Modern Monday - Block 54

Tumbler

Block 54 - Tumbler

Funny how just when you think you've seen every variation - traditional or modern - for a block, you come up with one more. And that's what happened this week. I saw the tumbler block and my brain immediately saw how it could be both modern and traditional! So this week, we're reverting back to the old formula! But I don't think you'll mind - the Modern version of Tumbler is so cute!

You only need small scraps of 4 colors and a larger scrap of the background - I chose white. There is some cutting for this, but it can be largely improv if you prefer.

Cutting
From each of the 4 colors, cut 1 - 2" square
From the background, cut 8 - 2" x 3" rectangles AND 8 - 2" x 4 1/2" rectangles
 

Stack your 4 colors and trim to 2" square.

Trim off a smidge from each side, tapering down to the corners of the stack. Just trim off "some" - it doesn't matter if they are equal. Eyeball it!

To make one 3" section, sew 2 short rectangles to each of the tapered sides of the center square. The sides will be wonky.

Line up your ruler with the top edge of the center block and trim off the excess background from the top. Repeat with the bottom.

This will give you a straight edge to sew the top and bottom rectangles on to. Center the long rectangles on the top and bottom and sew.

Once all four background rectangles are sewn , trim the unit to 3 1/2". I chose to offset the center in each of my units (see below). You might want to wait until you have all 4 units pieced before trimming (again, see below)

This is my top left corner unit. I offset it to the right and bottom.

Plan out where you want the colored centers to be in the finished block before you start trimming. I also rotated each block so they wouldn't all be lined up perfectly.

Trim each block so they are offset roughly the same amount. I wanted all mine to be more toward the center of the finished block. You could rotate them each differently so they aren't all in the center. Or you could trim each so they are centered perfectly within each unit. Experiment to see what you like best! The block will be 6 1/2" when done.