Patches of Blue Quilt Along – Block 1 Frost
Updated: Jan 4
Hello everyone, I’m so excited about doing this with you today, I even went out and got flowers for our sewing table!
Our first block will be “Frost” from the “Patches of Blue” book page 79. With this block we will warm up on a cold winter day to an accurate 1/4″ seam allowance, trimming, and pressing.
Fabric Requirements:
6 Blue 10″ squares
6 Light 10″ squares
We are cutting for 2 Block 1s and 2 Block 2s on page 81 of the “Patches of Blue” book. You will need the book for the detailed cutting measurements.
From blue fabrics cut:
12 large half square triangles
6 HST squares 3″ (I always cut squares a bit bigger than the required measurements for my HST units)
12 small squares
From light fabrics cut:
24 small half square triangles
6 HST squares 3″ ( remember – I always cut squares a bit bigger than the required measurements for my HST units)
12 small squares
TIP: There are a few extra pieces that we have cut, I like to have a bit of extra variety in color for my block. Don’t worry, we will not waste the extras, they will be used in future blocks.
Lets put some thread into our sewing machine – I’m using Aurifil 2310 w50 for piecing this block, In case you are having trouble finding Aurifil, you can get it HERE.
We will start by placing light and a dark HST squares right sides together keeping the light fabric on the top. Draw a diagonal line through the square and then sew 1/4″ on both sides of the line. I really missed not having my favorite SewLine pencil for this task, it works much better than a standard pencil.
Cut on the pencil line, open the HST units, and press seam allowance toward the dark fabric.
Trim to the exact size, notice how I position the 45 degree line on my ruler through the middle of the HST unit. They are so cute – I can’t wait to move on the next step!
We have all of our pieces ready, lets lay out the block!
I start with the large triangles and all other blues. My goal is to watch the shades of color and keep the darkest blues in the middle, getting lighter blue toward the edge of the block.
Finish the layout out by adding the light pieces to the block. At this point I’m sure you’ll be happy to have those few extra pieces of fabric to add variety to your block.
