Hive 4 - July Tutorial - In The Afterglow block for Sarah

Hi all,

I've loved making everyone's blocks so far, and hope you all enjoy this one! I'm making this quilt for my mom.  She selected a free Riley Blake pattern - In The Afterglow.  We visit a tiny town on the coast of Maine every summer - she's gone up since 1970 and I've been up every year since I was a baby. She's hoping for a quilt that reminds her of that, so she has requested a sea glass/coastal color palette.  Calm, muted colors, like lavender, light pink, mauve, gray, and muted teals, blues, and greens.  Solids, batiks, or smaller prints are all great! Please no novelty, licensed, or juvenile fabric.  You'll need two colors and some solid white background fabric.  Please try to stick to a solid, true white - not too cream or ivory.  Here's what I've pulled.

Cutting Instructions:

• Solid white background fabric: cut 2 - 4.75" squares and 4 - 3.5" squares
• Lighter colored fabric: cut 2 - 4.75" squares
• Darker colored fabric: cut 4 - 4" squares, then cut the squares from corner to corner so you have 8 triangles

Sew the 4.75" lighter colored squares to the 4.75" white squares to make a four-patch.  The four-patch should measure 9" x 9".  I'm not fussy about pressing, but personally found it easier to press toward the darker fabric.

Sew a darker colored triangle to the right side of a 3.5" white background square with the top edges aligned.  Again, press how you prefer, but I found it easiest to press toward the darker fabric.

Sew a second triangle to the bottom of the square with the left edges aligned.

Repeat so you have a total of 4 triangle units.  If needed, trim the bottom edges of the triangle units so the point is .25" from the edge (OR be ready to watch the seam intersections when sewing the triangle units to the four-patch to make sure the points don't get cut off).  Please trim the dog ears even if you aren't trimming the whole edge.

Sew 2 of the triangle units to opposite sides of the four-patch, lining the point of the white square up with the center seams of the four-patch.  You'll probably want to use a scant quarter-inch seam here since it's a bit bulkier.  I found pressing toward the outside made my final block look neater.

Sew the 2 remaining triangle units to the remaining sides of the four-patch.  The block should measure 12.5" x 12.5".

And that's it! Thanks so much for contributing to this quilt. Let me know if you have any questions! Happy sewing! 

- Sarah