Shoo-Fly for Suzanna

I'm late, I know.  However, I finally had a chance to do sewing today so I decided to tackle Suzanna's block for March.  I had been avoiding it because anything "wonky" seems impossible to me.  Not sure why I thought this was so difficult, because Suzanna's instructions were simple, and creating this block was extremely easy.

I already knew how to make a Shoo-Fly block because of the tutorial at Modify Tradition.  Adding the borders and trimming to make it crooked was a cinch.

One question-- the directions Suzanna included say to make an 8" block.  Does she want it to be 8" or 8.5" unfinished?  (I've trimmed mine to 9.5"... how did I not notice that my ruler isn't 8.5"?)

Shoo fly in blue

Here's my block for Suzanna:



Even though I'd made a practice block, I didn't realize that the order in which one sews the sashing strips makes a difference in how they appear; my block has two adjoining short sides in blue and two long sides in black. Suzanna, if you want me to redo the block, please let me know.

I also have lots of fabric left and I'm tempted to make another one.


Practice block in batiks

--Claudia