Hey Blockheads! Welcome back. If you’re following along with the MBH4 quilt-along you should be ready to tackle Block #14 this week, brought to us by Jan Patek of Jan Patek Quilts. Jan is a talented fabric designer for Moda, and is especially known for her primitive folk art quilts and published pattern books. Her block, “Birds on a Branch” steps a bit outside the box for this quilt-along, considering it is the first appliqué unit so far. This block features, you guessed it – a bird on a branch – done in simple appliqué using whichever method you prefer. You can find the full pattern and instructions for “Birds on a Branch“ by visiting Jan’s blog, or in the MBH4 Archives under the menu link at the top of this page.

I’m doing something a little bit different with my MBH4 block this week. Summer is in full swing and as you know, I’ve been super busy with projects galore. To save time I decided to skip doing Jan’s appliquéd block and stick with something a bit more straightforward. Instead, I went with my featured MBH4 bonus block #3, “Star Turn“ as a substitute. This block is a mix of the simple checkerboard look of a nine patch in the center, combined with 1/2 square triangles to form a star shape overall.

Fabric wise, for the nine patch center I chose to use a white floral print on mid-gray, paired with the opposite mid-gray floral print on white for the alternating squares. For the outer “star” portion I used a matching mid-gray floral print on black to help the star to pop. The background is a bright orange Bella solid with the exception of each corner, which features a triangle piece in the same white with mid-gray print used in the nine patch. If you’d like to use my bonus block as an alternate as well, you can find a link to the full printable pattern and instructions below!

All of my grayscale fabric choices for these blocks came from my Urban Farmhouse Gatherings II line, which you can find by clicking the button below! If you like the way I pieced my blocks together and want to do the same, you can also usually find the orange color I’m using in the shop, (“Ochre“) which is a bright Bella Solid. We are currently sold out of “Ochre” but have it on order so it should be in stock soon!

Busy busy! I’ll let you get to it. Remember to catch me LIVE tomorrow at 1:00PM CST on my YouTube channel, “Stitch with Lisa Bongean.” Jess and I will be on location in Illinois at h+h americas – a new trade show platform for the North American Handicraft industry. h+h is an all-inclusive industry event, embracing all types of handicrafts. The event is new to the U.S., but has already been in business overseas for years. This market is business to business and I can’t wait to experience if for myself! Over 200 vendors will be featured, including experts in fabric, yarn, cross-stitch and more-more-more! And all of this gathered in one place? Yes please! Come see what it’s all about tomorrow at 1:00PM (as long as the wifi God’s behave that is…). Set your alarms now so you don’t miss out. I’ll see you there! ~Lisa