Wednesday, August 1, 2018

August 2018 Block of the Month - Simple Butterfly

This month's block is a simple butterfly.




To make things a bit more interesting, I'm providing three sizes, all interlocking (12, 6 and 3 inches, finished) to make a non-traditional layout. Use blues and white/low volume. You can use the same blue for all elements or mix it up with multiple blues. It's a very simple block, so make more than one!!

Cutting instructions and counts:

Color
3” butterfly
6” butterfly
12” butterfly
Background (upper wings)
(1) 2.5” square
(1) 4” square
(1) 7” square
Background (tail wings)
(3) 1.75” squares
(3) 2.5” squares
(3) 4” squares
Blue (upper wings)
(1) 2.5 inch square
(1) 4” square
(1) 7” square
Blue (body)
(2) 1.25”  squares
(2) 2” squares
(2) 3.5” squares
Blue (tail wings)
(3) 1.75” squares
(3) 2.5” squares
(3) 4” squares






Detailed instructions:

Choose a size (3, 6 or 12 inch) and cut all the squares from the corresponding column in the table above. For example, to make a 6" block, you'll cut:

1 4.0" blue square
3 2.5" blue squares
1 4.0" background square
2 2" blue squares
3 2.5" background squares

 Pair one background and one blue square for the wings, large and small:




Stack the pairs right sides together and draw a diagonal line. Pin the sides:



Sew two seams on each stack, 1/4 inch from the center:



Cut down the line you marked:


Open each unit to reveal a half-square triangle. The unit will be a bit larger than needed. The units must be trimmed to these sizes:

Sizes after trimming HSTs:
Color
3” butterfly
6” butterfly
12” butterfly
Upper Wing
 2.0” square
3.5” square
6.5” square
Tail Wings
1.25” squares
2.0” squares
3.5” squares


For example, if you are making the 6" butterfly, the upper wing should be trimmed to 3.5". Make sure to lay the 45 degree line of the ruler over the seam:





Arrange all the trimmed units in sewing order:



Sew the units into three rows:



Finally sew the three rows together:



For reference, the original (12 inch) design is here, but I'm not sure who did this first, as it's in multiple websites...

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