July/August Block Drive {Uvalde}

Hello quilters, I hope your 4th of July was fun! As some of you may have seen, we are changing things up this year and using our July/August quilt block drive to benefit Project Linus in the Uvalde, Texas region. Uvalde had a terrible school massacre in May and Project Linus is one of two groups working to coordinate relief quilts for the area.  If you have a finished quilt you wish to donate you can find more information on this post.   

Since these local Project Linus chapters are focusing the bulk of their resources on Uvalde at this time our block drive is going to help them rebuild and pad out their closet for their usual needs: children in foster care and traumatic situations.  They asked specifically for quilts that would appeal to teen boys. 

We're just going to make a simple disappearing 4-patch. Color scheme is: navy, evergreen, maroon, black, and khaki.  Please make sure your maroon is definitely a dark red and not at all purple or pink (these are teen boys we're talking about). You can use solids, textured solids, and very small prints. Try to use at least 1-2 solids per block.  For prints try to stick with geometric designs, no florals, nothing too curvy, and definitely no guns, sexy ladies, etc. Nothing that could be either too childish or too grown up. (It's a hard balance to hit, which is why I'm sticking close to solids).

For each block you'll need (4) 7.5" squares of different colors.  Arrange them and sew together into a 4-patch. (You may want to hold off on pressing at this stage so you can push the seams around later. )

Next place the 1.5" line of your ruler on the center line and slice the 4-patch into 9 pieces, cutting vertically and horizontally on both sides of the center line. 

Now you're going to move around the pieces to make the disappearing 4-patch. Switch the corners diagonally across from each other and rotate the center patch 180 degrees.

Then sew the 9 pieces back together to make a complete block and press. 

This should end up about 13". Trim it to 12.5" by either using a big ruler or placing the 6.25" line of your ruler on the center line and measuring out.  Make sure to keep your block square and centered as you trim.

And that's it, nice simple block! These will be mailed directly to Project Linus, so please email me for the address at CoveredinLoveTx@gmail.com

If you have never participated in a CiL block drive before, Welcome! These run every couple of months and you can make as many or as few blocks as you like.  Normally our quilts benefit two east Texas hospitals for patients who pass away, but this block drive will be an exception. You can read more about our mission here.