Modern Monday - Block 39

The Dragon Fly

Block 39 - The Dragon Fly

This block is a fun little paper pieced block that is kin to Rocky Road to Kansas, which has string pieced points. If we were making a larger block I would string piece these points, but since each unit is only 3" finished, it seemed a bit extreme to do today! There is a bit of precision piecing in getting the four units to fit together perfectly, which you can see I didn't achieve too well, but as they say: it's good enough for government work!

I keep gravitating back to too much gray in the blocks. I need some that are brighter, so I chose white blue and a new red-orange I recently got.

Print out your templates. Measure them to make sure they are the right size. They should be 3 1/2" square measured from dashed lines. To access the template, click here.

These are simple paper pieced blocks. Use any method you choose. Place the fabrics on the back side of the template. I hold it up to the light to see that there is enough room for the seam allowance.

Reduce your seam allowance "some" so you can tear out the paper without tearing out your stitches at the same time. Sew on the line.

Fold back the paper and trim seam allowance to 1/4".

Press and repeat on the other side.

Add the blue triangle on in the same way and press. Trim to 3 1/2" making sure you have enough seam allowance for all three points.

This is what the back should look like after trimming. I take the paper out at this point rather than waiting until the end.

Sew together like a 4-patch block.

I press the seams open. There is a lot of bulk at the seams. Pressing open alleviates this bulk. It will be 6 1/2" when done.