Quilting Basics - Beginner Quilting Block

Most patchwork quilts are made using a basic unit called a Block. Generally blocks are square, although they can be any shape the quiltmaker wants them to be – rectangles, triangles, hexagons, diamonds; all are fairly common. Quilts are usually made with the same shape block throughout, however, it is possible (and more interesting, although more challenging) to include more than one shape block in a quilt.

Quilt blocks are made up of smaller units – or patches. Since there is no set number of patches in a block, the design (or pattern) of the block is created with the placement of the shapes in the patches and the colors of fabric used in each shape.

A very common quilt block is a nine patch – a simple square block made up of 9 smaller squares. Because this block is so easy to make, it is one of the more popular quilt blocks for beginning quilters. All of the stitching is along straight edges, and all of the patches are the same size. What makes the nine patch interesting is the placement of color within each block as well as what the whole quilt looks like when you place the blocks next to each other.

Nine patch blocks are also great for scrap quilts in a totally random design

Using four basic shapes, you can make hundreds of different quilt blocks. As quilting has developed, many more shapes have been added, but as a beginning quilter, it is a good idea to start with these four basic shapes.

For more details and pictures of the shapes, check out:

http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/1101-beginner-quilting-block.shtml

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
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