Today I’m very excited to be sharing with you the February Quilt Block of the Month. This month we are making a fun Shoo Fly Quilt Block!
This is block #6 of 12 (yippee! we are half way through). The Shoo Fly Block uses simple squares and 4 Half Square Triangles to make a block with a lot of possible fabric combinations.
If you’re playing along be sure to share your finished blocks on social media with the hashtag #PolkaDotChairBlocks (if you have a private IG account, hashtags won’t work for you, so share it to my Facebook instead) , I’m on Instagram as @Polkadotchair or you can also share it right to my Facebook Page (you can post a photo over there)
If you missed it be sure to check out this post offering tips and trick to picking out fabric for a quilt. You can find an index to all the posts in this quilt block series to date by clicking here.
Hello! Happy Leap Day everyone!! I was surprised this morning how many of my friends have birthday’s today, I never realized there were so many “leap babies” (the things you learn from Facebook *wink*). Posting these blocks on the last day or two of the month takes on new meaning when there are only 29 days in the month. If there were 28 the discrepancy in the posting dates would be even larger!
Many of you have asked when to expect the next block in the series. The blocks always post the last day or two of the month, since that is how it started in September when the series began. My intention was to post the blocks beginning/mid month but after I started writing the first tutorial I realized that I would need to cover some background first before I “dove” into the instructions. I know that many of you are new to quilting and I didn’t want anyone to get lost. So I pushed back the blocks to the end of September so they would be room on the calendar for the How to Pick Fabric for a Quilt and Quilting Basics posts.
Okay, enough with the chit chat! Let’s start sewing! This month we are using the basic “grid” pattern with a few half square triangles (HST) to make what is referred to as a Shoo Fly Quilt Block. This block is really fun because you have the opportunity to use all the same fabric, or 3 different fabrics on the block. You can also do a monochromatic color scheme like I did, or something more dramatic.
Before you start to cut, look at the blocks you’ve made so far and see if your colors are balanced. Do you have too much of one color and maybe not enough of another? I know for the quilt for my teenage son, that this month I need to pull some more kelley green into my block. Since this is the half way point in construction it would be a good time to evaluate where you stand.
To make this block you’ll need to cut:
4 pieces 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 of background fabric
2 pieces 6 x 6 of background fabric
1 piece 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 of Fabric A for center of block
2 pieces 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 of Fabric B for triangles (you can also use two different fabrics for this step as I did with my block, it’s up to you, but I would keep them both the same color if the print is different).
Begin by constructing 4 HST from your 6×6 pieces of fabric. You’ll layer one 6×6 background fabric over one 6×6 print fabric right sides facing. Then draw a line on the diagonal of one of the pieces. Stitch 1/4″ off each side of the line you drew. Cut fabric in half along the line, press and trim blocks to 5 1/2″ x 5 1/2″.
If you need help with making HST you can look at the October Block of the Month for more detailed instructions. Also be sure to check out the Quilt Tips post for tips on trimming your HST’s.
After your HST are trimmed all you need to do is arrange your squares into 3 rows as shown below.
Stitch the squares together in row 1, followed by row 2 and row 3. Press all seams to one side, then stitch the rows together.
Give the block another pressing then trim it down to 15″ x 15″ (if you stitched it perfectly it will be 15 1/2″ square but I never usually sew mine perfectly so I allow a bit of “wiggle” room when it comes to construction).
Here you can see the block mocked up in another color scheme.
I’m still working on the blocks for my Christmas Quilt & my Son’s quilt, I’ll be sure to share them with you in an update during March!
Just a quick reminder: This project along with ALL of the other projects on this blog are offered to you for free. The only thing that I ask is that you do not use them for any commercial purpose. If you have a shop, this is not meant to be a program for you to use in your store. It’s meant to help build the online community of people who all LOVE quilting. Please respect that so that I can go on sharing these projects for everyone. If you are playing along and have a blog of your own, PLEASE feel free to post the blocks on your blog, just link back here for the instructions. If you have a friend that wants to join in, send them the link to this page, please don’t print out the instructions and make a bunch of copies. Thanks!!!!
As a review, here are the blocks we’ve stitched thus far.
1- Plus Quilt Block
2- Pinwheel Quilt Block
3- Star Quilt Block
4- Half Square Triangle Strips Block
5- Turnstile Quilt Block
The post February Block of the Month: Shoo Fly Quilt Block appeared first on The Polka Dot Chair.