Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!
December's block is a great scrap buster - a Scrappy Strips block.
The block has a white background with three pieced strips inserted and will be 15 1/2" unfinished. I dug out all those small, but beautiful scraps that I just can't throw away and sewed them together. (I've started sewing scraps together now on a regular basis. It's great for when you only have a few minutes, but really need some quality time with fabric. Before you know it, you have strips long enough to sew with!)
You will need white background fabric and three pieced strips for each block. I started with an 18" square of white Kona for the background and I made my strips about 21" long. This will finish larger than the 15 1/2" size but I'd rather trim away excess than be short. The strips should be longer than the block as they will be sewn in on an angle. They can be different widths, but not less than 1/2" finished (too small to easily work with) and not more than 2" (would be too wide for the background). As the strips are being sewn in on an angle, it's a good idea to measure as you plan the placement of the strips. You want to be sure they are within the 15" finished size and that the strips won't be cut off at the side.
I made several strip sets in different sizes, depending on the size of my scraps. I organized them into pieces based on size. One pile was 3" pieces and another pile was 4 1/2" pieces. Once the strip sets were about 21" long, I trimmed the side edges and then sliced them into two skinny strips. I varied the width; some were 1 1/4", others were 1 1/2" or 1 3/4".
I placed my first strip on the background fabric at an angle close to the middle of the background. (It’s easier to place the second and third strips on each side once the center piece is stitched in place.).
Place your ruler with the edge in the center of the strip.
Gently remove the strip from under the ruler, without moving the ruler out of place. Using a rotary cutter, carefully cut along the edge of the ruler, slicing the background fabric into two pieces.
Place a pieced strip, right sides together, on top of cut edge of fabric, ensuring that the strip covers the top and bottom of the background fabric. Pin and stitch, using a 1/4" seam allowance. Press seams open.
Place edge of the other half of background fabric on top of the strip, right sides together. Pin and stitch, using a 1/4" seam allowance. Press seams open.
I decided on placement of the second and third strips at this point, keeping in mind the final width of the block.
Repeat the process for the first strip: Place ruler in the center, gently remove and cut the fabric.
Pin strip to the smaller side piece of background fabric and stitch, 1/4" seam allowance.
Press seams.
Pin strip and background piece to the edge of the larger background fabric.
Stitch and press seams open.
Repeat for other side.
A finished scrappy strips block! Trim to 15 1/2" unfinished square.
Happy Sewing!
Maureen
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