The May Blocks Are Ready!

I LOVE this block!  I think it's my new most favorite block.  I can just see a beautiful quilt made from dozens of these. It’s simple and fast to cut and sew so I hope you love it too.

I made my blocks, one in my tester colors, pink and brown, and the other from my layer cake squares, both 8" finished in size; there's no little bitty blocks this time.  I'm pretty sure it would involve templates so I didn't work on that.  Here are the cut pieces for the Next Door Neighbor block:



Stack your three colors and cut (1) 5 1/4" square and (1) 2 7/8" square from each.  Cut the large square on BOTH diagonals and cut the small square ONCE.  How fast and easy was that?!  (You will need one more 2 7/8"square later, see below).

I like to lay all the pieces out before I start to sew:


Do you see the blue pinwheel in the block?  I like the way it stands out using the blue fabric in that spot but you could try other placement of your fabrics since all three fabrics are cut the same. 



Once you are happy with your layout, did you find out you were short 2 pieces?  Cut one more 2 7/8" square (cut in half on the diagonal) for the one you decided should be the pinwheel.  Those two pieces will fill in the remaining two corners.

Now we're ready to sew!  I sewed the middle block pieces together to make two halves and I continued by chain piecing the brown and blue units together and then finishing the center unit by sewing the halves together. 

At this point the rows will be sewn together-diagonal rows.  But, don't sew the (blue) corner pieces on just yet. 

When sewing the side triangles on to the brown/blue triangle units align the straight edges.  See the tips sticking out?  They should stick out 1/4".  The center row units should all be the same size. 

Sew the rows together. 

Add the blue corner triangles. Again, the points should stick out. Trim them off after giving the block a good press. I hope you enjoy putting this block together!