BOW #29 Yankee Puzzle

All right, we took a week off for the holiday.  Hope yours were all wonderful!  

Yankee Puzzle is an easy segue from the Hourglass block, as it's just 4 Hourglass blocks, but with 2 different darks on opposite sides of the hourglass, which forms a pinwheel in the middle.

For a 12" block you'll need 4 Quarter Square Triangles of each color (paired with a background color).   You'll start out with:
(1) 7-1/4" square of Dark 1
(1) 7-1/4" square of Dark 2
(2) 7-1/4" squares background


Make 4 QSTs (Quarter Square Triangle units) --well, half units, I suppose--of each color (see BOW #28 for instructions); combine a Dark 1 unit with a Dark 2 unit to make squares......

And arrange those into the Yankee Puzzle block.

This is a good block for secondary designs--or, rather a secondary color design.  When you put four of them together you create a second pinwheel, in the other color.   Very nice design feature!

 And before I close, here's a little construction variation that you might find useful.  Once you have created the Half Square Triangle units for the first step in the QST, you can put a Dark 1 HST and a Dark 2 HST, right sides together (with the Darks opposite each other), draw on the wrong side a line that is perpendicular to the first seam on the HSTs, and sew 1/4" on either side of the line.  When you cut on the drawn line you will have two QST units with the two colors opposite each other.

Have fun!!