Hashtag - Full Stop Block 1

Row 1 of the Full Stop Quilt is Hashtag.  It is honestly one of the most complex blocks I am planning.  I always have more energy at the start of a a year than at the end, so it is good to get the hard part done now.    

The hashtag is traditionally known as a number sign or a pound sign.  In recent years it has been adopted as a tag for social media posts.   While not properly a punctuation mark, I feel that it fits in well with our theme this year.   

You will need some 2 inch strips to start.   These will be cut into rectangles

From pink: 

• 2 rectangles 6 inches by 2 inches
• 2 rectangles 8 inches by 2 inches

From background:

• 3 rectangles 6 inches by 2 inches

In addition to the block fabric, you will also need 4 rectangles for sashing.  These are 2 inches by 8 inches.   

Start with the short rectangles and lay them out, alternating between background and pink.   

Sew the strips together and sew toward the pink fabric.   If you are having trouble getting the strips sewn evenly, you can use rectangles which are a bit longer (such as 6.5 inches) and square the ends up during the next step.   

  

Make sure that the seams are all nice and parallel and cut this strip set into  three 2 inch strips.   The seams should be parallel and as even as possible.  

Now lay down the two longer rectangles in between the strip sets.   

Sew these 5 strips together to make your block.  Press again toward the pink fabric.   

Make 5 of these blocks and then assemble them into a row by sewing an  inch strip of background fabric between the blocks.  

Here is the finished row.   Mine ended up at about 45 inches, so I will eventually add a total of 19 inches of background fabric to either end.  I won't do that quite yet though.  I want to leave my layout options open for now.