September BOM – We’re Quartering the Block!

We’re over halfway through our Back to the Basics Block of the Month Challenge!  It’s very exciting for me to see a quilt top so near completion, yet still so far.

If you wanted to have more blocks in your block sampler quilt top, simply make the blocks again in different fabrics, yet still in your color scheme/theme.  I’ve thought about doing that to increase the size, however, I think I’ve settled on added sashing throughout the quilt to increase the size.

I’ve had a couple of people message me about how they can do the BOM with us, without using an AccuQuilt fabric cutter.  I have been giving the finished sizes according to the die, however, this past month someone reached out and showed me that it still wasn’t working.  They do appear to be different on some of the dies.  I will do my best to make this as accurate as possible – but please email me if you are having trouble and we can find the solution together.

This month’s Block of the Month is…a 9 patch of Quarter Square Triangles (QST) Squares.

I’ve tried to find a name for this block and I have been unlucky.

I did see it as a block on a sampler quilt and thought that would be a nice touch to our sampler quilt top we are making in our Block of the Month program!

This block gave me some grief…I’m not going to lie.  The first time I saw the block it was only a 4 patch made from the QSTs.  So cute!

Every pattern I found though was for NOT a 12.5″ quilt block.  I tried 4 times to make it 12.5″ before I just came to the realization that I needed to use my AccuQuilt fabric cutter to get perfect cuts and making our block 3 across and 3 down, instead of a total of 4.  I now have a wide array of larger QSTs that I will come up with another block to use them for…

If you don’t have an AccuQuilt fabric cutter, I believe you can get the same results with starting your squares at 4.25″.  Cut across on both diagonals to get the QST.

Arrange your QST’s as the layout …Note that this shows 2 rows instead of 3.  Patience.

I choose to use my neutral white with grey tones in every block and added 2 QSTs of almost every fabric I have used in this quilt top thus far.  I thought this was a good way to use all of the different and bright colors in my BOM box.

I started sewing each square (4 QSTs) together and matching seams…Be careful about matching the seams.  It really can make or break this block.

Also – press your seams to the darker colored fabric.  This allowed for seams to nest together and to not cause too much bulk.

Once your 4 QSTs form a square – trim your dog ears if you are not using an AccuQuilt.  The AccuQuilt does this already for you in case you didn’t know.  It really helps with bulk!

I sewed across the rows and then attached the rows together – Again paying attention to the seams.  I found here that I needed to press one seam to another side to get the seams to nest without bulk.  Double check your seams when you pin the rows together before sewing.

Before I knew it, this block was done!  If only I had used the AccuQuilt fabric cutter to begin with!

Here’s another one of my oopsies….Believe me, I had plenty on this block before I pulled out my AccuQuilt fabric cutter.  Life would have been easier if I had just done that to begin with.

I accidentally sewed the triangles the same and you have to be cautious about mixing the sides up when you sew to get the alternating effect.

Jack got to come out and rip this apart for me.  He was getting lonely, so it was sort of a good thing.

With only 3 more blocks to go before we put this top together…do you have any blocks in mind that we haven’t done?  Which blocks have been your favorite?  For a quick peak at all of the blocks – visit the Block of the Month tab for our site and have a glance!

Happy Quilting! (& Sewing!)