Welcome to our 2019 Block of the Month project: Begonia.

Before we begin, I’d like to do a quick introduction for those of you I have not yet met:) Hi, I’m Stefanie! I’ve been quilting for almost 5 years and started designing my own quilts around the time we moved to Seattle in early 2017. Some of my non-quilty favorites include collecting houseplants, watching Survivor, and fixing anything that is broken. You can find me on Instagram @satterwhitequilts or on my website satterwhitequilts.com.

Dust off your Bloc Locs or get in line for the die cutter because we’re making half-square triangles!

In the age of instant gratification, I’ve decided to offer a challenge in patience and ambiguity by doing a mystery BOM design, revealing a new section of the quilt each month.

This first post is going to cover how the project will work and what to expect along the way.

• Project overview
• How to pick fabrics & example palettes
• How much of each fabric you’ll need
• Monthly schedule

Be Social!

Tag your progress pictures on Instagram!
#begoniaquilt #seamqg #seattlemqg #showusyourmqg

Design Inspiration

One of my favorite places to look for design inspiration is the natural world – from plants, rocks, and animals to evolution, weather, and outer space.
I’ve chosen the name Begonia for this project because Begonias are one of the largest genera of flowering plants with over 1,800 species and I hope to see a garden of variations when we’re finished!

Project Overview

The design is based on a 24×24 grid of 3″ squares.
Finished quilt dimensions: 72″x 72″.

We will be making 3 types of units for the Begonia Quilt: Half-Square Triangles (HSTs), Diamond in a Square (DSQ), and Rectangles.

We will construct the top by connecting units into rows and attaching the rows around a center block (like courthouse steps or a medallion quilt).

Row Assembly diagrams will be revealed at the beginning of each month along with links to tutorials and other helpful info.

I’ve made a quick skeleton of the design to give you an idea of the different pieces in each row.

In the Monthly Schedule section you will find the total number of units needed for the quilt, broken down into monthly assignments. 

The cutting instructions are written using the 8-at-a-Time assembly method for Half-Square Triangles.

The guild has an Accuquilt GO! Fabric Cutter for our members to check out and use at sew-ins/meetings.

Choosing Fabrics

To make the Begonia Quilt you’ll need 10 different fabrics – one background fabric, one feature fabric, and 8 accent fabrics.

I have curated a handful of color palettes to inspire and guide you using colors from Robert Kaufman’s Kona Cotton line. There is no need to stick with solids, patterned fabric will incorporate nicely too!

Swatch Panel

The instructions and assembly diagrams will reference each fabric by number. Once you decide on your fabrics, I encourage you to make a swatch panel to help keep track of which fabric you’re using for each number.

Download begonia-swatch-panel

Fabric Needed

Yardage has been calculated for constructing HSTs using the 8-at-a-Time (8aaT) method and rounded up to the nearest 1/4 yard increment.

Fat Quarters will not work for the 1/4 yard fabrics if using the 8aaT HST assembly method. If you use the 2aaT assembly method, you should be able to use FQs for the fabrics listed as 1/4 yard, except for Fabric 5.

Monthly Schedule

The table below shows how the project is broken up for each month.
The diagram shows the specific pieces we will be making each month.
Relevant information will be shown again in the segments posted each month. 

I tried to divide the work up evenly for each month, front-loading the HST assembly to balance the longer rows in the later months.

January	Choose Fabrics Begin prepping starting squares for HSTs Cut out rectangular pieces Make Diamond in a Square units Attach Row 1 to center Diamond in a Square unit
February	Make 20 HSTs (Row 2) Assemble and attach Row 2
March	Make 64 HSTs (Rows 3-5) Assemble and attach Row 3
April	Make 60 HSTs (Rows 6 & 7) Assemble and attach Row 4
May	Make 48 HSTs (Row 8) Assemble and attach Row 5
June	Make 64 HSTs (Row 9) Assemble and attach Row 6
July	Make 56 HSTs (Row 10) Assemble and attach Row 7
August	Assemble and attach Row 8
September	Assemble and attach Row 9
October	Assemble and attach Row 10
November	Assemble and attach Borders
December	Finishing

January Instructions

Part 1: Cutting

Cut starting squares for 8-at-a-Time HST assembly method

We can get (5) 7.75″ squares from one 7.75″x 42″ strip of fabric.
Set aside leftover pieces of Fabrics 1, 2, & 9 to use in the next steps.

Cut pieces for Diamond in a Square units

Set aside leftover pieces of Fabrics 1 and 2 to use in the next step.

UPDATE 1/12/19: We updated the dimensions for the Fabric 1 & 2 squares for the center block. The original dimensions (2 – 4″ squares of Fabric 1 and 1 – 4.75″ square of Fabric 2) will still create the correct size block, but there is not a lot of wiggle room between the points of the diamond and the seam allowance.

Cut rectangular pieces

Gather leftovers of Fabrics 1, 2, & 9 from the previous steps.
Cut (12) 3.5″x 42″ strips of Fabric 1.
Subcut C-H pieces shown in the tables below.

Part 2: Assembly

Assemble 6.5″ Diamond in a Square unit

1. Cut the (2) 4.75″ squares of Fabric 1 along the diagonal. Make a crease to mark the mid-point on the longest side of all 4 triangles.
2. Fold the 4″ square of Fabric 2 in half twice to create a crease marking the mid-point along each edge.
3. Align the long edge of one Fabric 1 triangle to one side of the Fabric 2 square and sew together. Repeat with the next Fabric 1 triangle on the opposite side of the square. Press open and trim dog ears.
4. Attach the 3rd and 4th Fabric 1 triangles to the remaining sides of the Fabric 2 square. Press open and trim to 6.5″x 6.5″.

Assemble 3.5″ Diamond in a Square units

1. Cut the (16) 2.75″ squares of Fabric 1 along the diagonal. Make a crease to mark the mid-point on the longest side of all 32 triangles.
2. Fold the 2.5″ square of Fabric 2 in half twice to create a crease marking the mid-point along each edge.
3. Align the long edge of one Fabric 1 triangle to one side of a Fabric 2 square and sew together. Repeat with the next Fabric 1 triangle on the opposite side of the square. Press open and trim dog ears.
4. Attach the 3rd and 4th Fabric 1 triangles to the remaining sides of the Fabric 2 square. Press open and trim to 3.5″x 3.5″.
5. Repeat with the remaining Fabric 2 Squares and Fabric 1 Triangles until you have made all (8) 3.5″x 3.5″ Diamond in a Square units.

Attach Row 1 to the 6.5″ Diamond in a Square unit

1. Attach (2) F-pieces to opposite sides of the 6.5″ Diamond in a Square unit.
2. Attach the (2) H-pieces to top and bottom.

February Instructions

Coming Soon…