Happy Birthday, Ties That Bind!

Let's make a birthday cake block!

I was the lucky winner of the Block of the Month in May, so I get to provide the pattern for July.

Here's where it came from:

It was originally called Happy Tiers (get it?) and appeared in American Patchwork & Quilting in April 2016.  To the designers it looked like birthday cakes and/or chandeliers (when upside down).
Either way, it's a cute design, and easy to sew.

Here's the diagram of the block, upside down.
I loved all the colors they used, and some of them really did remind me of birthday cakes.  I hunted through my stash of 2.5 in. strips, and finally chose the pink/orange floral print shown above.  It makes me think of a pink cake covered with piped frosting flowers.
I wonder what kind of "cakes" we'll all come up with.

Fabrics:

You will need a 2.5 in. strip of solid white for the background (just white, please, NOT tone on tone) and a 2.5 in. strip of a bright color. If your strip isn't quite 42.5 in. long, you will need at least part of a second strip.

Cutting:

From the white strip—cut 2 rectangles, 2.5 in. x 2 in.; cut 2 rectangles 2.5 in. x 3.5 in.; and cut 2 rectangles 2.5 in. x 5 in.

The white pieces are in pairs.

From the print strip—cut 2 rectangles 2.5 in. x 11.5 in.; cut 1 rectangle 2.5 x 8.5 in.; cut 1 rectangle 2.5 in. x 5.5 in.; and cut 1 square 2.5 in. x 2.5 in.

In the photo above I've laid out the birthday cake on its side.  (Good thing it's not really cake.)

Okay, all the cutting is done.

Assembling the Block:

We will work from the bottom of the cake to the top. 

Here are all the pieces, laid out but not yet sewn.

1.  The bottom two rows are the 2.5 in. x 11.5 in. strips. Sew them together on the long edge.

2.  Next, sew the 2.5 in. x 2 in. white pieces to the 2.5 in. x 8.5 in. cake piece, one on either end.

3.  Now sew the 2.5 in. x 3.5 in. white pieces to either end of the 2.5 in. x 5.5 in. cake piece.

4.  Then sew the 2.5 in. x 5 in. white pieces to either end of the 2.5 in. square cake piece.

All the rows are done, so now just sew the layers (rows) together.

Ta-da! Easy as pie.  And absolutely no calories.

Note:  The block is a rectangle, not a square.  It should measure 11.5 in. x 10.5 in. unfinished, which is 11 in. x 10 in. finished.

What if you added lace to look like icing?  Or what about embroidered candles?  Is there fabric that looks like chocolate icing with sprinkles?  What about a different fabric for each layer?

Ties that Bind has meant so much to me over the years.  I am very happy to celebrate our group's birthday.  Let's have many more!

Cheers,

Sylvia

P.S.  Got questions?  Leave a comment or email me and I'll be glad to answer.