Free Tutorial - Flight of Fancy Traditional Quilt Block

Hi Everyone! Today I'm going to show you how to piece together the traditional quilt block called Flight of Fancy. I really had fun putting this block together and I hope you do too. Let's get started!

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Flight of Fancy Quilt Block:

• Light/White: 4 - 4" squares, and 8 - 2" squares
• Dark 1/Red & Pink Print: 4 - 4" squares
• Medium 1/Blue, Pink & Green Print: 4 - 5" squares
• Medium 2/Soft Pink & Blue Print: 4 - 3.5" x 5" rectangles, and 1 - 3.5" square
• Dark 2/Blue Print: 12 - 2" squares

Sewing Directions:

Square in a Square Unit:

Step 1:

Using the Medium 2/Soft Pink & Blue 3.5" square and four Dark 2/Blue Print 2" squares, make a Square in a Square unit for the center of the block. You can find my tutorial for making a Square in a Square block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-square-in-a-square-block

Rectangle Snowball Unit:

Step 2:

Make four Rectangle Snowball units using the Medium 2/Soft Pink & Blue Print rectangles, Light/White 2" squares, and the Dark 2/Blue Print squares. This unit goes together just like a Snowball block except that you use a rectangle for the base. Also note that the Light/White 2" squares go on one end of the rectangle and the Dark 2/Blue Print 2" squares go on the other end. You can find my tutorial for making a Square in a Square block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-snowball-block

Half-Square Triangle Units:

Step 3:

Using the Light/White 4" squares and the Dark 1/Red & Pink Print 4" squares, make 8 Half-Square Triangle (HST) units. Trim/square up the HSTs to 3.5" square. You can find my tutorial for making HSTs at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block

Corner Units:

Step 4:

Mark a diagonal line perpendicular to the seam line on the back of the HST units you made in Step 3 like in the picture below.

Step 5:

Place one HST in a corner of a Medium 1/Blue, Pink & Green 5" square as shown in the picture below and stitch on (or close to) marked line. To get a bonus patch, you can sew again about 1/2" from the first stitching line. I've marked that stitching line so you can see what I'm talking about.

Step 6:

Using the picture below for a reference, match up the corners of the HST and press.

Step 7:

Unfold the HST and cut in between the two seam lines as shown in the picture below.

Step 8:

Here's a picture showing the Corner unit half done plus the little 2.5" bonus patch that you can use in some other project or maybe incorporate into a border for your quilt?

Step 9:

Repeat Steps 5 through 8 on the opposite corner of the Medium 1/Blue, Pink & Green 5" square. Make sure to get the orientation of the HST right as shown in the picture below. 

Repeat Steps 5 through 9 for a total of four Corner units.

Putting It All Together:

Step 10:

Using the picture below, lay out the center Square in a Square unit, the four Rectangle Snowball units, and the four Corner units. The block will go together just like a Nine Patch block would.

Step 11:

Sew the units together in three rows as shown below.

Step 12:

Press the seam allowances away from the Rectangle Snowball units as you can see in the picture below.

Step 13:

To complete the block, sew the three rows together and ...

Step 14:

Press the seam allowances toward the center of the Flight of Fancy block as shown in the picture below. You're done!

In Conclusion:

I really had fun sewing this traditional Flight of Fancy quilt block. I did make a color change from original block because I wanted to have the star design show up in the center of the block. Traditionally, the Dark 2/Blue Print I used would have been the Medium 2/Soft Pink & Blue Print and no star shape would show.

So we have a star and cross design in the center and when blocks are sewn together, an X and an on-point square underneath the X would appear at the junction of the blocks. How fun to get a secondary design! I might have to do a post showing what a quilt of this block would look like. I also might have to actually make a quilt with this block!

I hope you enjoy the Flight of Fancy block as much as I did! If you liked this tutorial and want to see more like it, click HERE to sign up for my newsletter and receive a free PDF pattern called Chained Weathervane!

Happy Quilting!

Elaine