Easy Railroad Quilt Block Tutorial

Today let's sew together this easy Railroad quilt block. With only half square triangles and four-patches, this block goes together quickly and easily. I decided to do this block as a scrappy block and I think it turned out great but you could certainly do it with only a light and a dark or medium fabric. Let's get started!

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Railroad Quilt Block:

• Light/Ivory: 2 - 5" squares, and 10 - 2.5" squares
• Dark/Medium: 2 - 5" squares, and 10 - 2.5" squares

Sewing Directions:

Half Square Triangle Units:

Step 1:

Using the Light/Ivory 5" squares and Dark/Medium 5" squares, sew together four Half Square Triangle units as shown below. Trim/square up the Half Square Triangle units to 4.5" square. You can find my tutorial for making Half Square Triangles at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block.

Four Patch Units:

Step 2:

Now you can make five Four Patch units using the Light/Ivory 2.5" squares and Dark/Medium 2.5" squares as shown in the picture below. You will find my Four Patch tutorial at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-four-patch-quilt-block.

Putting It All Together:

Step 3:

Lay out the Half Square Triangle units and the Four Patch units as shown in the picture below.

Step 4:

The Railroad quilt block goes together just like a basic Nine Patch block - sew the units together in three rows as shown below.

Step 5:

Press the seam allowances toward the Half Square Triangle units as you can see in the picture below.

Step 6:

Now sew the three rows together and...

Step 7:

Press the seam allowances away from the center of the block as shown below. You're done! Told you it was easy!

Conclusion:

The Railroad quilt block went together quickly with a minimal amount of seam matching. I really like how my scrappy version turned out too. When making a quilt out of these blocks, you could arrange them so the diagonal runs in a straight line, or zigzag it, or make an X or diamond design - lots of lay out options.

You may have noticed that the Railroad block is closely related to the Jacob's Ladder block. All you have to do is rotate the Half Square Triangle units 180 degrees and the middle Four Patch units 90 degrees and you have a Jacob's Ladder block.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial for the Railroad quilt block. 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 quilt pattern called Chained Weathervane.

Happy Quilting!

Elaine

P.S. To see more beginner-friendly quilt blocks, check out this roundup post: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/30-easy-quilt-block-tutorials-for-the-beginning-quilter