Block of the Month – September 2020

Block I – September 2020 features a central large rectangle flanked by two thin strips. As with the other blocks in this series, the rectangle and thin strips can be cut from the same fabric or you can choose different fabrics and colours for each piece. All background pieces are to be cut from the same fabric, but different to the ones used for the rectangle and strips and preferably from a fabric that will make the squares and strips stand out.

You can use the colour-in sheets at the end of this blog post to try out different ideas.

Click here for all the ‘Block of the Month’ blocks published so far.

Materials:

All measurements below include a seam allowance of 0.25″.

For the patterned/solid central rectangle (pieces A):

A – 5.5″ x 3.5″

For the thin strips from patterned/solid fabric:

C – 2 x (5.5″ x 1″)

For the background (pieces B, D, E), ALL cut from the same fabric, ideally from a contrasting fabric to the squares and strips:

B – 2 x (5.5″ x 1″)
D – 2 x (1″ x 5.5″)
E – 2 x (6.5″ x 1″)

The finished block should measure 6.5″ square including seam allowances.

Piecing:

Sew your cut pieces as indicated below, sewing right sides together and pressing seams to one side as you go.

Quilt layouts

Below are some ideas of quilts you can make using this simple block and also combining it with blocks from previous months. You can play around with your colour/fabric choices to achieve some stunning effects.

The designs featured below are based on a 6 x 6 grid, which would result in a quilt with a finished size (not including binding) of 36″ x 36″.

Whatever size you go for, when you come to piecing the quilt, first sew together the blocks in each row. Press seams in each row in alternating directions, and then sew the rows together. Create a quilt sandwich with wadding and backing fabric, then quilt as desired, bind and add a label to complete it.

Colouring-in sheets

Try out different colour schemes with the colouring-in sheets below. To print the sheets, right click on the image and select ‘open image in new tab’. Then you can print the page – make sure your print settings are set to what you want. My preference is to fit the image to the page so I get a full sheet with the picture.