Block of the Month - March 2016

For our block lottery we will be making 8.5 inch (8 inch finish) Economy Blocks.  Economy blocks were all the rage in 2014 and a search for #economyblockalong on Instagram will get thousands of results in many different colors and several different sizes.   Catbird Quilt Studio has a tutorial and a cheat sheet so that you can make these blocks in any size you want.  For our block lottery let’s stick with the 8.5 inch block but I have already done the math on a couple other sizes as well in case you are interested. 

 

Please choose any three fabrics that coordinate well with one another.  I prefer significant contrast between the colors, but that is just my opinion. 

Cut one 4. 5” x 4. 5” square for the center.

Cut two 4.25” x 4.25” squares for the inner triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.

Cut two 5.5” x 5.5” squares for the outer triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.

 

Next sew two center triangles to opposite sides of your center block.  Press. 

Then sew the remaining two sides and press.  

Next trim the block to 6 inches making sure you leave 1/4 inch at each point. 

Repeat the same steps with the outer triangles and trim to 8.5 inches.  I haven’t trimmed my blocks down in the picture.  

Please visit Catbird Quilt Studio if you need more detailed instructions.

Additional sizes

Last month, Yanick asked us about our quilty new year’s resolution and several of us said that we wanted to make a dent in our scraps.  I was one of those people so while choosing the block of the month, I wanted to choose a block that is versatile and can work in many different color combinations.   My plan is to make a bunch of these blocks, some of which will be for our block lottery and some will be for me to eventually turn into a scrappy quilt or two. 

                                                                                     

I have realized that one of the things that overwhelms me about my scraps is that I want to make a matchy-matchy quilt and when I start trying to pick through my scraps to find the fabrics that go together I get frustrated and end up planning a quilt with new fabric, which of course leads to more scraps.   I need to be able to throw all caution to the wind, pick a block to make, pick random fabrics for that block and then throw them all together to make a fun quilt!   

That sounds good until I start looking at scrappy quilts on Pinterest and the internet.  Honestly, I really don’t care much for the totally crazy, color-filled quilt that has no overall color coordination.  Upon further observation, I realized that I can do crazy, busy, uncoordinated colors if I were to have some negative space to sort of “tame” the color theme. 

If you remember Carole Lyles Shaw taught us how to make a quilt using 13”, 8” and 5” blocks.   She beautifully arranged these blocks in negative space to create her Finonacci Quilt.   She said that if we use blocks that measure the same as the numbers in the Finonacci number sequence then our blocks will always work out mathematically. 

My plan is to use up a bunch of my scraps making 13”, 8” and 5” economy blocks and then arrange them in a Fibonacci style quilt.  I am including the measurements for the two additional sizes in case you are interested in doing the same thing.  Only the 8” blocks will be for the block lottery though.

All three sizes together

13” (13.5 unfinished) Economy block

Cut one 7” x 7” square for the center.

Cut two 6” x 6” squares for the inner triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.

Cut two 8” x 8” squares for the outer triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.

After you sew on the inner triangles you will trim your block to 9.5”

5” (5.5 unfinished) Economy block

Cut one 3” x 3” square for the center.

Cut two 3.25” x 3.25” squares for the inner triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.

Cut two 4” x 4” squares for the outer triangles and then cut each square in half diagonally.

After you sew on the inner triangles you will trim your block to 4”.