May Quilt Along Challenge

Hello, Sharon again. It must be the first Monday of the month, because it is our Block of the Month post! This month's BOM is called Hearts for Mom. For this block we will be using only rectangles and squares to make our heart block, so it uses only techniques that we have already learned.  I hope you ladies will enjoy it as much as I have!

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).
 
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!

This month's prize is a Riley Blake Medium Dots Charm pack 

Supply List:

quilter mat

rotary cutter

quilter's ruler

long scrap fabric pieces

Let's get started!! 

1. You will need to cut two rectangles for your hearts. Cut all of these pieces out with your quilter mat, ruler, and rotary cutter.

• (2)  4¾"x 2¾"
(Note: If your blocks that you made previously measure a finished size of 5" you will need to cut these pieces  5" x 2¾".)

• (4) 1¼" square 

• (2) 2¾" square

2. Take all of your squares and mark a center line with a fabric marker right through one corner to the opposite corner as to divide the square into two triangles. These will serve as our stitching lines.

3. Take two of your smaller squares, one of the lager squares and one of your rectangles and lay them out for sewing. Place the two smaller square up in the top two corners as shown below.  Then take your larger square and place it with the mark you made starting at the middle left of the rectangle then going out to the right side bottom corner of the rectangle. If you look at at your lines you drew it should make up half a heart at this point. Pin all of your blocks in place.

4. Now we will sew all three squares onto our rectangle by stitching over the lines we made on the square pieces.

5. Trim the seams down to about a 1.4" on each square you have just sewn on.

6. Press all your seams towards the outside of your block. (This will be the left side of our heart.)

Here is a look at the back side of our block with the seams pressed.

7. Now onto the right side of our heart. Take and lay out your block in the same manner as the first, except for the bottom square. Place the larger square at the bottom with the bottom of the line you drew facing the bottom left corner of you rectangle and the top of the line facing the right side middle of your rectangle. Pin these in place, then stitch over your lines and trim as before in step 4 and 5. This time when you press your seams press them facing towards the center of your block. This will help us to "lock" seams on the next sewing step for perfectly matched seams.

 8. Now take your two heart halves and place them next to each other.

 Place the right side over on-top of the left side with right sides facing each other. Pin on the long side of the heart.

9. Stitch the long side of the heart with a 1/4" seam allowance.

10. Press your center seam to one side(either side is fine).

This is a look at the back side of the seams. I did press the bottom of the heart in the same direction, but the two top in the opposite direction as to help lock those two seams together.

11. Trim your block so that it is square on all sides. 

That's it, we are all done with our block.  Now repeat these steps as many times as you would like!  

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 May Quilt Along Album for a chance to be entered into our monthly drawing! You have until Tuesday, May 31th at 12:00 pm (noon) CT to enter your blocks. 

Link Up Block 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 May 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 as few as you would like.

Happy Sewing!! 

Sharon
An InLinkz Link-up