Oh, what a month it has been! We finally got into our rental home just a few weeks ago, and I finally have my sewing machine back – we shipped it from France before we left, and it took about 5 weeks to join back up with us here in Arizona. I also managed to put my sewing space together this week too! September is halfway done, and I am just now putting the block out there, and I am very sorry for the long wait. So, without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to September’s block: Albatross.

The Albatross block is inspired by the great ocean bird known for its strength and long voyages, mostly because we just took our own long voyage across the ocean, and the block looks a bit like a bird as it soars through the clouds. The fabric I’ll using is Songbook: A New Page by Fancy That Design House for Moda. (I’m still waiting for it to arrive in the mail; I used a different shop than my normal haunts and this one took a while to ship. I didn’t want to delay the block anymore, though, so I have some digital illustrations until I can get to the block myself! Again, apologies! I’ll update the post with pretty pictures as soon as I can.)

This block leaves a good chunk of scrap fabric once the pieces have been cut- stay tuned, I’ll have another post with a fun project that uses the scraps coming in a few days. For the block, cut (2) 4.5″ x 4.5″ and (4) 2.5″ x 2.5″ squares from the 10″ fabric square, and (8) 2.5″ x 2.5″ squares from the background fabric. The block will finish at 8″. If you’d like to make a full quilt, you’ll need 1.5 yards of background fabric- get more if you would like to use it as a border too.

The block comes together quickly enough, though! Snowball corners on the 4.5″ squares and then some 4-patch units are all it takes to get the Albatross block.

As usual, the magic happens as the blocks come together to form the main pattern. This design is a lattice, and the 4-patches create a little more interest in the negative space.

Since an 8″ block makes for a small quilt (48″ x 56″) I’ve mocked this one up (In Homemade for Riley Blake Designs) with some borders! I like to use the quilt block units as my reference point: since I cut 2.5″ squares, a small border of 2.5″ would be good, followed by an outer 4″ border, like the snowball units. Or, for something bigger, double the size of the inner border, and cut it at 5″. The eye can recognize sizes and multiples better than you may realize, and it is settling to the mind to have order like that, whether you know it is happening or not. There’s a pattern-writing trick for you 😉

Or if you’d prefer, just extend the background color for a single border, and the main design will simply float on the quilt. This mock-up uses a fall line (Shades of Autumn for Riley Blake Designs). I will miss seeing the tree-lined Paris streets with their autumn leaves this year, so I’ll just remember it though quilt fabric since the desert is not known for its fall foliage 😉 Grab the Albatross block pattern below:

TAKE TEN SEPTEMBER BLOCK

Remember to look for that scrap project, I’m already excited for it!

It won’t be long now before September is over and October is upon us, but I at least already have my fabric for October’s block. Halloween fabric, of course! October will be a fun pattern befitting of the month’s main holiday… like the quilt got hold of a bit too much sugar! 😉

Happy Quilting!