2019 Monthly Color Challenge -June Challenge -Orange

I’m participating in PBJ -Patterns By Jen’s Monthly Color Challenge for June and the focus color is orange. Each month is a different pieced pattern with a color scheme inspired by a special flower. This month's color is orange and the flower is the Sundaze Blaze Strawflower. The block is a 12" Card Trick. The pattern is here -available for free for the month of June. Scroll down to the end of the post to find links for the other bloggers participating in this month's challenge.

Strawflowers are super cool - they are the perfect cut/dried flower as they are almost already dried as a new bloom.

I  chose June because it is my birth month and because I LOVE ORANGE quilts and strawflowers too. So my first task was to decide which group of orange fabrics to use for my block. One option was Halloween but that didn't seem very true to the floral inspiration.

Next, I looked at Cheddar Orange antique reproduction fabrics which I often use in repro quilts but again, they didn't seem to capture the strawflower.

The third choice was the charm, a selection of orange prints and batiks.

For all the choices I took pictures and played with the black and white feature to determine the value or contrast between the fabrics. **Take a picture on your phone and edit color to black/white. Or put the fabrics on a copier and copy on black/white. These fabrics don't have a lot of contrast between dark/medium/light but there is enough to make an effective block.

Card Trick or "It's All About the Triangles"  :)

All of the steps/parts of the Card Trick pattern involve triangles and most involve diagonal seam half square triangles.

The first step is making 1/2 square triangles for the 4 corners. Take 2 squares, draw a diagonal line and sew a 1/4" on both sides of the marked line. Cut apart on the marked line. 2 square sets (light/medium and light/dark) make 4 1/2 square triangles. 

Next is to make the block center which is an hourglass. You repeat the diagonal seam 1/2 square triangle method with a medium and dark square. Cut apart and press. Carefully, place the 2 squares right sides together with opposite colors touching (see photo) so that you will create an X, 

Draw another diagonal line on the back of one of the 1/2 squares and again sew 1/4" on both sides of the line. Cut apart and press. You will have an extra hourglass block.

The final 4 blocks are pieced triangles - simply sew 2 small triangles and then add a larger triangle to make a square. These blocks go in the North, South, East and West positions and are the blocks that really create the Card Trick illusion.

The final steps are joining the 9 blocks together in rows and then sewing the rows together to create a 12" block.
 It is a fun block to make but you do need to be precise in your sewing. I used batiks so I didn't have to worry about right or wrong sides or bias stretching.

*********The other bloggers joining in the fun besides Jen and me are:
Kathy Nester of Penny For My Thoughts
Kathy Bruckman of Kathy's Kwilts