Three In A Row

This is what happens when you try to do things the "easy" way.

At first glance at the software pattern for this block, it looked like Y-seams would be required in order to make it look like Jane's block. The center could be paper-pieced and then four pieces of background fabric would have to be sewn in using Y-seams, followed by appliqueing of the outer two diamonds.

Although I don't dislike Y-seams as much as I used to, I'm always willing to avoid them if I can. And definitely the same goes for applique...

Anyway, I decided that instead of sewing Y-seams, I would just sew large pieces of fabric on all four sides of the center (paper-pieced, yeah!) and then tilt it, square up to 5 inches and whack off extra fabric. I should have looked carefully at Jane's block before I whacked, because as you can see in the photo on the top left, the angle is completely off. I don't know what I was thinking when I did it, but I messed up. But I didn't realize it yet.

Then I used the raw-edge machine buttonhole-stitch method to secure the outer two diamonds. At that point I decided to compare mine to Jane's. Not the same. So in order to avoid starting from the very beginning (life is too short for that!), I decided to follow Brenda Papadakis' rules -- "Cut it big and whack it off" and "Log cabin around it". And my favorite -- "This is your quilt...Add and take away blocks and change the patterns as you wish. Use whatever fabrics you desire."

So I did!

This is "C-2, Streak of Lightning", an intermediate-level block.