The Houndstooth is a classic and fantastic example of one simple block in repeat to create an interesting design. On it’s own, it looks a little like Batman!
Now, you could piece this normally, if you like cutting perfectly accurate strips at 2 5/8″ and then making sure you sew the perfect 1/4″ seam. But I think that would just frustrate you all to no end. So that does mean some more paper piecing, but for those who are sewing along, you guys are pros at this now!
If you choose to use black and white, or black and any other pale colour, pay careful attention to seam allowances to ensure that no black is peeking out from the white. This will show through from the front! You may also wish to use a light grey thread so that the white is not so starkly different against the black if the seams pull apart even just a tiny bit.
What you need
From both prints:
1 – 6.5″ square
2 – 3″ x 5″
2 – 3″ x 9.5″
2 copies of the template (includes printing and making instructions)
All seams are 1/4″ and press as directed.
Step 1. Piece the 2 paper pieced sections. You can find a basic paper piecing tutorial here if this is your first time paper piecing. If it is, don’t fear – this is as simple as you can get with straight lines and no angles!
Step 2. Arrange your 6.5″ squares and the units from step 1 into rows, ensuring that the white A1 corners are in the centre of the block and the black A4 corners are forming opposite outer corners. Sew together in rows, pressing the seams away from the strips. Sew the rows together, pressing seams towards the black side.
March Sponsor
Sprinkled throughout the year, there are some lovely sponsors who are loving The Bee Hive and want to share some love back to you! All this month, Handmade By Emily is offering 15% off all orders over AU$15 using the code: BEEHIVE.
You can find all the block tutorials on the original The Bee Hive post. If you’re sharing your blocks or quilts from The Bee Hive on social media, be sure to use #thebeehivequilts and @blossomheartquilts so we can find your awesome work!
If you are in a swarm for The Bee Hive, please see the quilting bee etiquette post for answers to any questions you may have. If it’s Tic Tac Toe specific regarding the block construction, please ask in the comments on this post and I will answer it here so that everyone can benefit from the question/answer.
elsa says
Great block! Now that I see Batman I can’t not see Batman! Makes for a great overall quilt!
Susan Speers says
Thank you! This is really helpful. I also found that the cutting and seam width can be tricky to get the pieced squares to measure exactly 6.5″. This solves that issue!
Joy says
Excited to give this block a try! Thanks for the tutorial.
Annette says
I have been quilting along, but I’m not part of a swarm. I can see how one block, repeated, makes a nice quilt, but will all 48 single blocks come together to make one quilt? I’m a newbie quilter, can you tell?
Annette says
I’m referring to the 48 blocks as we go along, not 48 of the same block.
Alyce says
No, only each individual block will create a quilt with the interesting design across it. I know that some people are sewing along anyway to make a sampler quilt and to improve skills as they go, though!
Annette says
Sampler quilt! That’s the word I was looking for! So in December I’ll just put the 24 blocks together? Sorry for the newbie questions.
Alyce says
Yep! I’ll be sharing a couple of different ways to put a sampler quilt together too 🙂