Hive 1 - February Tutorial

Good morning and happy Groundhog Day.  Here in Pennsylvania we have had a very mild winter, and I like it that way.  My husband and I are both retired.  He loves to read and I love to sew. Our house rule is that he can buy as many books as he wants and I can buy as much fabric.  I chair the community service committee for my guild and sewing for charity is a passion of mine.  I'll head to my sewing room today to make blocks for Quilts of Valor.

My block this month is an Hourglass block.  I won a number of these blocks last year in the Block Lotto.  My aim is to increase the number of these blocks through you Stash Bee friends to have enough for a full quilt.  The block is only 6 inches square, so if you'll make 4 of them, that would equal a 12 inch block.  You can make each of the four blocks with the same fabric or use different fabrics.  I'll ask that you leave them as 6 inch blocks so that I can decide which blocks go where.  Thanks so much for helping me get to a quilt.

Hourglass Block - 6 inches - make 4

Fabric requirements for each 6 inch block:
Black or tone-on-tone black - Two 2-1/2 inch squares and one 3 inch square.
Light fabric - One 2-1/2 inch square and one 3 inch square.
Medium fabric - Four 2-1/2 inch squares.

'Medium' and 'light' are just relative terms.  I just mean that the medium should not blend in with the black background and the light should not blend in with the medium.  Any color is fine.

Construction:
Draw a diagonal line on the back of the light 3 inch square.  Pair it with the black 3 inch square, right sides together.  Sew 1/4 inch on both sides of the drawn line, cut on the drawn line, and iron the resulting two half-square triangles to the dark.  Trim to 2-1/2 inch square.

Lay out the 2-1/2 inch squares in the pattern shown below and stitch together.  The block should measure 6-1/2 inches.