Lay this unit face down on the middle section, at an angle or raw edges aligned (shown here), and pin. It's difficult to see, but I insert each pin under the seam allowance and up again. This keeps the strip straight. 

Stitch. (Tip: Using a walking foot for the seams that are pinned also helps keep things straight.) Open out the section and press. 

Lay the second strip face down on the middle section, again at an angle.  Stitch along the right edge of the strip. 

Turn the excess fabric and the seam allowance to the back so the strip opens out. Press. Trim the excess fabric. To orient yourself, lay the third section to the right of the unit. 

Turn the unit over, onto the third section, at an angle.  

Pin and stitch the strip to the third section. Open out the section and press.    

Make a 7" x 7" preview template out of card stock or heavy paper and play until you find the area to feature. Mark the rough perimeter with chalk. I then trim the unit using the lines printed on my mat.   

 

Here's the unit trimmed. (I'm saving the trimmings; surely I can use them somehow, someday?)  You can see that starting with larger-than-necessary fabric sections gives you more creative leeway when trimming. 

The "clean" center unit, ready for the ombré strips.  

Again, the finished block. I'm working on a quilt with nine different blocks, each one its own color story. BTW, the gray ombré is available in my online Store, Gelato #714.    

 

We'll be doing super-skinny swizzle sticks in my Artistic Alchemy workshop, "It's All About Color," at Zephyr Point in September. By then I will have perfected the curved version, which I learned from Rosalie Dace at Empty Spools two years ago. (She is an inspiring and wonderfully generous teacher. Thank you, Rosalie!)

And thank you for reading and looking at this special issue. I was at QuiltCon last week (I had a quilt in the show) and will share my impressions in the next newsletter. The experience was amazing!