2-sided Snowball Block
 

Fabric Requirements
1 yard of neutral fabric, 1 yard of assorted solids (5" each, at least)

1. Take two strips of fabric - one solid color, one neutral - both measuring 5" by WOF.
2. Fold the solid strip (RST) along the length into half and iron it to create a crease, see picture below. Repeat for the neutral strip.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]477539[/ATTACH]

3. Place the two strips (one solid and one neutral) RST and stitch the two strips together, along the length using a 1/4 inch seam. Iron the seam open. Make sure that you maintain the creases created in Step 2.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]477540[/ATTACH]

4. Stitch the solid to the neutral on the other side (to form a tube) using a 1/4 inch seam. Once again, press open the seam.

It is very important to press the seams open and maintain the crease. Your finished tube should look like the picture below
[ATTACH=CONFIG]477541[/ATTACH]

Do you see that the opened seams are in the center of the tube and the creases to the edges? That is what you want.

5. Using a 45 degree ruler, cut the tube like shown in the picture below.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]477543[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]477542[/ATTACH]

You will get two types of blocks - Dark Centers and Light Centers.

6. The finished block should be just over 6" and you can trim it to 6", if you like. At this time, please starch and iron your blocks. I am sure that you can now see why it was important to maintain the crease. Opening the seam reduced the bulk when cutting the tube.

There are so many ways to arrange this block. You can use just the Dark Centered Blocks to make Xs and Os quilt. You can use just the Light Centered Blocks to make Wild Geese pattern. You can also mix them to make a Zig-Zag quilt. See below for layout ideas
[ATTACH=CONFIG]477544[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]477546[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]477547[/ATTACH]

Hope you enjoy this and find it useful. Let me know if you have any questions.

Wow! This is neat!

Now ,for my silly question...do you use any tool when pressing your seams open? I've seen some tools for that lately.

Thanks for the great tutorial.

Wow I can see that those creases are so very important. Really good tute :). Thanks

Judy in Phx, AZ

Great tutorial!

Thanks for the tutorial.

great way of doing them... thanks for sharing

Thanks for the great tutorial!!

That is such a great way to do the 2 sided snowball. Thanks for taking your time to share with us.

That's very helpful! Love how many different layouts you can get! Thanks so much! (good, easy to follow tute!)

A little trick I've found is to press open the seam at the starting edge with your finger and place the iron on it. Slightly lift the fabric a few inches in front of the iron (so that there is a slight curve or bend) as you go slowly along the seam. Seems to naturally open the seam as you go. Worth a try!

Wow, this is great tutorial.Thanks !

Thanks for the great tute!

Thanks for the great tutorial! And for the pictures showing all the different layouts.

I learn more when there are pictures to look at. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Great tute! Thank you

Isn't that a smart way to get the blocks for 2 projects, thank you for the wonderful tutorial.

What a great method for doing this block. I am putting the tutorial in my subscriptions so I can refer to it in the future. Thanks for sharing it.
peace

Amy Smart has a block up on her blog today that would be perfect with this block!

http://www.diaryofaquilter.com

Thanks so much for posting this, what a great way to make these blocks!!!!

This is great!! Thanks a bunch.:thumbup:

I`s great .Thanks so much .

Thank you!

A wooden spoon slid down the center of a tube makes a great little pressing board.

That certainly is a neat way to make fast quilts. Great job!!!

Thanks so much!!!!

Thanks for sharing! I am going to have to try this :).

This was great! I really enjoyed seeing the process and you explained it so clearly. Thanks for taking the time to share.

Love this. You don't have much waste with this method!

I am half way doing this block , it is so easy , just came back to check if I was doing this right, because it is so easy. Cathy

Thanks for the tutorial. This is one I will definitely try.

Very cool! Great tute!

thank you.now to get busy before I foorget.

Wow! I love this... thanks!

Great Tutorial! So easy to follow

Thank you for sharing!

Are all the blocks on the bias?