Monday, April 8, 2019

Tricia's Favorite Quilt Block Tutorial -- Block 1 SHOO FLY


What's your favorite quilt block?



I have quite a few favorite blocks, actually.  Maybe you do too.

Most of the blocks that I am a fan of are quick and easy to make.  I really love quick and easy because then I can spend more time playing with my fabric.

I thought it would be fun to show you some of my favorite blocks and how to make them along with a few ideas on using them in your projects.  AND I will turn my favorite blocks into a SAMPLER QUILT so hold on to your blocks until the end of the series for a fun Sampler Quilt setting.


 I LOVE the Shoo Fly block.  

When I was a new quilter, I cut out bunches of squares and triangles and hand-pieced them, eventually having enough to make a twin-sized quilt.  To be honest, the quilt didn't turn out very well because I didn't know then what I know now about quilting, but the important thing was that it got me excited to make MORE QUILTS.

According to the website Quilting in America, the block was "named after a wild plant with domed flowers called clover broom or shoo-fly, this 9-patch block originated around 1850 and became popular in the late 1800s."  For more history of the Shoofly block, visit Quilting in America.

Let's make a 12" finished Shoo Fly block!


What you need:

Medium/Dark fabric -- 2 squares 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" and 1 square 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" 

Light Fabric -- 2 squares 4 7/8" x 4 7/8" and 4 squares 4 1/2" x 4 1/2"

Here's what you do:

1.  Layer a 4 7/8" medium/dark square right sides together with a light 4 7/8" square.  Draw a line from one corner to the opposite corner diagonally.

2.  Sew 1/4" away from both sides of the drawn line.

3.  Cut apart on the line.   Voila!  You have 2 half square triangle blocks (HSTs).

4.  Repeat steps 1-3 to make a total of 4 HSTs.













Now here's the easy part -- the Shoo Fly block is simply a 9 Patch block in disguise!  Tehehehe!



5.  Sew a light 4 1/2" square between 2 HSTs as shown.  Make 2 rows.


 




7.  Sew the row from step 6 between the rows from step 5, flipping the unit on the bottom to make a Shoo Fly block.


And there you have it -- one 12 1/2" Shoo Fly Block!  Yay!  Go you!



2 comments:

  1. Beautiful.I fun of any star block, log cabin,pineapple, nine patch...I just realize I love many blocks.Looking.forward your new project.Enjoy

    Wishing you

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Rosa. After I did the tutorial for this block, I decided to continue it as a series and create a sampler quilt at the end. So stay tuned......

    ReplyDelete