Qube Block of the Month sewalong: Block 9 ( November 2025)

 Congratulations, everyone! You have made it to the final block in our Qube sewalong!

For the past 8 months you have made 8 different blocks, each getting progressively more difficult, and you have used all the basic shapes in your Qube sets! How do you feel about your Qube now? Do you feel confident to make up your own blocks and design your own quilts? I hope so! 

So let's get started on block number 9, the final one in this sewalong :).

 This block is called STARGAZE and here is my version:

This block is a little bit tricky, not only in construction, but in cutting the pieces as well, so PLEASE read through all the instructions BEFORE cutting your fabric!

Below is the graphic for the shapes you will need. Ignore the sizes of the shapes because this is specific to the 12" Qube and if you are using any other size Qube, the sizes will not match your shapes ;),

Accuquilt uses 4 different fabrics ( 3 colors, one white) and that is what I decided to use as well.

So to sum up, you will need  shapes 2, 5 and 7 from any Qube, and this is what you need to cut:

SHAPE 5~ Half Square Triangle~ CUT 8 OF THE SAME COLOR ( fanfolding is fine in this instance) 

SHAPE 7~Parallelogram~ CUT 4 OF THE SAME COLOR ( I USED WHITE IN MINE. If you are using a print, place your fabric right side DOWN)

SHAPE 7~ Parallelogram~ CUT 2 OF THE SAME COLOR ( with fabric facing right side UP ) and CUT 2 MATCHING COLOR SQUARES USING SHAPE 2. 

SHAPE 7~Parallelogram~CUT 2 OF THE SAME COLOR( with fabric facing right side UP) and CUT 2 MATCHING COLOR SQUARES USING SHAPE 2.  

******THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: YOUR PARALLELOGRAM FABRIC CAN NOT BE FANFOLDED. INSTEAD, ROUGHCUT YOUR PIECES AND LAY THEM RIGHT SIDE UP ON YOUR DIE.

****BUT***** YOUR 4 MATCHING COLOR PARALLELOGRAMS HAVE TO BE CUT WITH FABRIC FACING DOWN! ( I used white for mine, so up or down did not make a difference. However, if you are using a print it will matter!)

So confusing, isn't it? 

Lay out your cut pieces to make sure they are all correct.

You are going to start by sewing your parallelograms together in pairs of 2. 

BUT you are going to need to leave a 1/4" opening in the valley to accomodate a Y-seam later on, so mark a 1/4" on the back of one your parallelograms and start stitching at that 1/4" mark and stitch 2 stitches, then backstitch 2 stitches, and then stitch all the way to the end.

( I use a ruler and mark 1/4" along one edge, and then another 1/4" along the next edge, and where they intersect is my starting point)

Stop stitching at that 1/4" mark!

Do this for all 4 sets of your parallelograms and press the seams OPEN.

Next, it is time to add those squares to the ends of your parallelogram units,  using a Y-seam. Now if you made block 8 last month you already had some practice doing this, and this time around I found it so much easier to do the Y-seams!

You want to mark a 1/4" point on the back of your squares in one corner and go ahead and do the same on the back of your parallelogram units.

Now, when you lay your square on top of your P-unit, place a pin straight through both marked areas, like this:

You are going to stitch from that marked area, take 2 stitches, back-stitch 2, and then stitch all the way to the end of the square, like this:

 DO NOT SEW to the left of the red line!

Next, you are going to sew that square to the remaining edge of the white parallelogram by opening it up and flipping it right side down so that the raw edges line up.

You are again going to sew from that marked point on the square all the way to the end.

When I finished sewing I pressed towards the P units, rather than towards the square, although the instructions say to press towards the squares. See what lies flatter for you.

Repeat this process for the 3 other squares and P units.

The hard part is now done!

The next step is to sew the HSTs to the P + square units and you have 2 nice straight corners to reference in this step.

Sew all your HSTs onto your P units and press ( mine were pressed open again). At this point I clipped my dog ears.

Finally, sew your quarter units into halves, and your halves into a whole block, and TADAAAH! You are all done!

My block is a little wonky, but it will all work out when it gets sewn into the quilt top ( I hope!).

Here are all 9 of my blocks:

Aren't they pretty? And do you notice something? As I was sewing this last block, I thought it looked somewhat familiar....and if you look closely at the blocks you will see another block that looks awfully similar, but it was made with HSTs, NO  parallelograms and no Y-seams...

So there is always that option if the Y-seams and P units are driving you batty ( although I feel really strongly that these are good skills to master and I hope you will persevere!)

Here are all the blocks made in my Tilda fabric:

As you know, I am also making my blocks with my 4" Qube and this one turned out wonky and I placed the white parallelograms in the wrong spot ( I blame it on sewing this in the evening!)

And here are all my 4" blocks, all made with scraps:

They don't "go" together whatsoever, but I will figure out a way to make them cohesive ;).

Now, as to finishing your quilt top: I cannot give you finishing instructions because everyone used different sized Qubes and so the measurements would be all over the place. But here are some ideas of how you could finish your quilt top:

Set your blocks on point and use setting triangles that go along with your Qube ( or use the handy-dandy mathematical equation that is posted here: 

Add sashing between your blocks ( those strips should be cut the same length as your unfinished blocks).

Sew your blocks directly to each other.

With all of these above options you can add borders as well and you will have to measure your quilt top to figure out those sizes.

I cannot wait to see how you all decide to finish your quilts and am hoping that you will share your finished projects in our Facebook group! Let's  plan to do a "show&tell" sometime in January so that we can all admire each other's marvelous work! And hey, maybe I will send a little something fun to one lucky person who participated, just to say "thanks"!

I do hope you have enjoyed this sewalong and that I was able to help you feel more comfortable using all the dies in your Qubes! What do you say? Shall we do another one in the new year?

Until next time~happy sewing!

Monique

Qube Block of the Month Sewalong: Month 7 ( September 2025)

 Hello everyone, 

Can you believe it is September already? And here we are already working on our 7th block for our Qube sewalong.....just 2 more after this and you will be ready to sew your quilt top together ;)

I would say that this is the last of the "easier" blocks, although I have been trying to make them more and more complicated as we sewed along. The next two blocks are definitely the trickiest ones so enjoy the relative simplicity of this one~ hahaha.

This month's block is the Basket Block and I just had to include it in your repertoire because it's a classic.

Here it is: 

This block is very HST heavy, but completely doable. Just make sure to sew a careful 1/4" seam and to press carefully and precisely and you will end up with a perfect block.

For this block you just need 3 shapes from your Qube: 3, 5, and 8.

Below is your chart to guide you:

( if you would like to download this to print it off, here is the link to the 6" Qube instructions, but ofcourse all the die numbers are the same, so just ignore the measurements: https://www.accuquilt.com/go-qube-flower-basket-6-block-pattern.html)

To summarize:

You will need 3 different fabrics: one for the background, one for the basket, and one for the "flowers".

From shape 3, cut 1 large HST in a color ( basket) and cut 1 large HST from background color.

From shape 5, cut 2 small HSTs in a color ( basket)

From shape 5, cut 6 small HSTs to make the "flower" part of the basket

From shape 5, cut 8 small HSTs from background color

From shape 8, cut 2 rectangles from background color.

Remember to lay your fabric on your die correctly, with your selvedge next to the stickered side of your die! 

Here is a short video for you: https://youtube.com/shorts/Zf9QYvrFsTM

If you are using fabric where it's important that your fabric is cut "straight" , draw some guidelines that extend from your cutting blades to give yourself a reference mark, like in the photos below: 

I tried to line the white stripe in my fabric up with my guidelines.

Cut all 20 of your needed pieces....

....and lay them out in the correct formation:

Don't worry if the pieces look like they won't fit. They will after all the seam allowances are used!

Start by sewing all your small HSTs together ( the background and the "flower" parts). If you use a scrap piece of fabric ( a leader) your machine is much less likely to pull your fabric down into the throat plate, so I highly recommend that! I used a leader for every single piece I sewed in this block!

So start sewing on your little scrap and then move right onto your first pieces, without cutting the thread. Once you have sewn all your pieces together for this step, cut the thread between the leader and your first HST unit and sew the leader scrap onto the end as a tail. This way it is ready for your next section that needs to be sewn.

After sewing your small HSTs together, press them OPEN. 

Lay those pieces back in formation to sew them into rows, along with the remaining small white HSTs:

I always like to lay my sewn pieces back with my unsewn pieces, just to make sure everything still looks correct!

Now you are ready to sew the next section.

You are going to sew your large HST ( your basket piece) to your completed small HST unit.

Just make sure that your edges line up perfectly on both ends and pin to keep everything in place:

I pressed this large HST to the HST, but you could press open if desired.

Next, it is time to sew your remaining small HSTs to the background rectangles to make the sides of your basket.  Just make sure that you sew your triangles on in the CORRECT orientation! These need to mirror each other.

I pressed mine towards the small HSTs, but it is your choice.

Now it is time to sew these completed units to the side of your flower/basket unit: 

Again, pay attention to how these units get sewn on, and they should line up perfectly aligned.

Ideally, your triangles will match up to make a nice flat line:

And finally you are going to sew your final large background  HST to the bottom of your "basket".

Sew, then press towards the HST.

Square up if needed, and voila, you have completed a beautiful basket block!

( I think this one would look darling with scraps as the "flowers" too!)

I ofcourse had to make a 4" version with my 4" Qube....this one was a bit more tricky and looked pretty "off" by the time I sewed all those small pieces. But a bit of a trim and it will be just fine, once sewn onto another block. 

Here are my two basket blocks together, one 12", the other 4":

Mama and baby :)

And here are all my 4" blocks so far ~ I am using my scraps to make these:

 

And here are all my 12" blocks together:

Have fun making your block this month and make sure to share it in the Facebook group! And, as always, let me know if something is not clear. I am always happy to help!

Happy creating~

Monique