Glory Be Quilt Block Free Tutorial

By: Elaine Huff

Today let's sew together this easy, beginner-friendly Glory Be quilt block. I actually think this is four blocks with sashing but that's not the way it's presented. The Glory Be appeared in Quiltmaker in 1992. It's a big block - 18" finished so you don't need to make very many to get a quilt top! Let's get started!

Fabric Requirements for an 18" Finished Glory Be Quilt Block:

Light/White: 4 - 2.5" x 8.5" rectangles, and 16 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles
Medium/Pink: 24 - 2.5" squares
Dark 1/Blue: 16 - 2.5" squares
Dark 2/Aqua: 8 - 2.5" squares
Dark 3/Navy: 1 - 2.5" squares

That's a lot of fabric for one block!

Sewing Directions:

Four Patch Unit:

Step 1:

Using eight of the Medium/Pink 2.5" squares and the eight Medium 2/Aqua 2.5" squares, sew together four Four Patch units as shown in the picture below. You can see that I've pressed my seam allowances using the tweak/twirl/furl method. You can find the tutorial for making a Four Patch block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-four-patch-quilt-block

Half Flying Geese Units:

Step 2:

For lack of a better name, I'm calling this unit Half Flying Geese. You can find the Flying Geese tutorial at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-block. Using eight of the Light/White 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and eight of the Medium 1/Blue 2.5" squares, make eight Half Flying Geese units with the Medium 1/Blue fabric in the lower left corner as shown in the picture below.

Step 3:

Now you can repeat Step 2 using the remaining eight Light/White 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and Medium 1/Blue 2.5" squares. Only this time put the Medium 1/Blue fabric in the upper left corner as shown below.

Step 4:

Here you can see the differences in these Half Flying Geese units.

Corner Units:

Step 5:

Lay out the Four Patch unit, four of the Half Flying Geese units (2 of each orientation), and four Medium/Pink 2.5" squares as shown in the picture below.

Step 6:

Now you can sew the patches together like an uneven Nine Patch. First, sew the patches together in three rows and press the seam allowances toward the Half Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below.

Step 7:

Second, sew the rows together and press the seam allowances away from the center of the unit as shown below. Repeat Steps 5 through 7 for a total of four Corner units.

Putting It All Together:

Step 8:

Now you can lay out the four Corner units, the four Light/White 2.5" x 8.5" rectangles, and the Dark/Navy 2.5" square as shown in the picture below.

Step 9:

From here the Glory Be quilt block goes together like an uneven Nine Patch (sound familiar?). Sew the units and patches together in three rows as shown below.

Step 10:

Press the seam allowances toward the Light/White 2.5" x 8.5" rectangles as shown in the picture below. Almost done!

Step 11:

To complete the block, sew the three rows together as shown below and...

Step 12:

Press the seam allowances toward the Light/White 2.5" x 8.5" rectangles as shown in the picture below.

Layout Ideas:

Here is the basic 4 x 4 layout with colors similar to the tutorial. I know it looks busy but remember this is an 18" block so in real life it probably won't look so busy.

This is the same layout as above except that sashing and cornerstones have been added. I like that it recreates the center part of block at the intersections.

In this version a plain block has been used as an alternating block. This would give you lots of room to do some fancy quilting.

For this alternating block example, I used a simple chain block.

And this layout uses an alternating block that mimics the center of the Glory Be block.

Another alternating layout done in monochromatic colors with an applique block. I think this is my favorite (but maybe with sashing).

Here is an on-point layout where the block extends into the setting triangles.

And another on-point layout that uses an Irish Chain block as an alternating block and for the setting triangles.

Conclusion:

While the Glory Be quilt block took a lot of fabric, it was easy to put together. I would definitely put sashing and cornerstones between the blocks to carry the design to the next block. I think you would get a nice X design going with the Dark fabrics as well as another X with the Medium fabric.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial for the Glory Be 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. Check out more chain-type quilt blocks at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/20-of-the-best-chain-and-other-great-alternating-quilt-blocks

P.P.S. Need a quilt pattern in a hurry? Check out my easy downloadable PDF patterns at https://www.etsy.com/shop/fabric406