March Quilt-Along Challenge

Hello! Sharon here with our March Quilt Block Tutorial. This is our third block in our year long scrap quilt along. In case you missed the announcement in January, I will give you a little recap. On the first Monday of each month, I will teach one quilt block pattern. You have until the last Monday of the month to sew your quilt block(s) and enter them into the album in our Facebook group, Whimsical Fabric & Me, and/or blog about your quilt blocks and link up your blog post in our link party (see below).

This months block is a fun one and a favorite of mine. I just made a whole quilt using these blocks; they are so fun and can change the look of a quilt based on the placement and colors you use. You can make a pinwheel or even a chevron pattern if you make each block identical. This month's block is designed to use all your longer pieces of scrap fabric.

Prizes
Each block that you sew and enter into the Facebook Album, will count as one entry into our monthly drawing. If you make two blocks, that is two entries. Make four blocks, that is four entries, and so on and so on. There will be a prize drawing each month.

In addition to the prize giveaway on the Facebook group, we also have a monthly Link Up Party. Blog about your entry and link up your post and you will automatically be entered to win a second prize.

Note: You CAN enter both giveaways to increase your chances of winning!
 

Supply List:

*quilter mat

* rotary cutter

*quilter's ruler

*your long scrap fabric pieces

1. First take out all your longer length scraps. They do not need to be the same length as we will trim them down later on. Cut them into 2" wide pieces by the length of the scrap fabric.

2. Next take two pieces and place them with right sides facing, matching up the raw edges.

3. Stitch with a 1/4" seam allowance down one side only.

4. Press the seam facing upwards. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the third strip of fabric. And press the seam facing downwards.

5. Trim up the first edge so that it is square. This will give our block a nice shape for sewing our quilts later on.

6. Next we will cut out the blocks into our squares. (This method of sewing/cutting quilt blocks is called strip quilting.) All my blocks are going to be cut into 4 3/4" lengths. If your blocks are 5" please cute your blocks into 5" lengths. I sew mine all with a generous 1/4" seam allowance so after trimming my blocks they measure 4 3/4". Keep cutting down your strip until you can no longer any more full sized blocks.

7. Now onto the left over pieces! This is why I said that each strip could be different lengths, they will not go to waste at all. Cut out them into 2" lengths. If you have groups of three or even two they can be used still. Remember January's BOM? These are perfect to make a few more of those up!

I keep a gallon sized zip-lock bag hanging up in my sewing room just for these small scraps.  I call it my rainy day fun bag. One day my daughter's doll will get a quilt made from some of these scraps.

That is it, we now have our finished blocks! I think that you will find these sew even quicker than last month's blocks and you can make a dozen of these in no time at all.

Facebook Group
After you have sewn all your blocks together for this month please go over to our Facebook Group and share each of your blocks in our March Quilt Along Album for a chance to be entered into our monthly drawing! You have until Monday, March 28 at 12:00 pm (noon) CT to enter your blocks.

Link Up Party
In addition, if you blog, write up a short blog post about your quilt-along block(s) and link up your post in our Link Up Party. The button is located below. In addition:

1. Grab the February graphic, share it in your blog post, and link it back to this post here to let all of your followers know you are partying with us.
2. Share about your blog post on all your favorite social media outlets.
Note:We will be sure to visit and comment on your blog. We love interacting with our followers!

Remember, there is no required amount that you need to make. Make as many or few as you would like.

Happy Sewing!
Sharon

An InLinkz Link-up