December Block of the Month

CORRECTION:  the block will measure

once sewn.Hello December and holiday time! For most of us, this time of the year rhymes with busy busy schedule. So for our December BOM, I’ve chosen a simple, clean block, a bit like a cleansing block.

Here is my recipe for a 20-patch block.

• White and solid or low volume grey fabric, think cold icy grey;

• Out of each colour, cut:

  • either one 21x3” stripe,

  • or two 10 1/5 x3” stripes,

  • or ten 2x3” rectangles

• Stitch one white stripe with one grey, along the long side, you get two 10 1/2x 5 1/2” blocks. Press all seams to the dark side.

• If working with 21” stripes, sew them together, press toward grey and cut in half and you now have two blocks 10 1/2” long.

• Sew the 2 sets of stripes together and press seams toward the dark fabric.  You now have a 4-stripe white and grey 10 1/2 x 10 1/2" block.  

• Slice the block into five 2” wide sub-stripes across the block. Align your ruler on the seams for clean perpendicular cuts.

• Reassemble the 2” stripes, flipping every other one in order to obtain a checkerboard block, measuring 10 1/2 x 8”. 

• Sew 5 rows of 4 rectangles, stitching on the shortest side, alternating white and grey. Press all seams toward the grey fabric.

• Flipping every other row, assemble the 5 rows together, making a checkerboard block measuring 10.5x8”.

Can we all agree that it’s a super easy block? Shall you want to see where my inspiration came from, go and have a look at 

, Ashley has made two similar quilt with bright colours (

 and 

). I love scrappy quilt!