Craftsy Block of the Month - February

My Craftsy.com blocks for February are certainly bright and beautiful thanks to a very recent fabric purchase at Marmalade.
This block was made using  Lou Lou Thi by Anna Marie Horner ( the aqua bits) and Tonal Kaleidoscope by Michael Miller ( the orange bits)

I learned a new technique for sewing half square triangles on this Balken Puzzle Block.  It is quick but leaves you with bias edges on all your squares!  Not something I would recommend to beginners as they are more apt to stretch those edges while pressing and sewing.  If you have a lot of experience handling difficult fabrics though I would recommend you try this technique.

My Chunky Chevron Block, which I do love  has 2 prints from my January blocks and the chunky chevron bit also from Marmalade is Lark from Amy Butler.

This block also used half square triangles but a different technique for sewing them up and one I had used before.  Amy Gibson ( our instructor) has you cut the squares 1/2" larger then necessary which gives you plenty of room for squaring them up.  I rather liked that actually.  

These classes do assume that you know how to rotary cut squares and strips, as well as know how to sew an accurate 1/4" seam.  But outside of that I think Amy does a fine job of showing you the steps.  Like most experienced sewers, she makes it look quick and easy....you might want to slow down a bit so you are careful about your accuracy in cutting and sewing.  Several of the 40,000 participants were having difficulty with their finished  Balken Puzzle block size..this relates to that accurate cutting and sewing, it being more difficult to accomplish on all those bias edges.