February Catch up Block of the Month  is called Waterwheel Variation, and you can find the pattern on Quilters Cache – click here for the pattern – http://www.quilterscache.com/W/WaterwheelVariationBlock.html

My kit only contained this blue and light gray, but the block image on our handout looked like only two colors so I went on with it.   Here’s me Best Pressing those little devils, and then sewing squares into HSTs.

I didn’t realize at first that I was missing another color, the printout we got was very close in the blues.  It was just about here that I realized, I didn’t have a second blue.

I got the second color in the mail with the piece I was missing from January’s block.  I realized that I had already sewn too much when I got the kit, so I had to frog a couple of seams.   I lined up the lighter blue with the triangles I had already squared up and hoped for the best.  This time, start off by figuring out all the pieces you need and cut them out.  Lay them out too, as it prevents the problem I had in construction.

Next, I constructed the corner units and the center squares, chain piecing.

Press the seams and sew the nine patches into the block, one row at a time.

Press the seams opposite on the rows, so you can nest the seams.

Block done!  I still see a few puckers, but it isn’t as bad this time.   My friend, Karen, gave me some size 10 needles, so I’ll try those on April’s block.  I am going to switch to Aurifil thread too.  Her blocks look pretty good, so I think we may have solved it.  We’ll see!!  I will get to the April block soon.

Follow my blog to get the rest of the blocks of the month.  To see previous blocks, click on the Block of the Month category on the right sidebar.

Happy Quilting!!