How to Create the Traditional Holiday Crossing Quilt Block

Let's look at this interesting Holiday Crossing quilt block today. It is fairly easy to sew together and creates a lovely secondary design when multiple blocks are sewn together. Let's get sewing!

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Holiday Crossing Quilt Block:

I miscalculated the number of some of the patches so the picture is inaccurate but the list of fabric pieces is corrent.

• Light/Gray: 2 - 4" squares
• Medium/Purple: 4 - 3.5" squares, 2 - 2.5" x 3.5" rectangles, 4 - 1.5" x 4.5" rectangles, and 4 - 1.5" x 5.5" rectangles
• Medium/Green: 2 - 3.5" squares, 4 - 1.5" x 3.5" rectangles, and 4 - 1.5" x 4.5" rectangles
• Dark/Purple: 2 - 4" squares, 4 - 3.5" squares and 2 - 2.5" x 3.5" rectangles

Sewing Directions:

Corner Units:

Step 1:

Using the 2 Light/Gray 4" squares and the 2 Dark/Purple 4" squares, sew together four Half Square Triangle (HST) units. You can find my tutorial for my method of making Half Square Triangles at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block. Trim the units to 3.5" square.

Step 2:

Sew a Medium/Green 1.5" x 3.5" rectangle to one side of the Dark/Purple half of a Half Square Triangle you made in Step 1 as shown in the picture below. Press the seam allowance toward the Medium/Green rectangle. Then sew a Medium/Green 1.5" x 4.5" rectangle to the other side of the Dark/Purple half of the HST and press the seam allowance toward the Medium/Green fabric.

Step 3:

Now sew a Medium/Purple 1.5" x 4.5" rectangle to the Step 2 unit as shown in the picture below and press the seam allowance toward the Medium/Purple fabric. Then sew a Medium/Purple 1.5" x 4.5" rectangle to the unit as shown below and press the seam allowance toward the Medium/Purple fabric. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for a total of four Corner units.

Hourglass Units:

Step 4:

Using one Medium/Purple 3.5" square and one Dark/Purple 3.5" square, sew together two Hourglass units. You only need one Hourglass unit (of this coloring) for this block, so the extra unit can be used for an additional block. You can also find my tutorial for making Hourglass blocks at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-hourglass-or-quarter-square-triangle-block Trim/square up the units to 2.5" square.

Step 5:

Sew together two three-color Hourglass units using two Medium/Purple 3.5" squares, one Medium/Green 3.5" square and one Dark/Purple 3.5" square like the ones in the picture below. You will have two extra units to use in another block. Once again you can find my tutorial for making these units at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-hourglass-or-quarter-square-triangle-block Trim/square up the units to 2.5" square.

Step 6:

Repeat Step 5 only using two Dark/Purple 3.5" squares, one Medium/Purple 3.5" square, and one Medium/Green 3.5" squares.

Sashing Units:

Step 7:

Now you can match up one Step 5 Hourglass unit with a Dark/Purple 2.5" x 3.5" rectangle and sew together as shown in the picture below. Press the seam allowance toward the Dark/Purple rectangle. Repeat for a total of 2 units.

Step 8:

Repeat Step 7 only using a Step 6 Hourglass unit and a Medium/Purple 2.5" x 3.5" rectangle.

Putting It All Together:

Step 9:

Lay out the four Corner units, the center Hourglass unit, and the four Sashing units as shown in the picture below.

Step 10:

From here the block goes together like a basic uneven Nine Patch block. First you sew the units into three rows as shown below.

And press the seam allowances toward the sashing units as shown.

Step 11:

To finish up, just sew the three rows together and...

Press the seam allowances away from the center of the block as shown in the picture below. All done!

Layout Options:

Here's a basic 4 x 4 layout for the Holiday Crossing block. 

Here's the same layout but with narrow sashing and cornerstones added.

In this example, the sashing is 2 inches wide so that an Hourglass unit could be used for the cornerstones.

Here's the basic on-point layout. I like the diagonal lines.

In this one, the outer partial blocks are replaced with a plain block.

This one is my favorite! Narrow sashing between all the on-point blocks.

Conclusion:

I have to admit, I spent way too much time trying to this block figured out. However, that doesn't mean it's difficult! Once I got the Hourglass colors figured out the Holiday Croosing block was fun to put together. 

I hope you've enjoyed this traditional 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.