Rainbow Row Along {Row #2}

Hope you all had a great weekend!  These hot, hot days are perfect stay in and sew days–unless of course you are hanging out at the pool which would be another perfect way to beat the heat!

We are ready for Row #2 of Elonie’s Rainbow Rows quilt.  Row #2 details:

Fabrics: 1/2 yard Festive Fuchsia Pure Elements fabric by Art Gallery, 1 yard Moda Bella PFD White

From the Fuchsia fabric:

-cut 2 strips 7 1/2″ x WOF, subcut into 8 squares 7 1/2″ x 7 1/2″

From the White fabric :

-cut 2 strips 7 1/2″ x WOF, subcut into 8 squares 7 1/2″ x 7 1/2″

-cut 5 strips 3 1/2″ x WOF, trim selvages, sew end to end and cut 2 strips 3 1/2″ x 96 1/2″

For this row, we are going to be making easy hourglass units.  These units start with half square triangle units.  Now, since the squares are larger we can’t use our nifty method from last week with the drawn line(they would completely cover up our line).  But I still have a time saving method.  Instead of drawing the diagonal line–just finger press them..easy!  Go ahead and finger press all of the white squares in half diagonally.

Now you can continue making HST units as you normally would using all of the white & fuchsia squares(place a white square and a fuchsia square right sides together–sew 1/4″ away from both sides of the pressed line.  Cut the unit apart on the pressed line, open, and press toward the fuchsia).

You will have 16 HST units.

Finger press 8 of the HST unit in half diagonally as pictured.

Now, lay two of the HST units right sides together with one of the finger pressed units on top(the fuchsia section should be on top of the white section & the seams should nest perfectly).  Sew 1/4″ away from both sides of the pressed line.  Cut the unit apart on the pressed line, open, and press to one side.  You will end up with 16 hourglass blocks.

At this point in time you will want to trim them to 6 1/2″ squares.  Now, I am not a gadgety gal but I use this ruler a lot.  It is perfect for squaring up half square triangles and quarter square triangles.

Sew the completed hourglass blocks into a strip 6 1/2″ x 69 1/2″.  Press seams in one direction.

Now, you can sew Rows #1 & #2 together.  Use one of the 3 1/2″ x 96 1/2″ white strips to separate the two.  Press seams toward the plain white strip.

Huh…what about that extra 3 1/2″ x 96 1/2″ white strip?–you will be using that for the next row so hang onto it!

Hope you are having fun rowing along!