strips each 1in × 12¼in (2.5cm × 31.1cm) from the chosen sashing fabric.
2 Cut nine squares of freezer paper about 1in (2.5cm) square. Number these 1–9. Place one roughly in the centre of each fabric square on the right side and fix it to the fabric by pressing with an iron on cool. Alternatively, fix with a safety pin.
Do not use masking tape to fix the numbered labels on your fabric as it will leave a sticky deposit if the iron touches it when the block is being pressed during construction.
3 Pile up the marked fabric squares in order, with square 1 at the top and 9 at the bottom, matching up the edges of the squares carefully.
Making the wedge template
4 On a piece of graph paper draw a horizontal line 11½in (29.2cm) long. At the left end draw a vertical line downwards 4in (10.2cm) long. At the right end draw a vertical line downwards 2½in (6.4cm) long. Join these two lines from a to b to complete the wedge shape (Fig 2).
Fig 2
5 Cut out the wedge template carefully. Use masking tape to stick the template to the underside of a rotary ruler with right side upwards and the sloping edge a–b level with one long edge of the ruler (Fig 3).
Fig 3
Cutting the squares
6 1st cut: place the ruler on the pile of fabric squares with the edges of the wedge template matching the edges of the fabric squares. Cut through all layers (Fig 4).
Fig 4
I used a large 60mm rotary cutter to cut through all nine layers in one go. If you find nine layers too many to cut accurately, separate the piles into 1–4 and 5–9. Cut each pile and reassemble the cut squares with square 1 at the top and 9 at the bottom. There are no prizes for cutting all the layers at once – accuracy and comfort of cutting with the rotary cutter are what matter.
Adding the sashing strip
7 Pin and stitch a 12¼in (31.1cm) length of 1in (2.5cm) wide sashing fabric to each of the smaller pieces of the cut squares (Fig 5). Press the seam towards the sashing, ironing from the front. Trim the ends of the sashing strips to match the edges of the fabric.
Fig 5
8 Place the smaller section of each block back with the larger sections in the correct order of layers to match the larger pieces as before.
9 Take the marked larger pieces 1 and 2 and move them to the bottom of the pile of marked pieces, still in the same order. This will leave the piece marked 3 at the top and piece 2 at the bottom. Do not alter the smaller unmarked pieces (Fig 6).
Fig 6
10 Pin and stitch the two pieces of each block together, matching the cut ends of the sashing with the larger piece of fabric to make a square (Fig 7). Iron the seams towards the sashing, as before.
Fig 7
11 Pile the squares up in layers as before, still with piece number 1 at the top and number 9 at the bottom. Align the edges of each block carefully.
12 2nd cut: place the ruler on the blocks with the edges of the template matching the edges of the blocks as in Fig 8. Cut through all layers.
Fig 8
13 Pin and stitch a 12¼in (31.1cm) length of sashing to each of the smaller wedge shapes as before (Fig 9). This time do not trim the ends of the sashing level with the edges of the fabric after stitching. Press the seams towards the sashing, ironing from the front.
Fig 9
14 Place the smaller pieces back with their partners in the pile, with the piece marked 1 at the top as before and piece 9 at the bottom.
15 Take the large marked pieces 1–6 and move them to the bottom of the pile. It should now have piece 7 at the top and piece 6 at the bottom. Do not alter the smaller unmarked pieces (Fig 10).
Fig 10
16 Stitch together the two sections of each layer to make squares as before, aligning the sashing on both pieces to form a ‘crossroads’ (Fig 11, plus see advice panel, right, Figs 12a, 12b and 13). Press the seam towards the sashing, ironing from the front. Trim the sashing to match the edges of the block and then pile up the blocks as before with piece number 1 at the top and piece 9 at the bottom.
Fig 11
MATCHING SASHING STRIPS ON A SLANTING ANGLE
This can be tricky. First find the centre of the slanting edge on each piece by folding as in Figs 12a and 12b. Crease to mark each centre. Match the centre of the stitching line and pin the junction of the sashing with a horizontal pin (Fig 13). Open up the two pieces to check that the sashings are matched before pinning at right angles as usual along the fabric edges, matching the ends of each section of the block carefully.
Fig 12a
Fig 12b
Fig 13
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