How to Make the Valley Falls Square Quilt Block, an Easy 18" Block with Beautiful Secondary Designs

Make four Snowballed Rectangle units using the Fabric 1/White 4.5" x 10.5" rectangles, and the Fabric 3/Green 4.5" squares. This unit goes together just like half of a Snowball block except that you use a rectangle for the base. You can find my tutorial for making a Snowball block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-snowball-block

• Here are the first steps, going from top to bottom: 
  Mark a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of a 4.5" square and sew the 4.5" square to one corner of the Fabric 1 rectangle along the marked line. Note the orientation of the marked line.
• Match the corners of the 4.5" square and press.
• Open up the 4.5" square and trim the seam allowance. Because this is a larger size unit, I also sewed another seam about 1/2" away from the marked line so I can get a bonus half square triangle (HST) to use in another project!
• Refold.

Step 3:

Repeat Step 2 on the other end of the Fabric 1 rectangles as shown below. Note the orientation of the marked line.

Step 4:

Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for a total of four Snowballed Rectangle units.

Center Unit:

Step 5:

Lay out the Fabric 2/Light Print 6.5" square, the remaining four Fabric 2/Light Print 4.5" squares, and the Fabric 5/Navy 2.5" x 6.5" rectangles in an uneven Nine Patch configuration as shown in the picture below.

Step 6:

Sew the units into three rows.

Step 7:

Press the seam allowances toward the Fabric 5/Navy rectangles as shown in the picture below.

Step 8:

Sew the three rows together.

Step 9:

Press the seam allowances away from the center of the unit as shown below.

Putting It All Together:

Step 10:

Lay out the Center unit, the Snowballed Rectangle units, and the Four Patch units as shown. 

Step 11:

Once again, sew the units into three rows.

Step 12:

Press the seam allowances away from the Snowballed Rectangle units as shown below.

Step 13:

Sew the three rows together.

Step 14:

Press the seam allowances toward the center of the block as shown below.

Layout Ideas:

This is the basic 4 x 4 layout using colors similar to the tutorial.

And here's that basic layout but with colored sashing and cornerstones added.

This is the traditional two-color block set in a 4 x 4 layout.

This alternating layout where every other block is a modified Double Nine Patch block. I've also added a third color.

This monochromatic alternating layout uses a Snowball block for the alternate block. I added in another color for a four-color block.

Here's an on-point layout with the block extending into the setting triangles. I also used a four-color block for this setting.

Back to the two-color block for this on-point layout that uses the light fabric for the setting triangles.

Conclusion: