hourglass block step-by-step

hour glass blocks for Mr. Cottontail cushion 

I spent last year running around too busy to know where I was going, and consequently didn't get time to make my Hawthorne Threads "Cottontail" fabric into the planned cushion.

With Easter just around the corner (again), it's time to start cutting and sewing.

I truly love piecing quilts using just squares but I thought I'd give the hourglass quilt block a go for this project. 

I began by making a pile of fabrics I thought might work with "Mr. Cottontail".

This pile was then divided into two piles, one pile was very light fabrics and the other for "dark" fabrics. Now I know these dark fabrics are not really dark, but when sitting next to the light fabrics, they read as dark.

Next I started cutting squares 4 1/4" x 4 1/4", the same number of light squares as there are dark squares.

On the WS of a light square I used a fabric marker to draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner.
I used a metallic silver gel pen which will not be visible when the block is finished. A sharp pencil would work well too.

Place it on top of a dark square with RS together.
Sew a 1/4" seam on both sides of the diagonal line.
You may find it useful to draw the seam lines to follow.

Cut along the drawn line and press seams towards the dark fabrics. This gives 2 x Half Square Triangle units (HSTs).

                              

Place two different HST units on top of each other with RS together, making sure a light triangle is face-to-face with a dark triangle. Draw a diagonal line from opposing points again, across the already finished seam line.
Stitch a 1/4" seam either side of this diagonal line.
*I'm really liking how effective these fork pins are for holding seams exactly where I want them.

Cut along this drawn line. 

Press seams open.

One finished hourglass block!

Each hourglass block finished size is 3" square.

Time to cut some more squares.

*When starting a new project I usually only cut enough shapes to make approximately one third of the project. It's not until I've made a few blocks up that I really start to see where I need to go colour and value wise with my fabric choices.

I wasn't planning to originally, but I'm thinking some bunny inspired embroidery might be nice to add ...... I'll keep you posted :)

I hope you've found this how-to post useful,
thank you heaps for reading along today,
best wishes,
Kellie
xo