Hive 3 - Tutorial for March - Color Wash Block for Laurie

Hello, my name is Laurie and I am happy to be a part of this group and have my turn as Queen bee!  Like most of you, I love color and all things fabric and fell in love with this idea as soon as I came across it.  It's Color Wash time! 

 

I created my block in shades of blues with the center squares having contrasting colors of pinks, purple, yellows, orange, and lime green.

Terry Rowland has a great video to explain the color wash technique and to help get you started on this month's block:

You can choose the math or no math/improv method.  I'm fine with either option as I really want to focus on the variety of scrap fabrics we all have collected.

You will select a color family to work with first - red, pink, blue, purple, green, yellow, orange - and then start cutting and sewing your 3 1/2 inch blocks.  Your center squares can be selected to contrast with each block fabric or you can use one color to contrast with all center squares.

Make 9 blocks, sew 3 blocks into 3 rows, then sew the rows together.  I'm not worried about how you press seams and you don't have to trim your finished block.

Fabric Selection:

Here is my fabric pull from my stash to give color inspiration.

Let's get started

If you want to do the math, here are the measurements to make 3 1/2" block.

Border fabric

• Cut 2 - 1 1/2" X 3 1/2"

• Cut 2 - 1 1/2 x 1 1/2"

Center square

• Cut 1 - 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" 

The improv way is to cut larger pieces of scraps and then trim the block to size, in this case 3 1/2" blocks.  You can offset the center square to get "wonky" blocks for your color wash block.  Also, with this method you do not have to worry about accurate 1/4 seams as you trim to your block size in the final step.

Sewing Instructions

Here is the fabric layout for your square.  Make sure to sew with an accurate 1/4 inch seam to end up with 3 1/2 inch block.

Step1

Sew the center block to the top square, then sew that section to the bottom square.

Step 2

Sew the center section to the right border piece.

Step 3

Sew that section to the left border piece to complete the square.

Make 9 different blocks in your color family!

Sew 3 blocks into 3 rows.

Sew the 3 rows together to make your block.

Here is my color wash block in the blue color family with contrasting center squares of bright pink, light pinks, shades of yellow, orange and lime green. 

Hope everyone has fun with these blocks!

Laurie