March Block of the Month - Lucky Charm

Hello March!  

It seems that things are much colder here than they were last month, so I hope things are warm wherever you are!

The block for this month is sometimes known as Mother’s Dream, but I named it Lucky Charm because it resembles (very loosely) a four leaf clover.

 This is an easy sew because it has minimal pieces and you get to subcut the strips!

 

 

The fabric requirements come from the post at the beginning of the year in the January.  You can check that post here.

This pattern uses the light, medium, and dark valued fabrics, as well as background fabric.

Background Fabric

Light Fabric

Medium Fabric

Dark Fabric

(2) 4” squares, subcut once

(1) 4 ¾” square

(1) 2 5/8” x 19” rectangle

(1) 2 5/8” x 19” rectangle

(1) 7 ½” square, subcut twice

 

 

 

Tips and Tricks:

As you sew up this block, there will be overhang between the points of the triangles and the width of the strip blocks. This is good and normal! We call these “dog ears” and this ensures that the seam allowance is big enough so that you won’t lose your points when you sew the whole block together.

First, sew the long fabric rectangles together with a scant 1/4″ seam. Press seams toward the dark fabric.

 

Then subcut them into (4) 4 3/4″ squares. 

Next, take two of the strip squares and place them on either side of the light fabric square with the dark fabric toward the center. Press the seams toward the center square.  This will help with nesting your seams in a later step.

Now subcut the background fabric!

Subcut the (2) smaller background squares once on the diagonal to make (4) triangles.  These will be called Triangle A.

Subcut the larger background square on the diagonal twice to make (4) triangles.  These will be called Triangle B.

Now we will need to find the center of the long diagonal side of the Triangle A pieces.  To do this, fold the triangle in half and finger press.  Then mark with a pin.
Now take the long center strip section and do the same thing.  Find the center of the short side of the strip on the medium fabric rectangle and mark with a pin. 
Then lay Triangle A, right sides together, with the strip section and pin them together.  Make sure to match up the center. Sew with a scant 1/4″ seam and press the seam toward the triangle.
(Please excuse the poorly aligned fabric… I was not excelling at one-handed photography today. )

Repeat with the other side of the center strip section and set aside.

Now we will sew the corners of the block.

Take (2) Triangle B pieces and place them on either side of the remaining strip squares. 

Alight the bottom of the strip square with the bottom of the background triangles.  There will be some overhang of the triangle points at the top of the block after it’s sewn together. We want this!! This helps keep the points nice and square so you don’t lose them when you sew on the final triangle.

Sew together with a scant 1/4″ seam allowance, making sure to sew the triangles in opposite directions from each other, as shown. Press the seams toward the Triangle B fabric.

Repeat with the last (2) triangle B pieces and the last strip square.

Take (1) Triangle A piece and find the center by finger pressing and then marking it with a pin. Find the center of the strip block with the background triangles on each side.  Pin the triangle to the block, right sides together, and sew with a scant 1/4″ seam. Press the seam toward the background triangle. Repeat with the last Triangle A piece and the final strip square corner piece.

Once that is done, layout the block and sew it together! I prefer to press the long seams open, but you can press as you please!

The last step is to trim up the dog ears and square up the block. You may need to trim a little bit of fabric off the edges of the block so it will square up to 12 1/2″ square. If you do need to trim off some excess fabric, try to make sure the points of the colored strips in the block are 1/4″ away from the edge of the block so the points don’t get lost when you sew the blocks together.

Now you’re block is finished! This block is such an easy sew and it’s very striking because the block is “on point”!

For a simple but fast quilt idea, sew up several of these blocks with several of another of your other favorite block.  Alternate them throughout the quilt and voila! Fast and easy quilt top!

Drop any comments or questions here, or you can join us over on the FaceBook group:

Sew Easy Block of the Month by Ladybug Threads!

There’s plenty of us quilters over there and we’d love to have you join in!  As you join in the fun, make sure to tag your work with the hashtag #seweasybom so I can see all your gorgeous makes!

 

2 Comments

  1. Tasha
    Tasha on March 8, 2022 at 1:50 pm

    I’m new to your blog and am loving this QBOM. I can’t wait for a new month to start… which is bad because time is already flying so fast!! How is it March already???

  2. Tasha
    Tasha on March 8, 2022 at 1:50 pm

    I’m new to your blog and am loving this QBOM. I can’t wait for a new month to start… which is bad because time is already flying so fast!! How is it March already???