Weathervane Quilt

Instructions provided courtesy of guest Lerlene Nevaril.

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Filed under: Quilting, Crafts, How To

Materials and Tools:
two different medium-value fabrics
one background fabric
rotary tools

This quilt is made of three blocks. The original Weathervane block and two of its hidden blocks — an X-shaped block and a cross-shaped block.

Steps:

Weathervane Block

From first color fabric, cut one 3-1/2-inch square; four, two-inch squares; four, 2-1/2-inch squares. From second color fabric cut four, 3-1/2-inch squares. From background fabric, cut 12, two-inch squares; and four, 2-1/2-inch squares.

The Weather Vane Block is a nine-patch made from one 3-1/2-inch square, and four each of the following units.

1. Unit A
Make eight half-square triangles using the 2-1/2-inch square color and background squares. Position them right sides together and mark the diagonal line on the background piece. Sew 1/4 inch on either side of the diagonal and cut apart. Press the seam to the darker fabric and square up, to two-inch square. Make four units using the above half-square triangles plus the two-inch square color and background squares.

2. Unit B
This unit is made of the four, 3-1/2-inch colored squares and eight, two-inch background squares. Using a sew-and-flip technique, make four units.

3. Assemble the block using the four unit A blocks in the corners, four unit B block on the sides, and the remaining 3-1/2-inch colored square as the center.

One of the joys of Hidden Blocks is that they are simplified versions of the original block, and therefore faster and easier to make. Here’s how to make the two for this quilt.

The X-block is so named because the colored patches go from corner to corner in the block, forming an "X" shape. To make this hidden block, assemble the block in the same manner as the Weather Vane block, but replace the unit Bs with 3-1/2-inch background color blocks.

To make the cross-shaped block, the second of the hidden block, make four unit Bs as described in step 2 above, then cut four, 3-1/2-inch background squares and a 3-1/2-inch square of the opposite color. Assemble the block as shown.

To assemble the Hidden Block quilt, make one Weather Vane Block, four cross-shaped block, and four X-blocks. Combine them in a nine-patch arrangement. Place the Weather Vane block in the center, either the X-blocks or the cross-shaped blocks in the corners, and the remaining blocks on the sides.