RSC24 Hen & Chicks Block 2 Bowtie

The Double Bowtie Block is just a nine patch with a few snowball corners thrown in.   You will need 4 large squares of green and 5 of background for the nine patch.  For the snowball corners, you will need 4 small squares of green.   The size of your large and small blocks will depend on the block size you are making.  Please refer to the cutting chart below.  Quantities for each square are indicated in parentheses in the column header.  

I did a 3 inch and 6 inch block, as well as one accidental 5 inch block because I failed to read my own cutting chart properly.   As I started putting blocks on the wall, it occurred to me that it would be easy enough to pair 4 6 inch blocks together to alternate with a 12 inch block.  There are so many possibilities!    I framed out the bonus 5 inch block and squared it up to 6 inches so that it will go into the block mix. It just seems more useful than tossing it into the orphan block drawer.   

Start by drawing a diagonal line on the back of the small corner squares for sewing.  

Two background squares need one corner, and one background square will need 2 opposite snowball corners.  Refer to the photo for the layout.  Dark squares will go in the center of the edges while background squares will go in the corners and the center.   

With right sides together, sew the snowball corner on the drawn line.  I like to go just a touch to the outside edge of the line to give the fabric a little wiggle room.  Open the corner and press flat before checking the back and trimming away any extra green fabric.  

Then trim away the bottom triangle, leaving a quarter inch seam allowance.  For larger block sizes, I like to make bonus HST blocks out of these, but I didn't for these smaller blocks.  

Then your squares go back together as they were and you can check the layout before sewing as you would any nine patch.  I like to flip the second column onto the first column and then sew the vertical seam continuously before adding the third column.   I call this the quilt in a day method as I think  that is where I saw it first.  

When sewing the rows together, the seams in the center block are the bulkiest, and should be pointed away from the center of the block.  That will put the top and bottom rows with seams facing in  The final press will again press seams away from the center.  That should let your block like nice and flat while reducing extra bulk in the seam allowance.  

I have some and google doc versions of the patterns in a printable format that I am working on, please check out the RSC24 Sampler tab at the top for a complete list of links to pattern pages.  

Here is the link to the PDF for this pattern: Double Bowtie Block