Block of the Month
Play ring around the rosie with HST hoops that come together in a jiffy.
Join us for another design in our series with Lynne Goldsworthy.
YOU WILL NEED
Q Print fabric one (1) fat quarter Q White fabric one (1) fat quarter Q One (1) copy of the Half-square Triangle template (see page 87)
FINISHED SIZE
Q 12½in square (12in square once pieced into project)
NOTES
Q Seam allowances are ¼in, unless otherwise noted. Q Press seams open, unless otherwise instructed. Q RST = right sides together. Q HST = half-square triangle. Q Wash and press all fabrics well before cutting. Q Templates include seam allowances, where necessary. Q Shorten your stitch length to 1.5 for paper piecing.
FABRICS USED
Q Leaves and Berries in Cherry from Mimosa collection for Windham Fabrics.
CUTTING OUT
1 Cut the print fabric as follows:
Q One (1) 8½in square. Q Thirty-two (32) 1½in x 2½in strips. 2 Cut the white fabric as follows:
Q One (1) 8½in square. Q Eight (8) 2½in squares. Q One (1) 4½in square.
PREPARING THE HSTS
3 Pin one white square and one print square to the back of the paper template with the fabrics RST and the white fabric next to the paper.
4 Shorten your machine stitch to 1.5 and sew along all of the red lines.
5 Cut the template and fabric along all of the black lines using a rotary cutter.
6 Trim off the corners on each triangle along the green lines and then press each HST unit open.
7 Remove the paper from the back of each unit and press.
PIECING THE UNITS
8 You will need to make eight ring units. Each one is made in the same way. 9 Sew the HST units, the small squares and the strips into three rows of three pieces for each block ( Fig 1).
Press seams towards the strips in the top and bottom row of the blocks and away from the centre in the middle row. 10 Sew the three rows of each unit together. Press the seams in six of the units towards the centre ( Fig 2) and in the other two away from the centre ( Fig 3).
ASSEMBLING THE BLOCK
11 Sew the eight units and the 4 in square into three rows of three. Arrange the units so that seams will nest in each direction (both horizontally and vertically through the block). Fig 4 shows the direction of the seams within the blocks. The two blocks in the centre of the top and bottom row are those with the seams pressed away from the centre. Note that the blocks in the centre row have been turned so the seams will nest correctly. 12 Sew the three rows together to make the finished block. Press the block and check that it is 12 in square.