Tippy

OK.. here we go.. I am not including yardages as I tend to let the fabric available let me know how large the quilt will be. Perhaps later we'll work on figuring out yardages.. soo.. here we go. The first picture is a sketch of the basic block.
Churn Dash. The next few will be how to cut out the parts of the block.. As you can see, the basic pattern is a 9 patch. The final block will measure 12.5" x 12.5", unfinished. The center or focal block which we are going to fussy cut will be 4.5" square. I am using a June Taylor 4.5" square ruler that is transparent to aid me in cutting the center blocks. (seen in picture #2.)

Tippy

Next we're going to choose fabrics for the framing colors and cut the components to make those bits. I chose to use green prints as my "consistant" color, and decided to pull a color from each of the fussy cut centers for the second color. The next pictures will show the following.
#4) cutting 2.5" strips for the side blocks
#5) cutting 4 7/8" strips for corner blocks
Did I mention that we're going to go for techniques to make this a wee bit faster? Don't worry.. it's also the easiest way to do it.
#6) cutting the 4 7/8" strips into 4 7/8" squares.

Tippy

One thing I almost forgot to mention. I cut some strips lengthwise of fabric lengthwise and some crosswise.. for this pattern I don't think it makes a lot of difference. Another hint.. don't forget to cut off the selvages. and that includes all the little holes in my opinion.. this part will frequently shrink more than the fabric proper.

Tippy

Now for the fun.. take the two 4 7/8" squares, put the right sides together and even the edges up. Now take a pencil or fabric pen and mark a diagonal line from top left to bottom right corner. This is the guide and cutting line for our corner squares. you're going to put the edge of your 1/4" foot on that line and stitch 1/4" on either side of that line.
Next you're going to cut on that line, leaving 1/4" seam allowance on each side. You need to make 2 of these square units.

Tippy

OK.. now do the second pair of squares the same way.. then take both sets to the ironing board. Press as is to "set" the stitches.. then press open.. I always press toward the green so everything fits well and I'm consistent. And what do you know.. now you have 4 corner squares. So take them back to your mat or get out the scissors and clip off those little "dog ears" to make them look nice.

Tippy

Now we're going to make the second kind of squares.. these are the sides and top and bottom. So take the two 2.5" strips, put them right sides to right sides and stitch down one long side using a 1/4" seam. Now take that strip to the ironing board and again press closed to "set" the stitches,, then press open.. pressing the seam (for me) to the green side.

Tippy

Now using that handy little 4.5" square ruler (you can do this with a regular see through ruler too) lets cut that strip into 4.5" squares.

Tippy

Now you have all of the components for your block.. you should have 4 "diagonal" corner blocks, 4 (2) two strip blocks, and one fussy cut block..
I lay mine out on a big surface to figure out which color I want to directly "frame" the fussy cut square. Here you'll see the two alternatives. (not sewn yet)

Tippy

I chose option #1 as you will see. Now you just take the squares and assemble your block.. I do the top 3 as a row.
Then assemble the second row.. then the 3rd.. now take them all and ...........that's right!!....... Head for the ironing board and set and press your seams. on the top and bottom, I press the seam toward the center block. On the center row, I press the seams toward the outside. when I assemble the 3 rows I press the seams away from the center of the block.. so now it lays nice and flat and doesn't have any big "chunky" seams.

Tippy

Now that wasn't so hard.. was it..........
here are a few more that I made tonight.