- Sew the 11” long black strip to a yellow/blue strip of the same size. Press the seam allowance towards the black strip. Square up one end of the strip set. Starting at the squared up end, cut four 2-1/2” segments from the set (top left illustration).
- Sew the 11” long blue strip to the remaining yellow/blue strip. Press the seam allowance towards the blue strip. Square up one end of the strip set and then cut four 2-1/2” long segments from it (top middle illustration).
- Pair a step 1 segment with a step 2 segment, placing yellow patches diagonally from each other and sewing the segments together to create a four patch unit (top right illustration). Press the seam allowance either way. Repeat to make a total of four identical four-patch units.
- Sew a red rectangle between two four-patch units to create one outer block row (middle row of illustrations, left). Press the seam allowances towards the red strip. Repeat to make a second identical row.
- Sew the 2-1/2” x 2-1/2” black or gray square between two red rectangles to create the block’s narrow center row (middle row of illustrations, right). Press the seam allowances towards the center square.
- Arrange the rows as shown, bottom right, and sew together, carefully matching all edges and seam intersections. Press the quilt block. The block should measure 10-1/2” x 10-1/2”.
It's always important to sew an accurate quarter inch seam allowance, but blocks with lots of seams, such as Country Roads, can 'shrink' noticeably in size when there's even a small variation in your seams (incorrect seams are usually too wide, not too narrow). If your block is smaller than it should be, try one of my quick-fix methods to square it up and bring it to its correct dimensions.
