Hive 4 - Mini Log Medallion (again!)

Hi Bee Friends! I loved our January Queen's block so much that I've decided to use the same block, with only one difference - LOW VOLUMES!

It's a quick block, as we all already know. Fun and scrappy, my favorite kind of block. This block is great for left over jelly roll strips and hunting through your scrap bins!

COLORS: I like bright cheery prints. I made my test blocks in pink, aqua and yellow; my hope for this quilt is to organize it in a rainbow gradient, so I would love blocks in all the colors! Each block should be composed of four prints in the same color family.  They don't have to match, in fact, I think it's great to have a little bit of variation in hues; see my blocks at the end for example. My favorite designers are Cotton & Steel, RSS, Zen Chic, Tula, Alison Glass, but I also love Kaffe and Bonnie & Camille, Rifle Paper Co. florals, etc. As far as novelty goes, a dash of whimsy is great - see my cupcakes and little bees - even one of my low volumes is Alice in Wonderland.  I'm sure whatever you choose will be wonderfully interesting and fun - I would prefer to avoid holiday prints, please.

For the background, LOW VOLUMES. A bit of color on white/off white print is great. I would prefer to stay away from any dark cream or beige backgrounds. None of the pieces have to be the same fabric, or you can make them all the same. Again, see my blocks for example.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS:

From EACH of FOUR Prints in the same color family:

1 - 2.5" x 5.5" Rectangle
1 - 2.5" x 3.5" Rectangle
1 - 2.5" x 2.5" Square

(Note - I  don't care about directional prints lining up! Cut 'em all from a jelly strip if that's your scrap!)

Background:

From any assortment of low volumes, cut:

4 - 1.5" x 2.5" Rectangles
4 - 1.5" x 3.5" Rectangles

PIECING INSTRUCTIONS:
For all seams in this block, press towards the color print and away from the low volume.

This block is constructed in four segments. Each segment is constructed in the same manner, so feel free to chain piece if that's your jam!

Attach a 1.5" x 2.5" low volume rectangle to the right side of a 2.5" x 2.5" square color print.

Rotate clockwise.  Attach a 1.5" x 3.5" low volume rectangle to the right side.

Rotate clockwise.  Attach a 2.5" x 3.5" Color Rectangle to the right side. (I forgot to take a photo of this step! Just remember, rotate clockwise, attach to the right)

Rotate clockwise.  Attach the last 2.5" x 5.5" Color Rectangle to the right side.

Here is the back showing the seams all pressed away from the low volume.

Next - repeat with the remaining sets of prints.  Arrange your segments in a 4 - patch; rotate each segment so that the low volumes are on the outside corners.

Sew together and you're done!

 I pressed and nested my 4-patch seams, and spun the center, but you don't have to do that. Finished block should measure 10.5" square.

A few more test blocks to show color families. The Yellow block definitely has a few different hues.  But they all work when sewn together.

I like bee fabric, can you tell? :-)

Thanks for bee-ing my Bee Mates this year. I can't wait to see your blocks - since we're an Instagram hive, please snap a photo and post it, tag me!

Happy Stitching -  Sara    @Stitchedbysaratallas