Silent Night Sampler: Day 11

We're celebrating the season with 12 days of holiday-themed block tutorials using Ro Gregg's gorgeous and glittering Silent Night collection. Today is the last block tutorial, and then on the 12th day we'll show you how to assemble the blocks into a sampler quilt!






Our final block is the cardinal, a popular symbol of winter. We chose a cardinal block because we loved the darker red tree print and a red bird seemed like the perfect place to use it!

Block measures 12" square finished.
Cutting: From the cream: One 3-1/2" square Four 3" squares Seven 2-1/2" squares One 2" x 8-1/2" piece Two 1-1/2" x 10-1/2" pieces Two 1-1/2" x 12-1/2" pieces
From the dark red: One 4-1/2" x 6-1/2" piece One 3-1/2" square Two 3" squares
From the black/gold: One 1" x 8-1/2" piece One 3-1/2" square
From the green: Two 3"squares

(Green squares not pictured)
Step 1: Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of two 2-1/2" cream squares. Position right sides together on the 4-1/2" x 6-1/2" dark red piece as shown.

Step 2: Stitch on the drawn lines, trim seam allowance to 1/4", and press open.

Step 3: Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of two 3" cream squares. Position each right sides together on a 3" dark red square.

Step 4: Stitch 1/4" on each side of the drawn line, cut on the drawn line, and press HST units open. Trim each to measure 2-1/2" square. You'll have four red/cream HST units.

Step 5: In the same way, make four green/cream HST units.

Step 6: Cut the 3-1/2" gold/black, dark red, and cream squares diagonally in half once as shown.

Step 7: Sew a gold/black triangle to a dark red triangle and a gold/black triangle to a cream triangle. Press both open.

Step 8: Trim remaining dark red and cream triangles to measure 3". (If you prefer, cut a new 3" square and cut it diagonally in half. Trimming down the triangle you already have instead of cutting new simply saves fabric.)
Step 9: Lay the dark red triangle on top the dark red and black/gold HST as shown. Trim the HST and discard the right half. Do the same with the cream triangle and the cream and black/gold HST. Orientation is important here, so make sure yours looks like the photo below.

Step 10: Sew each of these units along the long edge to create the units shown below. Trim to measure 2-1/2" square, making sure the seams are in the corners.

Step 11: Sew the 1" x 8-1/2" black/gold piece to the 2" x 8-1/2" cream piece.

Step 12: Lay out all the pieces as shown, adding in the five 2-1/2" cream squares.

Step 13: Sew units together as shown to make the two top rows, two vertical side rows, and the bottom row.

Step 14: Continue joining the rows to create the bird block center. Sew 1-1/2" x 10-1/2" cream strips to the sides of the bird and 1-1/2" x 12-1/2" cream strips to the top and bottom.

The finished bird block:

See the entire Silent Night collection here and ask for it at your local quilt shop.
See all of our Silent Night Sampler Blocks!
Day 1: Wreath Block
Day 2: Star Block #1 Day 3: Bow Block Day 4: Stocking Block Day 5: Star Block #2 Day 6: Present Block
Day 7: Tree Block Day 8: Ornament Block Day 9: Candy Cane Block Day 10: Star Block #3