DISAPPEARING SQUARES
If you’re fairly new to quilting, you might not have tried this interesting but very easy technique. The squares aren’t exactly disappearing, it’s more like they’re transforming! You make a simple block with a couple basic shapes and turn it into a block that looks much more complex! There are a lot of ways to do these, and I’ll show you several over the next few posts. To start with, this is one of the very easiest to do, starting with only four squares.
You will need to cut four squares all the same size, in two colors. You’ll need two squares each of two colors for each block.
Sew these squares together in pairs, making sure to press the seams toward the darker color.
Now you flip one piece around and sew the two together, making sure to match up the seams nicely.
Lay the block on your cutting surface nice and straight. Trim the edges evenly all around if you need to. Now you cut the block in thirds, both vertically and horizontally. If your block is evenly divisible by three, such as a 6 inch or 9 inch block, you make your cuts all evenly in thirds. If your block is like the one I show here, which is 7 inches, you make your cuts evenly from each side and the center pieces are smaller. It helps if you can line up the center seams of your block in both directions, on your cutting mat. This makes it easier to make your cuts evenly on both sides, and top and bottom. So for this particular block, I cut in 2-1/2 inches from each side and the center pieces that are left are only 2 inches.
Next, all I did was turn around each of the four pieces in the middle of the rows. Sew the three little squares in each row together, then sew the three strips together and you have a cute new, much more intricate looking block. You still have squares, but in a more interesting design!
One last little fun tip – if you don’t want to cut up your fabric to try these different cuts, try using some contrasting scrap book paper or even a few colors of construction paper to play with designs and rearrangements. Just have fun! I’ll show you a similar technique using some basic triangles next.
Happy cutting and sewing!