of the white center:

 Now trim a piece of the strip, to make it "wonky":

Pick the next scrap so it is long enough to cover the next side (the white part and the strip you just sewed):

Keep going around the block, adding a strip to each side, then cutting off a piece before moving to the next. Here is the block after adding the first 5 strips:

After two rounds of strips are sewn, it looks like this:

Now we cut the corners off, preferably at different angles and sizes:




Replace the cut-off corners with white pieces, like this: Sew a white scrap to a corner:

Then trim to the sides.

Repeat for the other three corners:

The donut is done:

You may want to make the block, at this point, sort of square, to make it easier to add the white borders.

All that remains is add white borders to make it 12 1/2 x 12 1/2. I suggest making the borders a bit larger and trim to size once it's all sewn.

Here is the same block, with wider strips: