Scintillating Scraps . .

. . . was the title of Jan's workshop last September and I have borrowed friends' dies to cut hundreds of HST's which combine to make a 3" finished square. The block is a nine patch with a single dark central  square and six dark/light HST's and six dark/medium HSTs. The darks were straightforward but I found lights/mediums tricky to sort. So much white in scraps makes me uneasy!
The idea is to arrange half the blocks one way and alternate locks the other way up. I have now made 38 blocks, my A set. I need 72 in all 36 of each though I've a couple of spares. I shall now embark on my second set made from different fabrics so there shouldn't be two the same touching and the pressing of seams will alternate too.

These blocks are arranged the same way up.

These are alternated so the mediums "weave" through the lights.

HST's: the four patch version

Simplest classic layout

The four by four 4-patch version of a 12" HST block lends itself to lots of  arrangements. This time the squares are cut 4" and after sewing trimmed to 3.5" unfinished to finish 3". If you didn't want to trim you would cut squares with 7/8"  added to the finished size.
Value (light and shade) plays a major role in the appearance of these blocks. I made up a set of scrappy 3" + seams HST's and set them out in different ways all making use of negative/positive effects. Secondary patterns will form when blocks are set side by side either in the same light/dark arrangements or reversed. These endless possibilities added to endless fabric choices are what makes patchwork fun and so so fascinating.

"Lozenge" layout which will form secondary pattern when
set side by side.

"On point" squares

A star

A star with "envelope" corners

Variegated flying geese

Diagonals which can be turned this way and that.