Quilter's Recipe Box - Butterfly Unit - Eclipse Block

Technically it's still Monday here on the Pacific Coast, so I'm not late yet with my block for this week's post!  I am later than I planned because I had a sudden change of mind and decided to switch my plan up.  I don't know about where you are, but here in Oregon the Eclipse that will be taking place next week is THE topic of conversation everywhere!  I originally planned to have this block next week, but then I thought it might be more fun to do it beforehand in case anyone would enjoy making it before the event.  So...here is my Eclipse 2017 block:

It's not your typical quilt block, but it's a fun way to commemorate this uncommon event, and  it uses the butterfly unit in a fun way!  You need three fabrics - sun, sky, and moon.

To make this block you will need three 2 3/8 squares (cut in half diagonally) and three 2 inch squares each of your sky fabric and sun fabric for our butterfly units.  You will also need two 2 x 3 1/2 rectangles each of your sky and sun fabrics for the split square units.  We will be making four modified lozenge units.  Cut four 3 1/2 squares of your moon fabric, three 2 inch squares of your sky fabric and one 2 inch square of your sun fabric.

First we'll make three Butterfly units with the sky and sun fabrics.  Sew 6 half square triangles with the 2 3/8 inch squares.  Press seams toward the dark fabric.  Arrange in three sets as below and sew together.

Sew two split square units using the sky and sun rectangles, then add one of the remaining 2 inch squares to one corner of each of the 3 1/2 inch moon fabric squares.  I was excited to make these, as I recently acquired a laser to attach to my sewing machine so I don't have to mark my squares!  I've used sticky velcro for the moment to attach it - I'll let you know how it holds up!

Easy as can be to sew on the line!  I made sure to put the soft part of the velcro on my machine so it won't catch on anything.

I also pried the magnets out of the base of the laser light just in case - I'm a little nervous about those kind of things and figured it wouldn't hurt to get rid of them!  Anyway - back to my block.  Lay out as below:

And sew together...

One more week until the big day - let's hope the weather cooperates and we get to enjoy a real eclipse!  No matter what, I will enjoy this block in my finished quilt and it will be a great reminder of this rare occurrence this year - maybe you will, too.