RedDotBooks: Bow Tie block...

I just had a lovely visit with my daughter from Chicago. Three wonderful days of simply hanging out together. Early yesterday morning, off she went to the airport. I came home and decided it was time to cook. I started with apple pear sauce and banana poppy seed bread. Then I made a batch of fresh tuna salad...I try to do this weekly. I cooked some beets. I had some homemade chicken stock in the refrigerator, so chicken pastina soup for the kids.

Just about everyone in the health field is telling us that we need to eat more plant matter. Several days a week, I make myself a "green drink"...filled with organic wild green powder, hemp protein, banana, mango juice, and lemon flavored cod liver oil. Believe it or not, my fourteen year old son likes it. To finish off my cooking day, I took a huge mound of beet greens and rainbow chard....

chopped it up and threw it all in a big pot of spiced lentils! It was yummy. I was wishing I had some naan to go with it.

Over the past few days, as time allowed, I have been tackling the "Cosmos" fabric from Westminster. I decided to take a simple traditional block and enlarge it to showcase the fun fabric. The Bow Tie block can be set several different ways making it an interesting choice when you're in the mood for something not too complicated. I started with 5" and 3" blocks. Then I drew a diagonal line on the back of all the 3" blocks.

After the 3" block is sewn onto the corner of a 5" background block, I sew another line approximately 1/2" away from the first sewing line. I rotary cut in between the two lines. Typically, this corner fabric is just cut away. However if you take the time to sew that extra line, you end up with a 2 1/2" bonus square.

These small squares can be incorporated into your quilt or into the border. Whatever you do with them, it is a great way to make use of that corner fabric!