Hive 6 - November Tutorial - Blazing Arrows

This is the November, 2023 tutorial for Hive 6. 

It is based on a block called Blazing Arrows from Generations Quilt Patterns. 

While my favorite color is red and the block on the tutorial site is in reds and whites, I want my block to be in darks blues and whites. Here is the color inspiration for my quilt. 

The unfinished size of the block will be a 12 1/2 inch square. You can use tone on tone or patterned fabrics, but the background should really read as white and the blues to read as darkish blues. By darkish blue I mean navy, royal, cadet, medium, cobalt or midnight to name a few. (Check those blue names on Simplicable to see what I mean.)  I would prefer not to have grey blues or green blues.

I used just 2 fabrics to make my block, but feel free to be scrappy.

Their are 2 sets of directions posted on the Generations Quilt Patterns site. I have just gotten to the point of understanding how to put together flying geese block in the most basic way. What I will show here is that method, not the no-waste method. If you are comfortable with the no-waste method, please feel free to use. 

Terminology:

• HST: Half square triangle
• QST: Quarter square triangle
• FG: Flying geese
• RST: Right sides together

Cutting:

The block should contain 2 colors of fabrics; the white background and the darkish blue foreground. Again, feel free to be scrappy. The cutting chart below is a modified version of the Option #2 from the Generations Quilt Patterns site for the Blazing Arrows block.

			Cutting Chart for a Blazing Arrows Quilt Block Traditional Piecing with Folded or Connector Corners
Patch	Fabric	Qty	Finished Block Size
						12''
HST-1	White	2				4¼'' x 4¼''
HST-2	Blue	2				4¼'' x 4¼''
QST-1	White	1				7½'' x 7½''
QST-2	Blue	1				7½'' x 7½''
FG-1	White	2				3½'' x 6½''
Sky-1	Blue	4				3½'' x 3½''
FG-2	Blue	2				3½'' x 6½''
Sky-2	White	4				3½'' x 3½''
Unfinished Block Size						12½''
Grid Size						3''

Piecing:

HST: Place 1 white and blue 4 1/4 inch square, right sides together. Draw a diagonal line on the back of the white fabric. Sew a 1/4 inch seam on both sides of the line. Press to set seam. Cut on the diagonal line, open and press to the dark side. Do the same for the second set of 4 1/4 blocks. This results in 4 HSTs. Trim the HSTs to 3 1/2 inch square.

QST: place 1 white and 1 blue 7 1/2 inch square, right sides together. Draw a diagonal line on the back of the white fabric. Sew a 1/4 inch seam on both sides of the line. Press to set seam. Cut on the diagonal line, open and press to the dark side. 

Place the 2 resulting HSTs right sides together, white on blue and blue on white. Mark a diagonal line on the back of one of the fabrics and sew a quarter inch seam on each side. Press, then cut on the diagonal line. 

Press open the resulting QSTs (this results in 2 but you only need 1 - unless you want to make an extra block). I pressed this seam open, but do what works for you. Trim to a 6 1/2 inch square.

FG: Place 3 1/2 inch white square on the left of the of the 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch blue rectangle, RST. Sew a diagonal line from the center top to the lower left corner. Press to set seam. Flip the white lower middle corner up to the upper left corner and press again. 

Trim the back 2 fabrics to a quarter inch seam above the diagonal seam. 

Place another 3 1/2 inch white square on the right half of the 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch blue rectangle, RST. Sew a diagonal line from the center top to the lower right corner. Press to set seam. Flip the lower white middle corner up to the upper right corner and press again. 

Trim the back 2 fabrics to quarter inch seam above the diagonal seam. Repeat with the other 2 white squares and blue rectangle. Then do the same with the blue 3 1/2 inch squares and white 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch rectangles. You will end up with 4 FG in 2 different color orientations. Trim, if needed, to 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 inch rectangles.

Putting it all together:

Layout per pic below

HST, FG (horizontally) and HST

FG (vertically), QST, and FG (vertically)

HST, FG (horizontally) and HST

Sew pieces together across the rows. Then sew 3 rows together and voila! You have just created a Blazing Arrows block.

Thank you for your effort. I have really enjoyed being with the group this year and seeing all the creative patterns. The more I am exposed to quilters, the more artists I see.

If you want to make more than 1 block, I would be thrilled!

Pennie (NeedsTheBeach)