Tuesday, November 26, 2013

a "bow tie" block tutorial...

I love making small, simply pieced quilt blocks, and using them in my projects.
Today I made four 6.5 inch 'bow tie' blocks for a pattern that will feature in my next e-zine.
I thought you may like to see just how simple this block is!

I began with three fabrics from my Tilda stash...


To make one 6.5 inch bow tie block, you will need to cut...

 
Draw a diagonal line from one corner to the other across the back of the four, 2" blocks...


Lay the 2" blocks face down on the right top corner of the four, 3 1/2" squares...


Sew a seam along the traced lines with your machine...


Measure out a 1/4" from the sewn line and with your rotary cutter remove the excess from the corner square...


Press the triangular flap back and you've made a new square...


Make another three squares the same way, and position them to make your block as shown below...


Sew all four squares together and you have one 'bow tie' block!


Make as many as you like, and by turning them different ways you'll see there are a few different settings for your quilt or project.

I made four 'bow tie' blocks, and here are the three layouts I played with...


These four blocks took me about 45 minutes to cut, photograph each step, and put together.
Imagine how many blocks you could make in a day!? Choose some favourite fabrics from your stash and you'll have a quilt top by evening. 

But me? I'm doing something a little different...

 
hugs
Jenny


12 comments:

Unknown said...

Your fabric choice is very pretty. I especially love the cream and red blocks - they look like candy canes!

Clara {Clover and Violet} said...

Such pretty blocks and a great tutorial too!!

Sigrid said...

Beautiful - love these blocks!

Tammy said...

Beautiful. Thank you for the tutorial.

Ingrid said...

Beautiful Jenny. Tanks for sharing <3

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KaHolly said...

Sweet!

Victoria said...

This is great. I never knew the easy way. I did it once by hand so said never again but this I will do!

Anonymous said...

Of course you're doing something different! Something creative and unique. =) I never made it from two prints, and that looks cute. It's the pattern I used for a quilt for my husband, and then he'd never let me take it off the bed again. =)

Jenny of Elefantz said...

They sure do, Donna. When I put the fabrics together I thought there was definitely a festive feel to them. :-)

Farm Quilter said...

Thanks for the great tutorial!! When I do the triangles I will sew another seam 1/2" away for a bonus HST that I usually use in the border or for a completely new quilt!

margaret said...

thank you Jenny for this tutorial, you make it sound and look so easy!