Quilt Block of the Week

Quilt Block of the Week.

We will feature a quilt block of the week. We will have an example of the block and how it looks in a quilt and tell you a little about the history of the block, if known.

Week 1- August 15, 2016

Most Basic Block- Mother of all Quilt Blocks- The Basic Four Patch

This has to be the easiest of all quilt blocks. This is an excellent block for a beginning quilter to start with due to its straight sewing and simplicity. Here is what the block looks like.

Four Patch Quilt Block

To enhance the pattern, light and dark patches are alternated. It is called the four patch as it is composed of four patches. I believe that it was first identified by Carrie Hall in 1935. This block is a good one for thrifty quilters as it allows small scraps of fabric to be sewn together. The squares in the example above are 2" by 2."


Four patch is also the style, or basic grid-work, of a block when four similar units are combined together to form a larger four patch block, similar to the example below.

4 patch grid block example  

Here is how the 4-patch block looks in a quilt. It creates a checkerboard pattern when it is not combined with any other blocks. For this reason, this block is sometimes called checkerboard as well. This quilt is good for placing appliqué and/or quilting designs in the square blocks and borders.

4-Patch Block Quilt

Next week, we will talk about the Double Four Patch Quilt Block.