February 2018 – 8 HSTs

Congratulations to Barbara McG  and Marilyn C for winning the Hourglass blocks.  There were 30 Hourglass blocks.

This month you will have a chance to play with the 8 HST’s at once method.  You will need two 10″ squares again to make two blocks. One 10″ square in a colourful print with a bit of green in it – could be floral, geometric, Kaffe Fassett.  And one 10″ square of a solid or tone-on-tone in one of the strong colours in the print.

The idea for this block came from a Kaffe Fassett book and I am asking for a bit of green so that the quilt will have a bit of unity in colour.

Check out the RELEVANT WEBSITES below for websites on making 8 HSTs at once.  The blocloc site has directions and a chart for different sizes of HSTs.

MATERIALS

1 — 10″ square of a colourful print
1 — 10″ square of a strong colour from the print

ASSEMBLY

Place the two 10″ square right sides together.  Draw the two diagonals.  I like to pin to keep everything steady.  Sew scant 1/4″ seams on each side of each line , ie. each diagonal.  Remove pins and press.

      

Using a ruler at least 5 inches wide cut through the centre vertically and horizontally.

    

Then cut along the diagonals.  The first times I did this I separated the pieces after cutting, BUT, I think it works better if one does all four cuts before moving the pieces.

     

Voilà – you have 8 half square triangles.  Press them open to the print side and trim to 4 1/2 inches.  I tried to keep the full width of the black marking lines on the ruler on the fabric inside the square so that it was a generous 4 1/2″ square.

      

Join four HSTs using scant 1/4″ seams to make a four-patch block or join in a column of four.

The four-patch should measure 8 1/2″ unfinished. Bring your blocks to the meeting in March for the Block Lotto.  Every block is worth one ticket on the draw!

 

NOTE:  This method could be used to make Maple Leaf blocks for the guild’s Quilt of Valour.  Use a 10″ square of white and a 10″ square of a multicolour batik or print and you will have 4 HSTs for each of 2 Maple Leaf blocks.

Add three 4 1/2″ squares of the print, a 4 1/2″ square of white for the corner, and a 5″ square to make a 4 1/2″ square with the stem.  Put it together as the block.
I have rewritten the directions for the block used in a previous Block of the Month and used the 8 HST method.  New Maple Leaf block directions.

For a 6″ block one would use two 6″ squares to make the 2 1/2″ unfinished HSTs

RELEVANT WEBSITES

Happy Quilting,
Marilyn C

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