Modern Blocks in Eggplant and Mustard

My colors for the AMQ quilt blocks are Eggplant and Mustard.  I was so excited about contributing to this project that I went this afternoon to the fabric store to get some additional fabrics for the Eggplant palette and I already had plenty for my mustard block.  Below are the Eggplant and Mustard palettes I put together to use for my blocks.

Eggplant Palette

Mustard Palette

I actually don't make alot of quilts using quilt blocks, so this was a new experience for me.  BUT, I had so much fun doing the Rolling Dice block that I think I'm going to make a whole quilt of them in the next few months!

For these blocks, I first fussy cut the image I wanted to be the focus of each block: 1) a bird from the Echino fabric by Etsuko Furuya, to place at the center of the eggplant block, and 2) a flower from Patty Young's Flora and Fauna collection in Mustard, to place at the center of the mustard block.  I then pieced strips to each side, repeating this process until I had a final quilt block of 12.5in x 12.5in.  The blocks are shown below.  I've included a tutorial for how to make the rolling dice block as well!



Mustard Block in Flora and Fauna - I fussy cut the first two fabrics
to make it look like the hummingbird was landing on the flower.



Eggplant Block in Eschino, High Society, and some Batiks

Rolling Dice Block Tutorial

Here's how to get the rolling dice look for your blocks:



STEP 1:  Cut your focus fabric square for the center 4.5" x 4.5".



STEP 2:  Then piece strips to each side of the block with a width of your choice. 
I used strips anywhere between 1.5 inches and 2.5 inches. 
To add the strips, place right sides of fabric together
and stitch the first 2 strips to opposite sides of the block and continue to step 3.

STEP 3:  Press seams open and square up your block on both sides.
Repeat this same basic process for the other two sides of the block.

STEP 4:  Lay your block on your cutting mat, squaring it up with
the gridlines on the mat. Place your square ruler on the block,
tilting it as far as possible to the LEFT while keeping the ruler on the block.

STEP 5:  Trim around your ruler creating a square block. 
I repeated this process several times where I used my 6.5"x6.5" ruler 1st,
followed by my 9.5"x9.5" ruler 2nd, and finally my 12.5"x12.5" ruler last. 
If you’ve done this correctly, each square within a square will be set at an angle.



FINAL BLOCK:  Your final block will look someting like this.

I can't wait to show these to the AMQ group at the next meeting!