QAF Block of the Month
February 2004
Strip Heart
6 1/2" unfinished (6"
finished)
It's February again
and that means Hearts for Valentines Day! Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Here's a sweet heart
for our BOM, and for those of you who have been strip swapping, you will be
able to use some of your red strips for this one. Only one of the pieces is
cut from something bigger than 4". So get out your red strips, scraps,
FQ, for this is a scrappy block!
For those of you
who have EQ5, this block is in the library, and you MAY, if you want, ignore
the instructions herein and print out the block as a Paper Foundation Pieced
(PFP) block and make it that way. It is Strip Heart II, for those interested
in doing it that way. (We're working on how to get PFP up in such a way that
you can print them out to the correct size on your various printers...if any
of you have that expertise, I'd like to hear from you!)
The fabric choices
for this month's BOM are reds, and the background is cream to tan, and could
be TOT, but also could be a print, such as a toile in red, or ditsy print
in red, even a 30's print in red, as long as the background of the fabric
is predominant and has cream or tan, and contrasts well with the darker reds
of your hearts.
You may make 2 blocks
of the same group of fabrics this time, which should help utilize some of
the 'extras' that you'll be cutting as you cut for one block. Each block will
use ONE background fabric and 4 or 4 red fabrics for the heart.
For each block:
Lay out the pieces needed for
one block, following the picture above. Picture this block in 2 segments,
the top half and the bottom half.
Start sewing the top 'half' together
by sewing one of the red 'B' triangles to the center background 'B' triangle
and press to the red. Sew the other red 'B' triangle to the other side of
the center triangle and press to the red again. Then sew the two outer 'A'
triangles to the outer edges of the red triangles and press out. Take care
to keep all these triangles in the same configuration as the pictures above.
You will have little 'tails which will stick out 1/4" from the end of
the seams at the bottom; trim them off. Now sew one of the red rectangles
to the bottom, making sure the bottom point of the middle triangle doesn't
get cut off in your seam. Press to the rectangle. This piece should measure
2-3/4" by 6-1/2". So far, so good!!
Start sewing the bottom 'half'
together by sewing one of the background 'D' triangles to one side of the
large red 'E' triangle. Press away from the red. Sew the remaining background
'D' triangle to the other side of the red triangle. Press as before. When
you sew these, remember that the background triangle edge is bias, and also
that you will have little 'tails which will stick out 1/4" from the end
of the seams at the bottom. You will trim them off when you square up the
block. Now sew the remaining rectangle to the long side of the red triangle.
The red, in this case, is on the bias, so you will sew with the rectangle
on top and the long red edge of the triangle on the bottom. Press to the rectangle.
This section should measure 3-1/2" by 6-1/2".
All that's left is to sew the
top and bottom together now, easy! Press to one side, square up your block
and you're done! Your block should measure 6-1/2" square and there should
be 1/4" of background showing outside each point of the heart, and at
each side above and below the strips.
Have fun, take your time and enjoy
these sweet treats!
