January 2009 Block of the Month - Hourglass (makes a 12" block)

The triangular blocks represent morning, noon and night.  It has also been called bowtie and it meant that one was among friends. The operators of the Railroad provided new clothes so the slaves could escape detection and pass through to Canada safely.

1.  Prepare a 5-1/2  by 25-1/2 inch strip each of dark and light fabric.

2.  Lay strips with right sides together.

3.  Cut the length of strip into 5 equal 5-1/2 inch squares.

4.  Make quarter-square triangles: with pieces still togther, draw diagonal lines from corner to corner (all four corners) and sew 1/4 inch from both sides of the drawn lines.

5.  Cut on the diagonal lines to make four triangles. 6.  Press seams open and make block as shown.

7.  Square up patches.  Press.  Lay out patches in vertical rows.  Sew together. 8.  Press seams in opposite directions.