Piece Me Some Sunshine! Mini Quilt Block Monday #25

by LeahDay · Published July 13, 2020 · Updated July 31, 2020

It’s finally summer and the perfect time for a Sunshine Mini Block! This block combines a Square in a Square, Half Square Triangles, and Eight at a Time Flying Geese. Whew! You’ll be ready for a dip in the pool after piecing this one!

Do you know what helps me the most? Sharing the video! Please share this video with your quilting friends, or even consider including the photos in your guild newsletter. I would LOVE that!

Looking for a pattern for this Sunshine quilt block? It’s all in the video! I’m trying something new with these Mini Block Monday videos and including all the information in the video itself. Just hit “pause” when you need to and write down the pieces to cut.

Is that just not your thing? Here’s a snapshot of the patchwork pieces to get you started:

Mini Sunshine Quilt Block Piecing Instructions

This Sunshine Quilt Block is the most complex mini block we’ve pieced so far! Take your time piecing all the units and putting the block together step by step.

First you will create a Square in a Square unit using the light and medium yellow squares. Trim the final SIS to measure 2 1/2 inches square.

Next make a batch of Flying Geese units. Use the 2 1/2 inch white and 1 1/2 inch orange squares to create all of these units using the Four at a Time Flying Geese Method. You will trim the pieced units to measure 1 x 1 1/2 inches. If you’d like to find a more detailed video on this unit, Click Here to check out the Star and Strips Block.

Last but not least, we’ll create a set of eight Half Square Triangles using the 8 at a time Method! We got a lot of practice with this method with the Freedom Stars Quilt Block, so check out that tutorial if you need more guidance. Trim down your HSTs to measure 1 inch square.

Whew! Finally you’re ready to arrange the block and piece the units together. Make sure to watch the end of the video to see the arrangement of the pieces around the center Square in a Square. Here’s what it looks like when you finish piecing your Sunshine Quilt Block:

Learn more about the sewing machine I’m using – the Janome 1600P.

Click Here to find a tutorial with my 5 key tips to piecing precisely.

Now if you really want to geek out on quilt piecing, check out my book How to Piece Perfect Quilts to learn the WHAT, WHY and HOW behind everything I do.

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day