May Block Lotto – Red and White Twin Sisters

OK, I wasn’t able to do the ‘choose your own adventure’ block this month…apologies 🙁 It will come back at some point, though!

I was inspired by the simplicity of the Cherry Jubilee ‘show within a show’ at the International Quilt Festival last month in Chicago, so that’s the color palette this month: red and white/ivory. I know I often think of red and white as a more traditional color scheme for quilts, but I think the simplicity of the two contrasting colors can be very modern, as well, especially when paired with the right block pattern. There’s probably going to be a fair amount of variation in the hue of red people choose, which is good, but in order to prevent it from getting too busy and keep some negative space in each block, I’m asking that at least one of the two fabrics you use be a solid. If you do chose a fabric with a pattern, please make it fairly monochromatic and simple (so 95% or more red with no other bold colors…red fabric with a LITTLE bit of a neutral color like white or black is ok OR white/ivory fabric with a white/ivory pattern is ok).

As for the block, it’s called ‘twin sisters’ and you get two for the price of one 🙂 The pattern is super simple and there’s little to no wasted fabric (I love it when that happens!). Plus there’s already a tutorial out there on Vroomans Quilts, so I win, too!

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http://vroomansquilts.blogspot.com/2014/01/wake-up-to-kona-blog-hop.html

We’ll stick to the 5.5″ unfinished (5″ finished) blocks. More info on the blog (just under the photo of the orange and white pieces), but here’s the quick and dirty:

Cut a strip of each color (one red and one white) to 2.5″ x 18″ (or longer if you prefer to have some wiggle room…I used 18.5″ and was glad I had the ability to trim the ends). Sew them right sides together along the long side, press to your preference, and cut strip into 4.5″ squares. Cut each 4.5″ square on the same diagonal and sew like triangles together so that each block creates an opposite pinwheel effect. Trim to 5.5″ and you are done-zo. Took me 22 minutes and 33 seconds to make four blocks from start to finish (not counting the minute or two to grab fabric from my stash…note to self: pick up some ivory fabric, how do I not have any ivory fabric?!?).

If anyone has pics of the Cherry Jubilee they want to share, please post below! I was horrible about taking pictures…