Welcome to Block One of our stitch along - Rail Fence. For this block you will need the fabrics 3, 5, & 6 from our requirements list.
Rail Fence Block
Before we start, I want to share a link for those of you who are not familiar with rotary cutting. This lesson will give you a good guide on how to use your rotary cutter safely and with ease: free lesson on rotary cutting (click the link to open the lesson in a new window)
Cut THREE 2 1/2" strips by width of fabric from each of the above THREE fabrics. Note: you will only need a little of the third strip so you might want to cut one strip of each fabric in half before sewing together. Put the other half away for use later on.
Cut Three of each fabric
Using a 1/4" seam, sew the strips together lengthwise. Here is another link for those of you who are beginners and need to know how to sew an accurate 1/4" seam: free lesson for sewing accurate 1/4" seams
You will need to make THREE of these strip blocks pressing each seam as you sew it.
Here are some pressing tips for you:
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Press seam flat as sewn
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Press from RIGHT side of block
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Press top section over seam
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Strip Block - each should measure 6 1/2" wide
Once you have your strip blocks pressed nicely, you need to cut them up.
Carefully place the ruler on one end of the strip block so the seams are even with the lines on the ruler and trim this end even (right side in the photo below). I used my 8" square to do this. Note: if you are left handed, you will trim and cut from the opposite end of the strip block.
Trim end of strip block
Turn the strip block around so you are cutting from the square end (trimmed end) of the block and cut the whole strip block into 6 1/2" blocks.
Cut strip block into 6 1/2" squares
This is your first completed block. That's all there is to it. Easy huh? Each block will measure 6 1/2" square including seam allowances and you will need 14 of them altogether for our sample quilt.
Good job! Take a photo and send it to me, I'd love to see it.
As a special blog promotion (for a short time only) you can purchase this first part which includes the 2 patterns below for just $4.49 or you can preorder the entire block of the month for just $26.25 ($3.75 per block plus bonus parts). As each part is published, you'll receive a new link automatically to download the updated version. Each new part includes 2 free additional quilts. Find out more...
I'll see you next Tuesday for the next block.
If you are really keen to make more of these blocks, you might like to make an entire quilt. Here are a couple of possibilities:
Sample 1: uses 63 Rail Fence blocks
Sample 2 uses 63 Rail Fence blocks in total
31 red blocks and 32 blue blocks
Download the full Sampler BOM pattern (Includes 7 different blocks and 14 bonus quilt patterns - updated file automatically sent with each new block as it is published) Blog promotion only available for a short time
