June Block Lotto – Arrow Block

This is NOT an original design; I used several online sources for inspiration. I changed and combined them to come up with something a bit more modern. I’m not a great quilt mathematician, but I made several of these and they worked well for me. I have ALL kinds of respect for those bloggers who make video and picture tutorials. I thought I’d taken photos of each step of the process, but alas, these are all I have.

This is a really fun and easy block that looks much more complex than it is. It only took me about 45 minutes to cut, press and assemble.

Cutting Requirements – ALL STRIPS ARE CUT FROM THE LONG SIDE OF FAT QUARTERS – approximately 22”
Three [3] 1 ½” strips
Two [2] 1” strips One [1] 1” strip for shaft (Dark)
One [1] 1” X 5” rectangle (I used low volume red text prints for my shafts (I thought blood should go with arrows) – it seems more defined than a solid, but it’s a personal preference)
Three [3] 4 ½” squares – cut on diagonal
Two [2] 4” X 15 ¼” improv strips 1.

1. Cut three 1’ strips and two 1 ½” strips from 5 coordinating fat quarters. The fabrics and colors are completely up to you – brights, solids, prints, pastels, anything goes. Arrange to your liking, sew and press seams in one direction.

2. Fold the finished strata in half and align edges

3. Make a 450 cut at the end, then another 450 cut – 4” out. Since you’ve folded right sides together this gives you mirrored feathers.

 

4. From the leftover central portion of the strip cut the center triangle by using the opposite 450 angle on your ruler.

5. Here is what your “leftovers” should look like.

6. Make two [2] 4” X 15 ¼” improv strips – the fabrics should be low volume or solid neutrals. I forgot to take a separate picture of my improv strips, but you know what to do.

7. Cut three [3] 5” squares from low volume neutrals and slice diagonally.

8. Complete your feathers by sewing one triangle on each end. Finished feather unit is 9 ¾” X 4”.

9. Add the improve strip to the top of the feather. Your piece should now measure about 24”(+/-) depending on your trimming. I prefer not to trim the bottom of my feathers or the top of my arrowhead.

10. Assemble the other side of the feather.

11.  Sew together the arrow shaft and the shaft end, and then assemble the arrow base. The finished base/shaft unit should measure 24 ¼” X 8”

12.  Center the remaining triangle and using the arrowhead, make a simple flying geese unit. Don’t match the bottoms!! You need the additional width from the triangles to make everything match. The finished flying geese unit should measure 4 ½” x 8”.

13.  Sew the arrowhead onto your shaft unit and yippie ki-yay! The finished block is 8” X 28 ¼”. It won’t take too many to make a fun quilt.

For a print-friendly version of the pattern instructions above, click here.