QAF Block of the Month

March 2004

Pansy Snowballs

6 1/2" unfinished (6" finished)

It's still Winter for most of us, but we are all eagerly anticipating Spring and all its beautiful flowers. So this month we will do Snowballs (for Winter) and make them of Pansy fabrics (for Spring)! I know that many of you have a collection of pansy fabrics - who can pass up buying the little gems?

These charming little traditional blocks can be used for setting blocks in your quilts, as they go very nicely with lots of different blocks. These configuration of these particular snowballs goes with blocks that are based on the nine-patch, that is, 3 patches by 3 patches. I'll give you the formula for making them whatever size you need to go with your blocks. We'll be making these with 'connector' squares.

For this BOM, you will need one pansy fabric and 1 green fabric that blends nicely with it. You may make up to 3 of each fabric combo to enter in the BOM.

For each block:

Cut: (1) 6 1/2" square of PANSY fabric

Cut: (4) 2 1/2" squares of green fabric

To Assemble Block: Mark (on the wrong side) each of the 4 small squares once diagonally from corner to corner. Place one square RIGHT sides together on one corner of the pansy square, lining up the raw edges carefully, with the marked line aligned across the corner of the block. (See picture above). Sew ON the line. Trim off the outside triangles*. Turn the green corner triangle out and press. Repeat with the remaining 3 green squares. Your block should now measure 6 1/2" square. Square it up and enter lots, these make cute and easy little quilts. I've shown a wall hanging/baby quilt, and another lap size quilt below.

*I use a rotary ruler and rotary cutter, cutting off 1/4" from the outside of the sewn line. You can use these tiny triangles or collect them in a jar, for colorful decor in your sewing room.

Now, here's the formula so that you can make these any size you need. You will start with a square equal to your finished block size PLUS 1/2". So, if you need a finished block that is 3" (as anyone making the 9's Alive will, if you want to set them with a snowball block) your snowball square will be 3 1/2". The corner squares will be 1/3 of the FINISHED size of the block PLUS 1/2", or in the case of the 3" blocks, 1 1/2" square.

For a 9" block, you would cut your snowball 9 1/2" square and the corner squares 3 1/2" square.

Here are the quilt examples for this month: