Classic Stitches--Lime and light green

Hi all, and welcome to the last row of the Classic Stitches quilt!  Isn't this exciting?  As soon as this row is done, the quilt will assemble in no time!

The color for this month is lime green, but I don't have a lot of lime, so most of mine will be light green.  Here is the block for this month's row:

This is the Peace and Plenty block, a classic block that is undated, but has variations that date to 1877.  It looks complicated, but don't worry!  This block actually goes together very easily and fairly quickly.  The secret is all in the cutting and chain piecing. (And no hsts or quarter-square triangles to make!)   Really, you'll have these done in much less time than you'd think.

Let's get started. . .the steps and measurements shown are for a 6-inch block.  As always, other sizes are given at the end of the construction directions.

Cutting:

From the green, cut 1 4-1/4 inch square, and 4 2-3/8 inch squares. From a background color, shown here in white, cut the same--1 4-1/4 inch square and 4 2-3/8 inch squares.

Now take the green and white 4-1/4 inch squares and cut them corner to corner twice, making 4 smaller triangles.

Take the 4 smaller squares of each color and cut them in half diagonally once, making a total of 8 small triangles of each color.

That's all the cutting!  Let's make this block!

Construction:

Take the triangles made from cutting the larger squares and stack them as shown:

Stitch all of these together along the center line.  You should end up with 4 units like this:

Put these aside, and take the triangles made from cutting the smaller squares.  Stack them like this:

Stitch on the center line, making 8 units like this:

Take the units that you just stitched, and lay them out like this, in 4 pairs:

Stitch and press. You should end up with 4 of these units.

Take the larger triangle units and lay them out with the smaller triangle units like this:

Stitch and press.  You should have 4 of these final units.

Lay out the 4 units as shown and assemble your block!

That was easier than it looked, wasn't it?  Ten of these will make a 60-inch row, and 6 will make a 36-inch row.  Measure to be sure your row is 60-1/2 inches, and then you're ready for the final assembly of the quilt!

Variations:

Use two different greens for the block, one for the larger triangles and one for the smaller ones. A picture of this variation is below.  You could also use two completely different colors.  Blue or yellow might be good choices to go with the green.

Reverse the colors for a different effect.

For a very cute (but very fiddly) 4-inch finished block, cut 1 square of each color 3-1/4 inches for the larger triangles, and 4 squares 1-7/8 inches for the smaller triangles.

For a 9-inch block, use 5-3/4 inch squares for the larger triangles and 4 3-1/8 inch squares for the smaller triangles.

For a 12-inch block, use 7-1/4 inch squares for the larger triangles and 4 3-7/8 inch squares for the smaller triangles.  Or make 4 different 6-inch blocks and combine them into a 12-inch square.  I opted for the larger pieces in two different greens for my 12-inch block:

That's it for this last row!  Once this is finished, the rows are all done and it's time to assemble the quilt!  Be sure to come back on Tuesday, December 1, for the finishing instructions (or at least to take a peek at some glamour shots of my finished quilt top!)

Happy sewing, everyone!

Linking to Linky Tuesday, Let's Bee Social,  WIP Wednesday, and at soscrappy for RSC15.