A Free Tutorial for Piecing the Merry Kite Quilt Block
The Merry Kite is a lovely traditional quilt block that uses just flying geese and squares to sew together - perfect for the confident beginner and experienced quilter alike. I can imagine a mother designing this block while watching her little child flying a kite!
If you change the center dark square to the light background fabric, the block is called "Mrs. Fay's Favorite Friendship Block" that appeared in Hearth and Home.
Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Merry Kite Quilt Block:
- Light/Ivory: 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, and 8 - 2.5" squares
- Medium/Green: 12 - 2.5" squares
- Dark/Burgundy: 1 - 4.5" square, 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, and 12 - 2.5" squares
Sewing Directions:
Four Patch Units:
Step 1:
Make 4 Four Patch units using the 8 Light/Ivory 2.5" squares, 4 of the Medium/Green 2.5" squares, and 4 of the Dark/Burgundy 2.5" squares as shown in the picture below. You can find my tutorial for making a basic Four Patch block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-four-patch-quilt-block
Flying Geese Units:
Step 2:
Using the four Light/Ivory 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and the remaining 8 Dark/Burgundy 2.5" squares sew together four Flying Geese patches as shown below. You will find my tutorial showing my no-trim method of making a basic Flying Geese block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-block
Step 3:
Repeat Step 2 using the four Dark/Burgundy 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and the remaining eight Medium/Green 2.5" squares as shown in the picture below.
Step 4:
Match up a Step 2 and a Step 3 Flying Geese patch and sew together as shown below. Press seam allowance toward the Step 3 patch. Repeat for a total of four Flying Geese units.
Putting It All Together:
Step 5:
Lay out the Four Patch units, the Flying Geese units, and the center Dark/Burgundy 4.5" square as shown in the picture below.
Step 6:
From here the block goes together like a basic Nine Patch block. First, sew the units into three rows as shown below. Not all of the seam allowances will nest together, so take your time to get those intersections to match up.
Step 7:
Press the seam allowances away from the Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below.
Step 8:
Next, sew the three rows together to complete the block.
Step 9:
Press the seam allowances toward the center of the block. You're done!
Layout Ideas:
This is a basic 4 x 4 layout using colors similar to the tutorial.
This is the same layout as above but with 2" wide sashing and cornerstones added.
This is an example of an alternating layout where every other block is a Dresdan Plate.
This is another alternating design using a simple chain block in between the Merry Kite blocks.
This on-point layout has narrow (1") sashing and cornerstones and the background fabric is used for the setting triangles.
This is a lovely on-point alternating layout using an applique block for the alternating block. The background fabric is also used for the setting triangles.
Conclusion:
I enjoyed piecing this block together. It is very striking and fairly easy. Other than not being able to figure out how to press the seam allowances so that they all would nest together, I was really happy with how it went together!
I hope you've enjoyed this Merry Kite quilt block tutorial. If you liked this post and want to see more quilting tutorials like this, simply click here to sign up for my newsletter and also receive a free PDF pattern called "Chained Weathervane".
This block is similar to the Friendship block which you can see at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/traditional-quilt-block-friendship-block
Happy Quilting!
Elaine
P.S. To see a sampler quilt I made that used this block, check out this post: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-make-this-sampler-quilt-a-free-tutorial
P.P.S. Looking for easy blocks to sew? Click on this link: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/tagged/tutorials_beginning-blocks