How to Sew a Steps to the Altar Quilt Block

Let’s learn how to sew a Steps to the Altar quilt block today!

This is the last block for a quilt I’ve been working on for a couple of years – Yeah!! I got the pattern from Kim Diehl’s Evening Star Quilt pattern. It is a Steps to the Altar quilt block with a color placement variation. It is a great block to use up your medium and dark scraps and creates a nice secondary pattern when put together in a quilt. Of course you could use light and medium fabric colors and get a whole different feel to the finished quilt. You can see more of Kim Diehl’s patterns and fabric on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/kim.diehl.96

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Steps to the Altar Quilt Block:

• Black Print – 6 – 2.5″ squares
• Medium/Dark 1 – 6 – 2.5″ squares, and 3 – 5″ squares
• Medium/Dark 2 – 3 – 5″ squares

Sewing Directions:

We’ve already gone over the two patches that make up this block – the Four Patch and the Half-Square Triangle.

Step 1:

Four Patch Units:

Using the 2.5" Black Print squares and the 2.5" Medium/Dark 1 squares, make 3 Four Patch units. You can read the tutorial for the Four Patch block here: https://fabric-406.myshopify.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-four-patch-quilt-block 

Step 2:

Half-Square Triangle Units:

Using the 5" Medium/Dark 1 squares and the 5" Medium/Dark 2 squares, make 6 Half-Square Triangle units. You can find my Half-Square Triangle tutorial here:  https://fabric-406.myshopify.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block

Step 3:

The sewing construction goes together just like a Basic Nine-Patch block (https://fabric-406.myshopify.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-nine-patch-quilt-block).

Layout the Four-Patch and Half-Square Triangle units as shown above and sew into 3 rows. Press the seam allowances in the top and bottom rows toward the outside of the block and the middle row toward the inside of the block.

Here you can see the direction for pressing the seam allowances.

Step 4:

Then you sew the 3 rows together and you’re done!

Step 5:

Press the seam allowances toward the center of the block. Here is a picture of the back of the finished block showing the direction of the seam allowances.

Conclusion:

To make the quilt, the blocks are put together with every other one being rotated. The way we have pressed the seam allowances makes the seams nest together so you get a nice intersection.

Here is my layout for 1/4 of my quilt top. The blocks make a wonderful secondary design of X’s and diamonds. My design wall is only 4′ wide so it only holds 1/4 of a queen-size quilt. But that’s big enough for most projects. If I need to lay out the whole quilt at once, I just use my bed or the floor.

When I was laying out the units to take a picture, I accidentally did it wrong – no, not wrong, just different. So this layout would work too and would give a totally different look to the finished quilt.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial for a Steps to the Altar quilt block. When I get my quilt quilted, I'll post a picture of it.

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. In case you missed it, check out my roundup post of easy quilt blocks 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