Lady of the Lake is one of those quilt blocks that's arranged as a positive and a negative. Two fabrics are all that's required, one darker than the other, and ... Read More

Premium Star looks very similar to a few other traditional patchwork quilt blocks, including the popular Bear's Paw, which has fewer half square triangle units in each corner, and a ... Read More

I'm in a small-block mood this weekend, and to be honest, small and miniature quilt blocks are my all-time favorites. The Little Five Patch Chain is made completely with squares ... Read More

Are you ready to go smaller? At 5" square, perhaps this doesn't fit into most definitions of a miniature quilt, but it is half the size of the traditional Fool's ... Read More

Our Forum's Block Lotto fans get an early look at April's project, this thirties-era Pinwheel-in-a-Square block. It finishes at 12" x 12", large enough for the wonderful reproduction fabrics to ... Read More

Here's another five-patch quilt block pattern, the one I originally designed to go with Wishing Ring (in different colors than the March block). The two blocks work well together, but ... Read More

Providence looks very intricate, doesn't it? It has quite a few patches (25) but they are made up of popular units that you've had lots of practice with (or soon ... Read More

I like Hither and Yon, with its pinwheels in opposite corners. The units along the other diagonal add even more visual movement to the block, so there's lots of opportunity ... Read More

Wishing Ring has quite a few grids within its borders, but only two types of components: plain squares and half-square triangle units. It's another quilt block that's scrap friendly, so ... Read More

If you've been following the blog in March you likely know that I'm publishing the equivalent of one pattern a day this month. We took a short trip that put ... Read More

Spammers recently emailed batches of newsletters that appeared to have come from About.com. They were not from us, but they did cause some email providers to begin sending About.com newsletters ... Read More

Sawtooth Star is a super-popular quilt block pattern, so popular that you'll find quite a few variations of it. This version has a 16-patch unit at its center, which gives ... Read More

The four half square triangle units in this quilt block's corner are a deviation from the traditional Ohio Star design. You'll find cutting instructions for three block sizes: 9" square, ... Read More

Nine Patch Chain is made with all squares -- there are no triangles with stretchy edges to deal with. The small nine patch units that are placed on the diagonal ... Read More

Grecian Square is another beginner friendly quilt block pattern. It doesn't have many pieces, but your placement of darks, lights, warms and neutrals can help specific areas of the patchwork ... Read More

Practical Orchard is a beginner-friendly quilt block. Most of its units are unpieced squares, but a patchwork center gives you the opportunity to practice quick piecing skills. Blocks look good ... Read More

Crown of Thorns looks more complicated to assemble than it truly is. If you can cut squares and sew quick-pieced half square triangle units, you can make the Crown of ... Read More

If you think you've seen this quilt block before, but with a different name, you're probably right, because there are loads of traditional quilt blocks with the same basic layout, ... Read More

The Rosebud quilt block finishes at 12" square. It's another traditional pattern that's been known by several names depending on the arrangement of color value within its patches. Feel free ... Read More

Picnic Time is based on a traditional quilt block that's very pretty, but has lots of set-in seams that make it more suitable for hand piecing than for assembly with ... Read More

I'm ready for spring, especially after being snowed-in last weekend, with no power for about 18 cold hours. Thank goodness we have a generator, so I can't really complain too ... Read More

Album quilt blocks (sometimes called Friendship blocks) have traditionally been used for group quilts, and are designed with a strip where each quiltmaker can insert her or his signature, like ... Read More

There are several variations of The Broken Branch quilt block, all with different names. The differences are mostly found in the number and sizes of half square triangle units that ... Read More

King's Crown is one of the names tagged to this traditional quilt block. And like it's varied names, the block can be constructed in a couple of different ways. Look ... Read More