The "large blocks for Hen & Chicks will finish at 6 inches. I know that isn't exactly huge. You could also make 12 inch blocks easily enough by substituting 2 inch strips for the 1.5 that I am using. By working on a consistent 3 by 3 grid, the math will be pretty straight forward for whatever size you would like to make. I will be back shortly with the smaller version which will finish at 3 inches. Start with 1.5 inch strips of fabric in green and background. They should be at least 9 long. 10 inches will give you a bit of wiggle room.
Pair the strips and sew together into three sets of light and dark sets. Press toward the green.
Now sew the sets together to get a large strip set, pressing again toward the green. The width of the entire set should be 6.5 inches. Try to keep it as strait as possible.
Next, rotate the strip set 180 degrees and sub-cut into 1.5 inch strips. You will need 6 sets.
Rotate every other set so that the white and green blocks alternate in a checkerboard like grid.
Sew the pairs together, matching up the seams. This is easier if the seams on the top are going into the feed dogs first so that the sewing helps things nestle snuggly.
Sew the three pairs together and take some time to open up the corners so that the seams lie as flat as possible.
There you have it, a 6.5 inch postage stamp block. It will finish at 6 inches in the final quilt. Come back shortly for the tiny version and stay tuned for a nicely organized PDF file as well.
2 comments:
Love these "Hens and Chicks" blocks--nice tutorial--very clearly written. thank you hugs, Julierose
Ooh, the back looks as impressive as the front!
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