F+P QAL Block Piecing Part 1

Welcome back! Wow, wow, wow is all I can say!!! Y’all picked the most gorgeous fabric for your projects.

This week we will piece together a portion of the blocks using what you have chosen as the dark color fabric. For the Baby Size quilt, you will piece 10 blocks and for the Lap Size quilt you will piece 18 blocks. Click on the quilt size below  for a handy-dandy cheat sheet with required amounts of units and blocks to make for each quilt size.

*Baby Size Quilt

*Lap Size Quilt

 

*The colors in the handy-dandy cheat sheet do not represent the color of fabric used to piece each unit. But rather groups the pieces together that are needed to make up each unit.

Below is the block we will be piecing today.

You may use a chain-piecing method to speed up piecing the blocks. Here is a tutorial on how to chain-piece if you have not done so before. You can also search chain-piecing in YouTube to watch a video tutorial. Also, use a 1/4″ seam allowance to piece the blocks and the blocks will measure 10.5″ unfinished (10″ finished).

Step 1: Piece the 3″ Square Units

Using the chain-piecing method, piece the 3″ square dark color fabric squares to the 3″ background fabric squares. Refer to the handy-dandy cheat sheet for total amount of 3″ Square Units to make for the quilt size you have chosen. Press seam towards the darker fabric.

Step 2: Piece the Half-Square Triangle (HST) Units

Mark the required number of 3″ light color fabric squares corner-to-corner to prepare them for chain-piecing. Pin the 3″ light color fabric squares to the 3″x5.5″ dark color fabric rectangles; keep in mind that all of the diagonal sew-lines must run the same way to make the facet in the middle of the plus.

Next, sew right on top of the line you have marked on the 3″ light color fabric square. Trim the seam allowance to 1/4″. Use those extra triangle ‘ears’ as a leader-ender project if you desire (reduce waste!).

Press your seams as I have done below. Press half of the HST Units you just created so that the seam points towards the dark color rectangle and the other half of the HST Units so that the seam points towards the light color triangle.

Step 3: Piece the Corner Units

*The Corner Units are not detailed in the handy-dandy cheat sheet.

Piece the 3″ square units to the HST Units. Press the seam towards the HST Unit.

Layout each block, one on top of another, with the HST seams following the arrows in the diagram.

Step 4: Piece the Block Together

Piece the Corner Units to the 5.5″ background fabric squares. Press the seam towards the 5.5″ background fabric.

Piece the top half of the block to the bottom half of the block. Press the seam towards the bottom half of the block. It really doesn’t matter if you press this seam towards the top half or bottom half of the block, as long as you press this seam the same way for all of these blocks.

Tah dah, all done for the first half of block piecing. And you may have guessed it, the piecing for the other portion of the blocks is exactly the same except for swapping out the dark and light fabrics and making a few less blocks for the Lap Size quilt.

Cheers,

Amanda