Are you ready to have some fun with this month’s Quilt Alliance Birthday Block of the Month? Our designer of the month, Pat Sloan, knew you needed a smile, so she designed this block she calls “A Dash of Fun,” inspired by the classic Churn Dash block.

The Quilt Alliance is an organization that celebrates all quilters. And what better way to demonstrate that than by going from last month’s improvisational block designed by Zak Foster to this month’s block from Pat Sloan which is rooted in quilt history?

Meet Pat Sloan

Known as “The Voice of Quilting,” Pat Sloan is a quilt designer, author, fabric designer, and popular podcast host. Her passion is hosting sew alongs and YouTube videos. For 10 years, Pat produced and hosted a podcast for American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine. She’s also the host of Aurifil’s Designer of the Month program and has published patterns independently and through magazines including McCall’s Quilting, Quilters World, and Quilting Arts. With her daily YouTube videos and large internet community, join Pat to be inspired to make quilts that you love!

You can follow Pat on her website, Facebook, or popular YouTube channel.

One of the Quilt Alliance’s signature projects is the Go Tell It video documentation project which anyone can do. Watch the video below to see Pat talk about her block, and keep reading this blog post to learn a tip for how to document your own quilts!

Pat’s Top BOM Tips

Each month, our Birthday Block of the Month Designers will share their top tips for making the block they designed. Here are three great tips for making this block straight from Pat herself.

Pat’s Tip 1: Try a Specialty Ruler

When making half square triangles 2 at a time I love using the Quilt In a Day Triangle Square Up Ruler, it makes them so easy and ‘fun’ to do!

Pat’s Tip 2: Follow Your Own Creativity

This month’s pattern uses the same color for the stripe unit, but you can also let your creativity run wild! Audition a few color combinations for the center stripe in the unit.

Pat’s Tip 3: Highlight a Fun Print

Try fussy-cutting the center block to showcase a favorite print.

Quilt Alliance BOM Tips

I had so much fun making this block, and I know you will too! Pat designed a block that is not just fun, but it’s also fast and easy enough for even a first-time quilter to make. Trust me when I say that you’ll be done with this block before you can say Churn Dash! But if you want a little extra help, keep reading for tips that will help your block go smoothly.

Experiment With Fabric Selection

You’ll notice in the PDF pattern for this month that it’s the first time we are not using all five fabrics for the block. That will happen again in future blocks and we worked very hard to make sure that the quilt as a whole looked visually balanced between blocks that use each color and blocks that leave out one color. However, we also love to see your creativity shine!

Instead of using the same color for all four stripe units, try using two or even four colors! Instead of using the same color for the HSTs, cut two different colorful fabrics so that you have two different colors. And as Pat suggests, try fussy cutting the center square to highlight a fabric you love!

Finger Press the Half Square Triangles

The picture above shows the final step of making the half square triangles (HSTs) in this block, which is trimming them down to size. As you can see, you’ll have very little extra fabric when trimming. In order to make sure the HSTs finish at the correct size, try finger pressing the seam before pressing with an iron.

Finger pressing will help ensure that you aren’t losing valuable fabric in the diagonal seam of the HST. When pressing with your fingers, you’ll be able to feel if that seam is too bulky, and you can help gently work that out before setting the seam with your iron.

Chain Piece the Stripe Units

You’ll save time and have even more fun making this block if you chain piece the stripe units! If you’ve never chain pieced before, click here for a video tutorial.

Quilt Documentation Tip

Pat Sloan’s “A Dash of Fun” block is inspired by a traditional Churn Dash block. Have you ever made a quilt inspired by quilt history? Have you tried modifying a quilt block to create something new? If so, consider adding that information to your quilt label! If you keep a quilt journal or photo album, you could even include a picture of the traditional quilt block that inspired your work.

 For more information about what to add to a quilt label, check out the Quilt Alliance’s guide to making a simple quilt label here!