April Blocks of the Month

I ran into some problems with the April Blocks of the Month. I was trying to adapt a very difficult block to an easy method of instruction. It didn't work, and I ran into time pressure because I was trying to get a few rows done so that I could begin the joining instructions. Ah, well…

The first two blocks are similar in the nature of their units, so I cut them out together, which saved some time. I also used the same fabric, which should be OK as long as I place them pretty far apart in the quilt.

Basically a nine-patch structure, this block is pretty fast and easy. You need four 4" four-patches. You can make these by strip quilting. Cut a 2 1/2" strip of each color, sew them together and press them. They should come out at 4 1/2" wide. Cut them off at 4 1/2" to produce your four-patches. (Note: you can cut your strips wide and trim the finished product down to an exact 4 1/2", using the center crossing for reference.) Cut one 4 1/2" square for the center. Make four 4 1/2" half-triangle squares. (As always,m you can make these oversize and trim down, too.) Assemble the units you have made into rows, sew those together and finish assembling the block.

This block uses the same unit structures as Benjamin's Kite. You need four 4 1/2" triangle squares and five four-patches. As noted, you can make all the units for these two blocks together.

I started out intending that the third block each month be a hard one. I kind of broke my pick on the one I had chosen for April. I couldn't come up with a simplified way of doing it. Maybe later. Meantime, here is a really beautiful block. I found it in Marsha McCloskey's "Block Party" book. It is listed in Bachman's Encyclopedia, but she shows a variation that I don't think is nearly as pretty. I had not come across this one before, and it is certainly going to go into my collection of maritime blocks for an eventual seafaring quilt.

Construction is quite easy if you visualize it as a 16 patch. The center triangle square is actually 4 units. Make this square 6 1/2" with seam allowance). Next, make twelve 3 1/2" half-triangles. Arrange the pieces in the block structure. Sew the two small units on the middle left together, then the two small units on the middle right. Then sew them to the large triangle square to form the center row. From this point you can just treat the assembly as three rows. Sew the top row together, then sew the bottom row together, then join these to the top and bottom of the center row.

For all three blocks, finished size should be 12 1/2", then add your borders to whatever measurement you are using.