Hen & Chicks October Block 4 - Forty

Block number 40. The last one! This one is fittingly called forty, it is made of four "T"s.  

Actually, it is made of flying geese, but the arrangement forms the letter T in each corner. Use your favorite method 4 HST units. You know that I used the Easy Angle ruler, but the chart has measurements for the square method. I am using flip and sew triangles for the flying geese again this time. Not what I would do for a larger size block, but it does make the math easy. 

Draw a line on the diagonal of each small brown square. Place it right sides together on one end of each background rectangle. 

Sew on the drawn line, flip and press before trimming away the extra fabric beneath. 

Repeat on the other end of each background rectangle for a total of 8 flying geese units. 

Sew the geese into pairs, both facing in the same direction.  Press the seams away from the point of the top goose.  

Arrange the geese pairs along the edge and point the white goose bodies toward the center square. Go ahead and double check so that you don't sew the whole block together wrong like I did.  (Unsewing is so much less fun than sewing!). 

You don't really see the serifs on the Ts until it all comes together. I suggest a fabric with a nice strong contrast to get the full effect.  That's it. Our last block. Done!

Congratulations!!!!

 

Hen & Chicks October Block 3 Tower's of Camelot

I loved the inverted star look of this block. Then I accidentally rotated the QST units in the smaller version and all of the sudden it was a diamond. The smallest changes in fabric placement and value can make such an impact in the final look of the block. I am not sure if I am going to remake the second block or not. I kind of like it!

Go ahead and use your favorite method to make 8 HST units. I know, 8 is a lot. Half of them will turn into QST units and the other half will remain. You will also need 5 background squares and 4 small grey squares. I should mention that I did not choose the most fabric efficient methods in block assembly here, but it sure was easy

You will use the small grey squares to snowball all 4 corners of one of the background squares. The other background squares get a diagonal line, and then are placed right sides together with 4 of the HST units. Make sure the seam and the line are perpendicular to one another.  

Sew on the drawn line and then flip open your square to reveal a quarter square triangle. Press and trim away the extra fabric beneath. I know this creates some waste, but it is simpler than doing the math for the two at a time method and then having seams running in different directions on different blocks. 

Pay special attention to the orientation of the units here. I speak from experience, as I have two different blocks based on a simple rotation that I didn't even notice until after the block was sashed and hanging on the design wall.  

Here is your finished block. I really do enjoy this one, it is subtle, but effective.  

Hen & Chicks October Block 2 - Dandy

 

Yet another star block. This one is easy to assemble with sew and flip triangles and corner triangles frame the block nicely. 

Use the method of your choice to make HST units. Everything else is just a square. I used a light gray for the corners and a darker gray for the star points. The center square can be dark or light gray. 

Draw a line along the diagonal of each small gray square and place in one corner of each background square. Flip, trim and you have one star point. 

Repeat the same procedure for the adjacent corner. Viola, two star points!

You will have 4 star point blocks along with 4 HST units and a center square of your choice. 

Put them together with the star points all touching your center square and the HST blocks in the outer corners forming a frame. 

Sew as a nine patch and press away from the star points. 

Hen & Chicks October Block 1 - Mourning Star

I know, its another Ohio Star Variation! Once I find a pattern that I am enjoying, I tend to work on a themed. This one has inner triangles that contrast and some additional corner squares. I saw other versions with little leaflets in the corners, but that was a bit much as far as piecing in a tiny block. Maybe I will do that one when I am making a bigger block. I saw a Lori Holt video on YouTube that did a nice flip and sew version that I would love to try. 

I chose to strip piece the corner squares, but you could easily swap out squares if that is what is in your scrap bin. 

The thing that makes this block different is that there are three fabrics in the QST rather than just 2. One HST will be light and dark gray while the other will be light gray and background. Pretty simple switch, but it makes a big difference in the final look of the block. 

Layer the large blocks right sides together. Set 1 is dark and light. Set 2 is light and background. Draw a line along the center diagonal

Sew on either side of the center line for the HST units.

Sew your strip set together. 

Cut along the drawn line then press seams toward the light gray. This seams counterintuitive when it comes to the dark gray fabric, but it will make sure your seams nest when you make your QST units. 

Sub cut strip sets and combine with background rectangles to make corner framed squares. Press away from the two patch and toward the background rectangle. 

Layer each dark/light HST with a light/background square. Draw a centerline and sew again just like you did last time. Make sure that the center seams both go in opposite directions so that they will nestle and form a neat center seam. 

Press and time dog ears. 

I used a dark center square in the large block. 

And then tried a light center square in the smaller block. It is a matter of taste, so choose the one you prefer. 

Here is the finished block with the dark center. Press away from the quarter square triangle units to reduce the bulk.