Saturday, July 30, 2011

Making four 16-patch blocks at a time

So here are the details.
I choose four of the ten inch square fabrics from the Layer Cake and carefully stack them: right side up, right side down, right side up, right side down.


Then I cut them into 2.5" slices.


I sew two sets of each of these pairs together,  and then I re-arrange the other strips so each fabric is matched with a different fabric than the first set.  See below how the two red strips are matched once with the two green and once with the two purple.  This will give me different final checkerboards instead of two that are the same.



I sew the matching pairs of strips into four Rail Fence blocks and press.


Next, slice the Rail Fence blocks into four 2.5" strips perpendicularly.  Flip every other one top to bottom.


Sew each set together and press again.


There they are;  four at once!  And each one is a different pairing of fabrics.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Fresh raspberries and blueberries for breakfast
A dry day, and the humidity not too bad either
Charlie baking cookies to send to our camper

4 comments:

Elaine Adair said...

You clever girl you! I'm saving this post as "Unread" - great idea!

Finn said...

What a clever way to do it! Never too old to learn a new trick, thanks Sara!

Cathy said...

Oh Sara! How ingenius are you! I have a layer cake and I will give that a try.

thanks

Michele Bilyeu said...

Love the shortcut tips. Know them, forget them, need constant reminders. Bless your heart now I'll just bookmark you :)