Block of the Month Club #6...Kitchen Woodbox

Hi everyone! Here is block number 6 in the block of the month club...Kitchen Woodbox. I'm the worst BOM host. This is block 6 in month 10, but I've sewn some more and will share them this month to catch up.

The steps to making this block are my own. I used a rotary cutter to cut all the pieces...no templates.

The blocks in the Block of the Month Club are all 12 1/2 inches unfinished. I use a 1/4 inch seam allowance on everything. If you want to see all the other blocks and tips and tricks for sewing the blocks...Click HERE.

Here's today's block...Kitchen Woodbox

These are the measurements for all the pieces. My block has a scrappy look to use up my scrap bin, but you can use the same fabrics for the lights and darks.

I will state what pieces are lights or darks in my block, but you can change the order of your lights and darks. For example, I started with a light center, you might want to start with a dark.

• one- 4 1/2 inch light square (center)
• four- 4 1/2 inch dark squares (corner pieces)
• two- 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" dark rectangles
• two- 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" dark rectangles
• two- 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" light rectangles
• two- 2 1/2" x 12 1/2" light rectangles

Here is the placement of the pieces. I will show you how to sew them together as we go along.

Center...

Take the 4 1/2 inch center square and sew the two 2 1/2 x 41/2 inch dark rectangles to the left and right sides of the square.

Pin each right sides together.

Sew with a 1/4 inch seam. I use a scant 1/4 inch seam. You can click HERE to read what that is.

Always press the seam first before you open it up.

Fold back and press open.

First step done.

Now take the two 2 1/2 inch x 8 1/2 inch dark rectangles and sew them to the top and bottom of the first section.

Pin them right side together.

Top one...

then the bottom one.

Sew with 1/4 inch seam.

Press and iron open.

Here is the placement of the finished center.

Now take the two 2 1/2 inch x 8 1/2 inch light rectangles and sew them to the right and left sides of the center unit.

Pin each one right side together.

Press and iron open.

Now sew the two 2 1/2 inch x 12 1/2 inch light rectangles to the top and bottom.

Pin right sides together and sew with 1/4 inch seam.

Iron and press open.

Now for the corner "triangles".  This is an easy method for corner triangle instead of using real triangles which have a bias edge that can be very stretchy.

Place all four dark 4 1/2 inch squares on all four corners. Line up the edges and pin in place.

You can sew these diagonal lines by eye or with the lines on your sewing machine, but the way shown below is helpful for accuracy.

Draw a pencil line from corner to corner as shown below on all four squares.

This is a close-up.

I highlighted the lines for you.

All sewn up.

Close-up.

Here's a tip for the corners. Sew just outside the pencil line (towards the corner)...like the scant theory. You can always trim the little excess away, but if you're short you can't add fabric and the block will be less than 12 1/2 inches square.

Press and iron the corner squares back. This is the finished block except for a little trimming of the extra fabric under the corner squares.

This is a close up of the corner triangle.

This is the original square.

You need to trim away the excess fabric by folding back the top fabric and trim the bottom 2 layers to a 1/4 inch from the seam.

All trimmed.

Front...

Back...

Here's another tip...before you cut the corners sew another seam (black line in the picture) 1/2 inch away from the original seam. When you cut the excess off, you have a half square triangle already done in the cut off piece.

Kitchen Woodbox at 12 1/2 inches unfinished size.

Here are the 6 blocks.

You can click at the top of my blog under "Quilt Blocks" for the link to each one.

If any one finds an error in this or any tutorial, please let me know. It's a process explaining each step and might translate differently when I write it in a post.

Happy quilting,
~Karen~