How to Sew this Scrappy Quilt Block called Carol's Scrap Time Quilt - a Free Tutorial

The Carol's Scrap Time Quilt block is a great way to use up a bunch of scraps and create a beautiful quilt at the same time. It is fairly easy as it uses squares, half square triangles and a modified square in a square block. This is my version of the original quilt block - I'll show what I did different later on in the tutorial. Let's get started!

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Carol's Scrap Time Quilt Block:

• Light/White: 4 - 4.5" squares, and 10 - 3" squares
• Assorted Prints: 10 - 3" squares, and 8 - 2.5" squares

Sewing Directions:

Half Square Triangle Units:

Step 1:

Using the Light/White and Assorted Prints 3" squares, sew together Half Square Triangle units. 

The picture below shows the four basic steps to making a Half Square Triangle.

• Mark a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of one of the squares and sew 1/4" (or a little less) on each side of the line.
• Cut along the diagonal line.  You will have 2 half-square triangle patches.
• Open up the patch and press the seam allowance toward the darker fabric.
• Trim the unit to 2.5" square.

For a detailed tutorial check out my blog post at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block.

Step 2:

Repeat Step 1 for a total of 20 Half Square Triangle units.

Modified Square in a Square Units:

Step 3:

Using a Light/White 4.5" square and two Assorted Prints 2.5" squares make a Modified Square in a Square unit.

You can see the first four steps for making this unit in the picture below.

• Mark a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of an Assorted Prints 2.5" squares
• Top left: Place the Assorted Prints 2.5" square on a corner of a Light/White 4.5" square, right sides together, and sew close to the marked line in what will be the seam allowance.
• Top right: Match up the corners of the Assorted Prints 2.5" square and press.
• Bottom left: Open up the Assorted Prints 2.5" square and trim the seam allowance.
• Bottom right: Refold the Assorted Prints triangles.

Step 4:

Repeat Step 3 on an adajacent corner of the Light/White 4.5" square as shown in the picture below.

Step 5:

Repeat Steps 3 and 4 for a total of four Modified Square in a Square units like the ones shown below.

Corner and Center Units:

Step 6:

Lay out all of the 20 Step 2 Half Square Triangle units in groups of four as shown below. This step is so that you don't get two of the same color next to each other. Note that four of the groups have the Half Square Triangle units pointing in the same direction (these will be used for the Corner units). The fifth group has all the colored halves pointing toward the center (the Center unit).

Corner Units:

Step 7:

Sew the corner groupings together like a basic Four Patch block. Sew the Half Square Triangle units into two rows as shown below. Press the seam allowances toward the white fabric in the top row and toward the Assorted Prints fabric in the bottom row.

Step 8:

Sew the two rows together and press the seam allowance toward the Assorted Prints fabric as shown in the picture below.

Step 9:

Repeat Steps 7 and 8 for a total of four Corner units.

Center Unit:

Step 10:

I took two opposite Half Square Triangle units and repressed their seam allowances toward the Light/White fabric. This made the seams nest nicely and create better points. 

Sew the Half Square Triangle units into two rows as shown in the picture below.

Step 11:

Press the seam allowances in opposite directions as shown below. In this picture you can also see how I repressed the Half Square Triangle seam allowances.

Step 12:

Now sew the two rows together.

Step 13:

Press the seam allowance. In the picture below you can see that I used the twirl/tweak/swirl method of pressing but you can press however you wish.

Putting It All Together:

Step 14:

Lay out the Modified Square in a Square units, the Corner units, and the Center unit as shown in the picture below. From here the block goes together like a basic Nine Patch block.

Step 15:

Sew the units into three rows.

Step 16:

Press the seam allowances toward the Modified Square in a Square units as shown in the picture below.

Step 17:

Sew the rows together and you're done except for the pressing!

Step 18:

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

Layout Suggestions:

First I'd like to show the original block. It looks great but I wanted to use up more scraps and so I added the diamond Four Patch in the middle.

Conclusion: