Edna's Choice - a Quick, Easy, and Scrappy Quilt Block Tutorial - Beginner Friendly!

By: Elaine Huff

The Edna's Choice quilt block is so quick and easy to sew together to create a lovely quilt. Made with only squares and rectangles it's a great way to use up those leftover 2.5" strips in a scrappy quilt! I have lots of layout ideas using two colors, three colors and lots of colors toward the end of the post. Let's get started!

ednas choice quilt block

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Edna's Choice Quilt Block:

  • Light/White: 2 - 2.5" x 8.5" rectangles, 2 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, 4 - 2.5" squares
  • Assorted Prints: 1 - 4.5" square, 4 - 2.5" x 8.5" rectangles

ednas choice fabric requirements

Sewing Directions:

Center Unit:

Step 1:

Sew the two Light/White 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles to opposite sides of the Assorted Prints 4.5" square as shown in the picture below.

ednas choice 1

Step 2:

Press the seam allowances toward the Light/White fabric as shown.

ednas choice 2

Step 3:

Sew the two Light/White 2.5" x 8.5" rectangles to the long sides of the Step 3 unit as shown below.

ednas choice 3

Step 4:

Press the seam allowances toward the Light/White fabric as shown.

ednas choice 4

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Putting It All Together:

Step 5:

Lay out the Center unit, the four Light/White 2.5" squares, and the four Assorted Prints 2.5" x 8.5" rectangles as shown in the picture below. From here the block goes together like an uneven Nine Patch block.

ednas choice 5

Step 6:

Sew the units into three rows.

Ednas Choice 6

Step 7:

Press the seam allowances toward the Assorted Prints rectangles as shown.

ednas choice 7

Step 8:

Sew the three rows together and...

ednas choice 8

Step 9:

Press the seam allowances away from the center of the block. That's it - easy peasy!

ednas choice 9

Layout Suggestions:

Here is a typical 4 x 4 layout with scrappy blocks.

quilt 1 

Here's the same 4 x 4 layout but only using two colors. Seems a little boring to me.

quilt 2

In this example, the blue and yellow are switched around in every other block. I find this more interesting than the previous one.

quilt 3

And here we have the two-color block with sashing and cornerstones added.

quilt 4

For this scrappy version, the sashing and cornerstones help to keep the quilt from being too busy.

quilt 5

This layout is a three-color block alternating with a block of the same colors but set in a different place.

quilt 6

This is a classic on-point layout using a scrappy block. On-point layouts always look so different to me!

quilt 7

And here's the same scrappy on-point layout with sashing and cornerstones and plain setting triangles.

quilt 8

Here's a 5 x 5 layout with an alternating classic chain block. Pretty!

quilt 9

Same layout as above only set on-point and plain setting triangles. 

quilt 10

Conclusion:

I loved sewing the Edna's Choice block together - quick, easy and used up some of my leftover bindings! For being such an easy little block, it certainly can make a beautiful quilt. I especially like how the on-point layouts look - I do think I'll be making several more of these blocks for a quilt!

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. If you like it and want to see more, just click HERE to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free PDF quilt pattern called "Chained Weathervane".

Happy Quilting!

Elaine

P.S. Have you seen my other easy quilt block tutorials at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/30-easy-quilt-block-tutorials-for-the-beginning-quilter?

P.P.S. Check out my patterns I have for sale on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/fabric406