This is a quick and easy way to add a little life into the more traditional four patch block. I like this method for using up scraps, when you have a decent size piece of neutral or background fabric to use with them. Amazingly, when I made this top in a different colourway, I actually took step-by-step photos (more or less) with a view to writing a mini-tutorial, but never wrote one, so here it is now...
Choose your fabrics. As I said, I like this best with a neutral/background fabric and then a selection of contrasting fabrics. But you could do it in just two fabrics, if you wanted to!
Cut an equal number of squares of the background and the contrast fabrics. You will get two blocks from each pair of squares, so for a quilt like the green and blue one above, you only need 12 of each; for the purple and neutral one, you need 18 of each. The size of the square doesn't really matter, but remember that you will lose a bit from cutting and recutting and possibly from trimming at the end. I probably started with a square that was around 7". And probably ended up at 5.5" or so.
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So. To make the blocks, you take two squares - one background, one contrast and stack them together, right sides up.
Then, using your cutter and ruler, make a cut across both pieces of fabric at whatever angle you fancy (but not too extreme - moderation works best).
You now have 4 pieces of fabric - two pairs, where the colours are reversed. You need to stitch them together back into squares, one with a purple left side and neutral right side and one the other way around.
Once that's done, stack them back together, again, right sides up.
Oops, no photo of this process, but what you do is slice across both squares the other direction and once again, take the left side of the top square and stitch it to the right side of the bottom square. And vice-versa. Which gives you this:
(Different fabrics, I know, but same effect). Easy as pie!
