Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Peace on Earth - A Mystery Quilt - Day 5

Good morning and welcome to Day 5!

Today we're moving back to traditional piecing and making Shoo Fly blocks....




I love Shoo Fly blocks -- the name is adorable and they couldn't be easier to construct.  Today will be a piece of cake!


For each of our two 3" x 3" (finished) Shoo Fly blocks, you'll need:

Ivory print:
2 -- 2" x 2" squares (so that's 4 total)
1 -- 1½" x 1½" square (2 total)

Dark blue print:
2 -- 2" x 2" squares (4 total)
4 -- 1½" x 1½" squares (8 total)




Assemble the HSTs (again!!  You're going to be an expert at making HSTs!!):
1.  Gather two sets of two ivory print 2" x 2" squares and two dark blue print 2" x 2" squares.
2.  On the wrong side of each of the ivory print 2" x 2" squares, use a pencil or pen to mark a line a scant ¼" from either side of the true diagonal of the square.




3.  With ivory print 2" x 2" square layered atop dark blue print 2" x 2" and right sides together, stitch along drawn lines.




4.  Use a rotary cutter to cut along the true diagonal to make two triangle units.




5.  Press seams towards the dark blue print.




6.  Trim HST units to 1½" x 1½".  Repeat with remaining ivory print and dark blue print 2" x 2" squares.  Each of the two Shoo Fly blocks will take four HST units.




7.  Now the fun part.  For each Shoo Fly block, lay out four HST units, four dark blue print 1½" x 1½" squares, and one ivory print 1½" x 1½" square as follows.




8.  Stitch HSTs and squares together into three rows.  For all three rows, press seams towards the dark blue squares.



9.  Stitch rows together and voilà, Shoo Fly blocks!




Your two Shoo Fly blocks should measure 3½" x 3½" (unfinished).


Kind of resemble snowflakes, don't they?  Hmmm.....