Christmas block~ tutorial

Thank you for all the visits yesterday and comments! :-) And welcome to my new followers!!  I really had fun making my block, and many of you asked how I did it, so I made a little tutorial~ but, I got so involved making the block, I forgot to take a few photo's. Sorry! :-/

The first thing I did was cut a red and white strip 1.25 inches by 15.5 inches and sewed them together to get a 2 inch by 15.5 inch strip. Pressing to the red (here is where I forgot a photo, but I think you get the idea). ;-)  Cut this strip into 1.25 inch segments. You will get 12 with just a smidge leftover.

Next cut 12 - 1.25 by 2 inch rectangles of your background fabric. (no photo) Sorry. :-/

 Sew these rectangles to your  little red/white rectangles~

You will end up with 2 inch '3 patches'. **Notice that I sewed the white rectangles to the red square units in two different ways ~ half one way, and half the other way. This is so you will be able to have them appear random in the final block.

Then cut 12 more background rectangles~ 2 by 3 inches and sew your little '3 patches' to them~

Alternate the direction of the '3 patches'~ I sewed groups of 3 in 4 different ways~ photo above. Sometimes photo's speak volumes where words fail me! ;-)

Now sew these together with the '3 patches' on opposite ends (forgot the photo~ but the next photo shows them together) ;-) Clip in the center so that you can press the seam allowances in opposite directions~ away from the '3 patches'.

I just randomly picked rectangles to sew together, so your little red square ends up in different positions. ;-)

Next take your ruler and draw a diagonal line from the corner to the opposite side. It should just pass a hair below the intersection of the 3-patch, so that you will have a nice point later. Draw a second line for the other 3 patch. Photo above. 

 Cut six rectangles from your green fabric~ 3.5 by 4.5 inches. Pair  each with your red/white rectangle. RST.

2~ sew on the drawn lines.

3~ cut apart leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance for each segment.

4~ you will end up with 2 units, with red square in random spots.

Repeat for all  rectangle sets ~ ending with 12 green half square triangle/red square units. They should each measure 3.5 inches square. I originally pressed all the seam allowances to the green, but once you find a layout you like, you will need to re-press a few segments away from the green so the seam allowances mesh together.

Now for the fun! Arrange them any way you like. :-)
My center square is cut 6.5 inches. I need to embroider it with my stencil yet, but I think you get the idea now on how to make the block. :-)  The finished block is 12 inches square.

All the photo's should enlarge if you click on them. And if you have any questions, please let me know!
If you make a block, please let me know too! :-)

Today the Think Christmas blog hop continues with these bloggers~~

Creations On The Island

Meloree at That Other Blog ( sadly a no show)

Sunshine Girl

Hallbrook Designs

The Recipe Bunny

Sisca at That Other Blog 

Polkadot Classic

Ariane's Crafts

The Cuddle Quilter ~ our hostess :-)

Be sure to visit them and be inspired!!
Have a happy day!