April Block-of-the-Month

Happy Spring!  

I (Amanda L.) signed up to do the April BOM for the guild, and the block I am choosing to share is one I created for our “recent” Michael Miller Challenge Quilt.  

This block has a bit of history to it as it is designed after a portion of the Oklahoma City National Memorial.  The bombing occurred on April 19, 1995, and the resulting memorial is a place Oklahomans hold dear to their hearts.  It is a place of grief, history, and hope for the future.  As a relatively new Oklahoman, but someone who was affected deeply by the events of 9/11, I can relate very closely to the feelings of Oklahomans on this terrible tragedy, and so I created this take on the memorial as my way of paying tribute to those families and this lovely state who has accepted my family and me into its folds so generously.

April's Block-of-the-Month:

 A fat eighth of each of these fabrics is enough, but if you have large enough scraps those will do as well.   Of course you can also cut down fat quarters and use those, which I have done in the past as well.

For easy to print instructions: Click HERE

Cutting it out:

Orange (Fabric 1):

1a:  3” x 5.5”
1b:  Cut 2 –  2.25” x 5”

1c: 1.5” x 5.5”

White (Fabric 2):
2a:  4.5” x 5.5”

Navy Blue (Fabric 3):

3a:  2” x 5”

3b: Cut 2 – 4” x 12.5”

Sewing it together: (Use scant ¼” seam allowances, press seams open or to the dark side.)

1. Begin with the “chair back”. Sew each of the 1b pieces to 3a to create the center back of the “chair”.
2. Sew 1a to the top of the unit you created in step 1. 
3. Sew 1c to the bottom of the unit you created in step 1. 
4. Sew 2a to the bottom of 1c. 
5. Sew each 3b piece to the sides of the “chair” unit. 
6. Square up your block to be 12.5” square. 

There you go!  A complete OKC Memorial Block.  Thanks for joining me in April’s BOM.  Don’t forget to add your block to the flickr group.

Join us next month for May’s BOM!