Qube Block of the Month Sewalong: Block 8 ( October 2025)

 Hi everyone!

It is October so time for our 8th block in our Qube sewalong! ( if you are just joining us now, you can find all the previous sewalong posts by starting at this one and working your way forward: https://myfarmhousequilts.blogspot.com/2025/02/qube-block-of-month-sewalong-month-1.html)

This month's block is a tricky one ( perfect for October~mwahaha) and I have to tell you that I made so many versions of this block to try and figure it out that I nearly gave up! Here is a photo of some of my notes as I was working on it and you can see how many times I crossed something out because it didn't work. 

Excited to see what the block is? Or do you just want to skip it at this point? Ha! It is a super pretty block and I think it is worth having in your repertoire so let's check it out:

This is called Mosaic No.6 and it uses that parallelogram die that we have not used yet ( shape 7 in your Qubes). On top of that tricky shape, this block also uses those dreaded Y-seams...

Now, you could make a block that looks just like this by using Half Square Triangles, but then what would be the point of owning die #7? And you would still need to sew a Y-seam, so I think you might as well jump in with both feet.

Here is what it looks like on the Accuquilt site: 

I decided NOT to share the Accuquilt instructions for this one because they are not correct. When I first started sewing this block ( way back when I came up with the idea to do a sewalong), I tried to follow the Accuquilt instructions and could not make sense of them. I even asked Accuquilt Erica if she could make sense of it and she couldn't. So I decided I needed to come up with my own plan. ( and hey, if you find the instructions and make sense of them, please share that result with me!).

Anyway, I think the way that I construct the block makes sense, and I feel it made the outer units easier to sew together.

So these are the dies that you will need for this block:

Die #5 ( Half Square Triangle)

Die #6 (Square on Point)

Die #7 ( Parallelogram)

From die #5 cut 12 HSTs ( white in the sample above)

From die #6 cut 1 square on point ( green above)

From die #7 cut 4 parallelograms of one color and facing the direction shown above.

From die #7 cut 4 parallelograms of another color and facing the direction shown above.

***you will NOT be able to fanfold your fabric to cut the parallelograms because then some will face the wrong direction. Instead just use the cut and shift method. This is where you have a long piece of fabric and you cut your shape and then shift your fabric up and cut the next shape. OR, you can just cut rectangles the correct size and layer them all facing up and cutting your p-grams that way.

Cut all your shapes and lay out your block:

We are going to start making this block by sewing the 4 corner units together first. They are all going to be identical and will all face the same way when you are done. These are the corner units: 

Start by sewing your HSTs to your Parallelograms. You will have one straight edge that lines up perfectly, while the other one will let a little corner of the bottom fabric peek through, like this:

Sew on the diagonal line and press seams OPEN.

Do the exact same for all your Half Square Triangles, working your way around the block.

The upper blocks ( green in my block) now need to have the other HSTs sewn to the opposite sides. Do them in exactly the same manner.

Now that you have all the base units sewn, it is time to sew them together. This part can be a little tricky so I took a lot of photos to try to explain the proccess. Remember that you are making 4 identical corner units so just lay out and sew everthing the exact same way!

You need to make 4 units that look like this. In order to have your HSTs line up nicely you will have to off-set your top and bottom a bit. You also need to stop stitching 1/4" from one end to facilitate that Y-seam later on.

So I turned over my shortest unit and took a ruler and pencil and measured 1/4" seam and drew a short line on 2 sides. Where they intersect is the 1/4" mark. 

Then I sewed from that 1/4" intersection all the way down to the end. 

Repeat this on all your units.  

Your two parallelograms should line up nicely in each section AND you should have a partially sewn seam on the left hand side.

Now comes the next tricky part: Sewing Y-seams. I have to tell you quite honestly that figuring this out took me the longest time. I watched so many videos and tried so many different ways and used my seam ripper A LOT. In the end I cut a lot of extra pieces out of not too precious fabric to try and get this Y-seam business right, and you might like to do the same ( you can use a smaller Qube if you have one and that way you can not feel too guilty over "wasted" fabric).

If you are an experienced Y-seam sewist then I think this next part will be a piece of cake ( and please send ME your hints). If not, I will warn you that I think my method works, but I hope you are happy with a " good enough" block, because I think my block ended up being good enough, but certainly not perfect.

Are you still with me?

Let's tackle this: Take your square on point and mark your 1/4" points on the back, in much the same way you did the corner units. 

Lay out your block components again to make sure they are all in the correct position. 

Now take ONE of those corner units and flip it over and mark 1/4" from the corners in exactly the same way we did before. You should already have a mark there where you  sewed your previous part.

Place your fabrics right sides together and place a pin straight through the mark on your parallelogram unit and then through your square. Pin in that exact spot and place pins along your sewing line as well, all the way to your other ( already sewn) seam. Just push those pressed open seams  out of the way.

 

You are going to sew from the left hand pin ( at 1/4" mark) to the right until you get to that pin/seam. 

Start by sewing 2 stitches, then backstitch 2 stitches, and then sew to the endpoint  and repeat that.

That wasn't so bad, right?

Onto the next unit! I sewed in a counter clockwise direction~ I don't know why~ it just worked well that way.

Repeat drawing the 1/4" marks, pin, and sew. 

This unit requires a little more sewing and this is where the Y-seam comes in. You are going to flip that top unit onto the one right below it. Because you left 1/4" free that should be possible. 

Pin and sew from the 1/4" mark on the left ALL the way to the end on the right. ( if you don't have a 1/4" mark, make one). Again, push that open seam out of the way so you can see where you are sewing.

You can also make sure your pieces are aligned by matching your diagonal seams AND your bottom edges. 

I didn't press my pieces in any direction at all at this point, but just kept sewing on units until I was done. 

I ALWAYS started by sewing the unit onto the square on point FIRST, and then sewed the other seams.

The very last unit is a little bit different because there are 2 extra seams to sew after sewing onto the square on point, but it still works the same way. Mark your 1/4" point and start sewing there and sew to the other 1/4" point where needed, and if it is the seam leading to the outside edge of the block just sew it all the way. If this sounds very confusing, no worries, once you are in the middle of sewing these pieces it will all make sense! 

When you are done sewing all your seams go ahead and press. I pressed in whatever direction my pieces wanted to lay and I have to be honest and admit that my block did NOT come out the correct size, but smaller. So I pressed again and pressed more seams open this time and that got it a little closer to the correct size, but still not perfect. However, it is done, there are no obvious holes and I will be able to compensate for the slightly smaller size when I sew my blocks together. I call that GOOD ENOUGH ;).

After a bit more of a press ( and some use of Best Press ;) ) and a trim, this is the final result: 

I think it's a gorgeous block and maybe if I made an entire quilt with these I would be an expert Y-seamer....practice does, after all, make perfect! I will consider it~ ha!

I do apologize for not having a 4" block to show....I needed to get this blog post out on time and was in a time crunch, but am planning on making it today. I will share it in the Facebook group ( click this link to join in the fun: https://www.facebook.com/groups/madewithaccuquiltsupportgroup).

I hope this very loooooong post and the gazillion photos have not scared you off too much. It is worth learning how to sew this one. And again, if you have a better/more correct way of making this block, please share!

Until next month, when I will be sharing the final block in our sewalong, happy sewing!

Monique