Journey - Clue 4

Week four has arrived.   Are you well on your way?  I am so hoping you are having a great trip thus far.  Please READ ALL THE WORDS before starting in on this clue and with that --- away we go.

I am preparing for a retreat that involves me driving to a location in the country.  Country life - ahhhh, quiet and serene.  Yes?  I guess that means we can do a little more driving this week.  Roads and Crossroads.  Pillows, afghans, quilts --- they are always roads and crossroads.  The simple four-patch is perhaps the finest example of this and takes me back to elementary/junior high school when we would spend our breaks playing four-square.  Such an easier time, or at least it is in my memory.  At any rate ---- we are stripping our way to these cute little units.

Unit 4 - Make 120

My four-patches are scrappy grey/constant neutral.  You will need to cut 2" strips or use up 2" squares that you have laying around.  Since I went scrappy, I don't know the exact number of strips to cut but am guessing it will be 12 WOF of each color.

Watching your 1/4" each seam and making a test to see if the two together are indeed 3 1/2" when opened is always a smart idea.  Then, start driving - with one neutral and one gray strip in each strip set.

It will be a lovely pile of beauty.  This is why the gray and neutral had to have contrast between them.  Too light of a gray and it just won't work.

Press open with all seams going towards the gray.  Then match up two sets, with right sides together and place as shown - nesting them with your fingers.  This way you will cut already matched pairs and reduce your cutting by half.  It also has them lined up the way we want to feed them into the machine.

Cut 120 PAIR - 2"

Just keep going until you have all that you need.  I save those leftover bits at the end of strips and use them in my label.  Feel free to toss if you prefer, BUT if they are at least 1 1/2", you can get squares out of them to use in other projects.

Now, we can simply chain these four-patches together.  Place onto the machine so that the nesting seam is pointing towards the back of the machine and allow your feed dogs to help you get a wonderful, crisp center on your four-patch.  By feeding them ALL this way, we can also spin all seams later on.

Now, spin those seams and press.  It's quick and easy once you get the hang of it.

These are just so dang cute.  Does your measure 3 1/2" square?  I sure hope so.  That's it for this week.  Please make sure to join our Facebook group to share and help each other out.  Here is your LINK.