Hello, Bakers! I'm Heather Long of Coffee and Quilts and I'm sharing a block I've titled "Grammy's Staircase" today. In my husband's family, on Christmas morning all the children gather on the staircase. No one (except grown ups!) is allowed downstairs before everyone is awake. It's wonderful to see all the children anxiously waiting while us grown ups get ourselves a cup of coffee. We photograph the children on the stairs in their pajamas, and it's so wonderful to see the changes over the years.

This block finishes at 6" or 12" square.

6" Block	12" Block
From white fabric, cut (5) 2” squares, cut once on the diagonal	From white fabric, cut (5) 3” squares, cut once on the diagonal
From solid red fabric, cut (1) 6" square, cut once on the diagonal	From solid red fabric, cut (1) 11” square, cut once on the diagonal
From red print #1, cut: (6) 1 ½” squares	From red print #1, cut: (6) 2½” squares

• Starch makes working with bias edges easier, but it's not required.

Make sure you only press, not iron, your seams. Place your iron directly on the seam to be pressed and lift it straight off. Don't move side to side as this can stretch bias edges.

Starch fabrics if desired. Cut fabrics according to sizes above.

Layout the block, taking care with any directional prints.

First, we'll sew the red print squares to the solid white triangles. Skip the uppermost red print square for now. Flip the second square from the top to the left, right sides together with a white triangle.

I find it easiest to always work with square edges when possible. Sew quarter inch seam allowance.

Sew the remaining four red prints squares to their corresponding triangles in the same manner. Press towards the red.

At this point, I like to rotate my cutting mat where I have my pieces arranged 180-degrees, so I can work top to bottom again.

Our top stair is completed, so working as before, flip the second red print square to the left, and align with a solid white triangle.

Sew quarter inch seam, and repeat with remaining four red print squares. Press towards red again.

Trim the dog ears from your blocks.

Arrange your stairs.

Fold the top stair unit down, right sides together with the second stair. Your seams will nest.

Sew together with a quarter inch seam. Repeat to sew all stairs together, checking alignment and that seams are nesting. Press seams in one direction.

Use the 45 degree line on your ruler and trim off excess white triangles, leaving quarter inch seam allowance.

Repeat on the opposite side.

Sew a solid red triangle on each side, making sure to take care sewing bias edges. Your red triangle will extend at least one quarter inch on each side.

Press towards red triangles.

Square and trim.

 

This block finishes at 6" or 12" square.

Thank you for Counting Down to Christmas with me! Please visit my blog and follow me on instagram to see what I'm up to. I'd love to see your finished #grammysstaircase blocks. For my own blocks, I added some machine embroidery with the names of the grandchildren and finished each block into a mini quilted wall hanging.

Heather Long

{blog: Coffee and Quilts}
{instagram: Coffee and Quilts}
{shop: Coffee and Quilts}
{facebook: Coffee and Quilts}