Quilting on Wednesday: Block of the Month 2

This month's Block of the Month is the Box Quilt block by Marcia Hohn of the Quilter's Cache. It is a 12" block that I think is complimentary to our attic windows block and a little on the challenging side for some of us. It uses flying geese blocks that for some reason have a really horrifying reputation. But I think they're fairly easy to do and look really great when incorporated into a quilt.

To start with, find your pattern at http://www.quilterscache.com/B/BoxQuiltBlock.html and go to the second page for the fabric requirements. The longest strip is only 14", so fat quarters and scraps will work just fine. You will need 9 different colors of fabric. Eight of your fabrics will be 4 sets of complimentary colors in different hues. For example, my colors are dark pink, light pink, dark orange, light orange, dark yellow, light yellow and dark green and light green. The ninth color should be white.

We will use scant 1/4" seams throughout the entire block. It is also a really good idea to mark your colors on the back of your colored pieces using 1-8 and a water soluble marker. This will help you to avoid confusion if you use colors different than what the pattern calls for.

Begin by cutting your strips in the dimensions listed on page 2 of the pattern. For the colors that require both an 8 1/2" and 4" by 2" strip, I just cut mine 12 1/2" x 2" and then cut off 4".

Once you have your strips cut, the directions say to cut each of the 8 1/2" strips into one 5" and one 3 1/2" strip. To do this and save time, I carefully lined up all of my 8 1/2" strips and cut them all at one time on the 5" line.

Use the same method for cutting your 4" strips into 2" squares and your white background strips into 3 1/2" squares. 

4" rectangles cut into 2" squares

All the cut pieces

 Once everything is cut, we get to start sewing our boxes! Start by sewing your 3 1/2" color 1, 3, 5, and 7 each to the right side of a white square.

3 1/2" rectangle on white square, right sides together. 

Then sew the corresponding 5" strip to the bottom of the white square and the 3 1/2" strip.

5" rectangles sewn to bottom of white squares

Alright, the easy part is done! Now to make the flying geese units. 

Start by matching one of the 2" squares to the left side of a white rectangle. 

Then mark a 45 degree angle from the top left corner to the bottom left corner of the square. 

Mark the 45* angle

Sew right on the line you marked, then trim off 1/4" seam allowance and press the seam to the dark side. 

cut off 1/4" seam

with 1/4" seam

Do the same procedure of marking, sewing, and cutting with the color 3 square on the opposite side of the unit you just finished. Looking from left to right you will make one color 1/3 unit, one color 3/5 unit, one color 5/7 unit, and one color 7/1 unit. 

Make 4 units

Now piece your squares together so that all of the colored sections are in the middle of the block and are in corresponding sequence of 1, 3, 5 and 7. 

Turn all square units to the middle to form a cross

Sew them together with a scant 1/4" seam and press.

Using colors 2, 4 6, and 8 we will make rectangles to fit along the top, bottom, and sides of our cross unit. 

Begin by placing your color 2 and 8 units next to your 7/1 flying geese unit, matching up corresponding colors (1 to 2 and 7 to 8) using your short 3 1/2" rectangles. Sew these with a scant 1/4" seam allowance. Do the same with the opposite side using the 4 and 6 colors on the 3/5 unit. 

Match the remaining long 5" rectangles to the 1/3  and 5/7 units on the top and bottom of the block. The centers of your flying geese units should line up with the colors of the cross. 

Top section using color 2 and 4 on 1/3 flying geese unit

Sew the side sections to the sides and then the top and bottom sections on. That finishes your block! Trim if needed. If you have any questions please comment below. Don't forget to upload your finished blocks (giving credit to Marcia Hohn for the pattern as described in our first BOM) to our Flikr group. 

*I have a couple of mistakes in my block! Proving that I AM human and learning right along with you all. Can you find them? If you do, please comment below and tell me what you've found!