Classic Blocks: Fresh Fabric for May… a (beach) House Block!

Is it really May already? I’m ready to go to the beach! I already have my beach house, lol! Our Classic Block: Fresh Fabric sewalong block this month is the House Block. It’s a classic block that quilters have made a million different ways. If you sewalong with us you can make any house block you want, and you might just win a sweet bundle of fabric!

I’m going to share with you the pattern for my Beach House Block that was inspired by our giveaway fabric.

In case you are catching this blog series for the first time, we’re making gorgeous quilt blocks using the classic patterns and fresh modern fabrics from Anna Griffin and Blend Fabrics! So far we’ve made the Economy Block, Orange Peel Block, Shoofly Block,  Bear Paw block, Yankee Puzzle,  Spinning Spools,  the Rail Fence Block,  the Variable Star, the Sailboat Block, the Dutchman’s Puzzle Block, the Churn Dash Block,  the Friendship Star, and the Snowball and Nine Patch blocks together! You can search for ‘classic blocks fresh fabric‘ in my search box to find them too.

Each post includes an easy to follow tutorial and a fat quarter bundle giveaway that lasts for 2 weeks.

Each month, Blend Fabrics sends me a collection of fabrics to work with and I get to giveaway a sweet bundle too! If you want to play, just make one or more of the current month’s block within two weeks that the tutorial is posted, and share a picture of your block(s) in our facebook group entry album or  in our flickr pool.

The fabric I’m using is Sun-Sational by Maude Asbury for Blend Fabrics.

I used it once before on this rope handled tote that I made for Blend to take to Spring Quilt Market… look for it if you are going!

The winner of our sewalong will be chosen at random from everyone who posts a picture of their block(s) and will receive this fat quarter bundle with 10 different prints. Yay!

Like I mentioned before, to participate you may sew one or more house blocks in any fabric, any size and any pattern you like. 

My Beach House design was totally inspired by this cute print in the Sun-Sational collection. The print is called ‘Wish You Were Here.’

And here’s the Beach House Quilt Block Pattern…

This pattern makes a 16” square finished block.

Click here to get the diagram and cutting instructions in a downloadable and printable pdf format.

Cutting instructions:

Choose fabrics for your background, roof and door, house, windows, shutters, sand, and the pillars.

From the background fabric, cut:

• 1 rectangle 3 1/2” x 16 1/2”
• 2 rectangles 3 1/2” x 2 1/2”
• 2 rectangles 8 1/2” x 4 1/2”
• 2 rectangles 4” x 3” (if it is a solid fabric you’ll only need 1)

From the roof and door fabric, cut:

• 1 rectangle 3 1/2” x 8 1/2”
• 2 rectangles 4” x 3”
• 1 rectangle 3 1/2” x 2 1/2”

From the house fabric, cut:

• 1 rectangle 1 1/2” x 8 1/2”
• 1 rectangle 2 1/2” x 8 1/2”
• 2 squares 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”

From the window fabric, cut:

• 2 squares 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”

From the shutter fabrics, cut:

• 4 rectangles 2 1/2” x 1 1/2” (2 in each color)

From the sand fabric, cut:

• 2 rectangles 2 1/2” x 4 1/2”
• 1 rectangle 2 1/2” x 6 1/2”

From the pillar fabric, cut:

• 2 rectangles 2 1/2” x 1 1/2”

Use the diagram above to sew the pieces together. 

The triangle pieces on the roof are the tricky part, so I’ll show you step by step.

Cut 1 4” x 3” background rectangle and 1 4” x 3” roof rectangle in half diagonally. 

Arrange 2 triangles as shown, and then place right sides together. Sew the long edge with a 1/4” seam allowance.

Press the unit open. Trim to 3 1/2” x 2 1/2”.

If your roof or background fabric is a print, then you will have to use another 4” x 3” rectangle and cut it diagonally in the opposite direction to sew the other side of the roof.

Here are the two triangle roof units.

When I made this beach house block, I sewed the row with the windows and shutters first. Then I added the house pieces on the top and bottom of this row. Then I sewed the 3 1/2” tall row with the door and added it to the rest of the house. I added the background pieces to the house. Then I sewed the roof row and added it, and then the background on top. Lastly I sewed the sand and pillar row and sewed it on the bottom. Done!

You now have until May 18th to make your own house block (any pattern, any fabric, any size) and post a picture into one of the two photo albums mentioned above to enter to win the beautiful bundle from Blend fabrics. I’ll announce the winner in our facebook group in case you are lurking there.

Happy sewing!

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