Hive 4 April Tutorial: Solid Checkerboard Bloch

My inspiration this year comes from this pic. It is for a very popular kit from Blueprint. With their permission, I’m posting my own tutorial for my take on this beauty.

  

 

First—color pull. For this block, I would like everyone to use solids. Think rich, deeply saturated colors.  I definitely see my own personal pull toward purples and blues, but, I’m open anything that is bright and deep.  These are just examples. Here is my color pull for my sample blocks.

Here are some other color inspiration swatches I’ve been collecting:

  

For this block, you need 4 fabric strips, 3" x WOF:

   - checkerboard dark (1)

   - checkerboard contrast (1)

   - border (2)

For the center (checkerboard), you can either work from 3” strips or 3” squares; I used strips.

Cutting Instructions: 

Cut 1 each--3" x WOF (or at least 25") of checkerboard colors

Cut 2 - 3”x10-1/2” AND 2 - 3”x15-1\2” strips from your border fabric.

Sew one dark and one contrast strip Right sides together.  Press to the darker color and cut strips into 8 - 3” segments.  I cut my segments from the back side, lining one of my ruler lines along the seam.

Pair up two segments to make a 4-patch as shown. Repeat 3 more times.

Sew 4-patch units together to make center checkerboard as shown. I pin all intersecting seams to help things match up better for me. 

Now take one of each of the smaller border pieces on opposite sides of the checkerboard. Press towards the outside of the block.

Repeat with final two border pieces to fully enclose the checkerboard.

Beautifully done! Thank you all for helping me make an amazing, colorful quilt!