April Block- Umbrella
“April showers bring May flowers” as the saying goes. Stitch together your own patchwork umbrella to usher in the rainy season knowing that beautiful flowers will soon follow.
(***scroll to the bottom of the page for a printable PDF version of this pattern)
Cutting Instructions (for one 12” finished block- it will be 12 ½” before sewing on 1 ½” strips):
From a variety of polka dot scraps (I used “warm” colours) or the colour family of your choice:
cut 33 2” squares
cut one 2 ½” square
From a variety of blue scraps:
cut twenty 2” squares
cut five 2 ½” squares
cut 2 strips 1 ½” x 12 ½”
cut 2 strips 1 ½” x 14 ½”
Dark grey:
cut one 2” square
cut four 2 ½” squares
Outer border fabric (.25 m / ¼ yd): *** you might not want to cut the outer border lengths until your block is completed with narrow background borders in case seam allowances are not consistent
cut two 3 ½” WOF (width of fabric) strips (cut one 14 ½” and one 20 ½” length from each strip)
Binding: three 2 ½” strips (.25 m / ¼ yd)
Backing: one piece 23” square
Batting: one piece 23” square
Hanging sleeve: one piece 5” x 20 ½”
Sewing instructions:
*** ¼” seam allowances are used throughout. Refer to my Scant Quarter Inch tutorial for your own perfect ¼” seam.
figure 1
Half Square Triangles (HST's): gather up all the 2 ½” squares from above (the following squares are in different colours...the prepping is the same)
draw a diagonal line on the back of all the 2 ½” blue squares
with right sides together place a blue square with each of the other 2 ½” squares and stitch ¼” from both sides of the drawn line (repeat for all 5 sets)
cut them apart along the drawn line and press away from the blue (figure 1)
Trimming HST's: (the following HST's are in different colours...the trimming is the same)
line up the diagonal line from the ruler on top of the seam line making sure that the entire 2” area of the ruler is on top of the HST and trim the excess from the right and top of the square (figures 2 & 3)
turn the HST around and place the 2” markings from the ruler on the already trimmed corner and trim the final 2 sides (figures 4 & 5)...repeat with all HST's
figure 2
figure 3
figure 4
figure 5
Block layout:
lay out the squares and HST's by following the photograph below for placement (there will be one HST left over) (figure 6)
stitch squares in each row together and press seams in each row in the opposite direction to the one before it (figure 7)
stitch all rows together lining up seam lines (figure 8)
press seams in one direction
figure 6
figure 7
figure 8
figure 9
Narrow borders (figure 9):
stitch the 1 ½” x 12 ½” blue strips to the sides of the block and press seam towards the strips
stitch the 1 ½” x 14 ½” blue strips to the top and bottom of the block and press seam toward the strip
*** If you plan on making a calendar quilt, just stop with this completed block. If you want to make a wallhanging follow the instructions below.
Outer border:
stitch 3 ½” x 14 ½” outer borders to the sides of the block and press seams towards the borders (figure 10)
stitch 3 ½” x 20 ½” outer borders to the top and bottom of the block and press seams towards the borders (figure 11)
figure 10
figure 11
Finishing:
layer the backing, batting and top together and either spray-baste or pin-baste the layers together
quilt as desired, also run a straight stitch within the seam allowance all around the outer edge...this stabilizes the edge for applying the binding
trim backing and batting even with the quilt top
follow my Hanging Sleeve tutorial
apply the binding using your preferred method (the hanging sleeve will be stitched in place as the binding is sewn on) or follow my Best Ever Binding tutorial