Sew Red Blog Hop + Block Tutorial!

I am really proud to be participating in the Sew Red Blog Hop.

In case you haven't heard about it yet, it is a blog hop that has been going on since February.  Those of us participating in it are trying to raise more awareness about Heart Disease (which is the leading cause of death among women in the US).  Leah from Burgundy Buttons is the mastermind behind the Hop and she has asked a bunch of bloggers to design a 12" block, share a tutorial for it and then donate two of those blocks to her and the girls over at B.B. so they can put them into a finished quilt that will be auctioned off!  You can click HERE for more details!

So my little creative juices got to flowin' and here's what I came up with:

I kinda like this block because you could put four of them together and make a great little table topper (with lots of blank space in the middle (to showcase some fantastic quilting or applique!)

The fabrics I am using (along with the rest of the Blog Hop contributors) is called Chemistry by Cosmo Cricket.  But of course, this little number would look cute in lots of different color ways.

These instructions make two 12" finished blocks.

P.S. WOF stands for width of fabric (which is approx. 42").

P.S.S. Make sure you have an accurate 1/4" seam allowance.

MATERIALS:

1/2 yard white fabric for background

1/4 yd. red fabric for stripes

(1) 1-1/2" x WOF strip of pink fabric for 9-patch border 

CUTTING:

From the white fabric cut:

(4) 1-1/2" x WOF fabric strips

(2) 6-1/2" x 7-1/2" rectangles

(2) 1-1/2" x 7-1/2" rectangles

(2) 2-1/2" x 6-1/2" rectangles

(2) 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" rectangles

From the red fabric cut:

(4) 1-1/2" x WOF strips

From the pink fabric cut:

(4) 1-1/2" x 3-1/2" rectangles

(4) 1-1/2" x 5-1/2" rectangles

ASSEMBLY:

Sew together two white and one red 1-1/2" x WOF strips

with the red strip in the middle (WRW). 

Carefully press the seams towards the red strip, like "sew":

Cut off the ends to make a straight edge.

Then cut two 1-1/2" rectangles from that WRW section.  These are for the middle row in the 9-patch blocks so you can set these aside for a little while.  We'll get back to these later.

Next, sew on one more red and one more white 1-1/2" x WOF strips to this WRW section to make it a WRWRW section, like sew:

Press the seams towards the dark fabric (carefully - don't stretch!)  

Then cut two 1-1/2" rectangles and two 6-1/2" rectangles as shown below. 

Set these pieces aside.

Now sew together two red and one white 1-1/2" x WOF strips with the white strip in the middle (RWR).  Press seams towards the red fabric. 

Then cut six 1-1/2" rectangles and two 6-1/2" rectangles.

Here's what you should have from those strip sets:

Now let's sew all the pieces together!

To finish the 9-patches, 

sew together two pink, two RWR and one WRW

1-1/2" x 3-1/2" rectangles in this order:

Press.
Then sew the two 1-1/2" x 5-1/2" pink rectangles to each side. 

Press seams towards the pink.   

Sew a 1-1/2" and a 6-1/2" WRWRW strip set unit onto either side of the

9-patch block, like sew:

Finally, make the top and bottom sections (see photo below). 

Press the seams towards the red fabrics

and then sew all three sections together.

Repeat these steps to make your second block.

Piece blocks together any way you'd like :)

Quilt, bind and enjoy!

I hope you liked this tutorial and I do hope you'll stop by the Sew Red Blog to find out more information about Heart Disease and what you can do to help raise awareness.  Thanks for stopping by!

~ Amber