Good Value Sewing Instructions
To begin with, sew your strips into light and dark pairs, then sew the pairs together so that you have four alternating strips of light and dark fabric. Press the seams towards the darker fabrics.
Next, layer two strip sets, alternating light and dark still.
Sew both long sides together, making sure the strip lies flat. I sew one side, iron it and pin the start of the other seam so that it's in the right place.
Iron the strip again, then cut it into squares. I've used 2 1/2" strips, but any size will work. Just measure the width of the finished strip sets and cut into squares.
Back to the sewing machine and sew both the open sides. This seems Wrong! But it saves sewing triangles later on.
Now we have two pieced squares sewn together all around. The next thing to do is cut them diagonally twice. Don't move the block after the first cut; I have the mat on a table that I can walk around so that I can get in a good position for the next cut. If you can't do this, position the block at an angle on the cutting board that's comfortable for you to do both cuts.
The cuts should cross at the centre seam.... A consistent seam allowance is a necessity.
Voila! Four individual blocks.
Two like this...
and one each of these, which are mirror images of each other.
These happen to be some of my favourite pieced blocks, and I like being able to make them in a mindless, production line fashion, and then take my time playing with all the setting variations.
If you have any of the strip left after cutting the squares, slice it into smaller sections and use them to make these...
