Indian Puzzle Quilt Block Free Tutorial

By: Elaine Huff

The Indian Puzzle quilt block is a striking traditional design that offers endless creative possibilities. Made with classic units like flying geese, half-square triangles, and simple squares, this 3-color block combines familiar techniques in a dynamic layout.

What truly sets the Indian Puzzle apart is how dramatically its look can change depending on your choice of color values and placement. Whether you're aiming for bold contrast or subtle harmony, this block is a perfect canvas for exploring color play and adding movement to your quilt.

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Indian Puzzle Quilt Block:

Light/White: 1 - 4.5" square, 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, 4 - 3" squares, and 12 - 2.5" squares
Medium/Blue Floral: 4 - 3" squares, and 4 - 2.5" squares
Dark/Blue: 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, and 12 - 2.5" squares

Sewing Directions:

Square in a Square Unit:

Step 1:

Using the Light/White 4.5" square and four of the Dark/Blue 2.5" squares, sew together a Square in a Square unit as shown in the picture below. You will find my tutorial for making a Square in a Square unit at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-square-in-a-square-block

Flying Geese Units:

Step 2:

Next you can sew together four Flying Geese units like the ones below using the four Light/White 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, and eight Dark/Blue 2.5" squares. You can find my tutorial for making a basic Flying Geese block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-block

Step 3:

Using the four Dark/Blue 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and eight Light/White 2.5" squares, sew together four Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below.

Step 4:

Pair up one Step 2 Flying Geese unit with one Step 3 Flying Geese unit as shown below.

Step 5:

Sew the two units together and press the seam allowance toward the dark fabric as shown in the picture below. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 for a total of four Flying Geese Units.

Corner Units:

Step 6:

Using the Light/White 3" squares and the Medium/Blue Floral 3" squares, sew together eight Half Square Triangles as shown in the picture below. Trim/square up the Half Square Triangle units to 2.5". You can find my tutorial for making a basic Half Square Triangle block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block

Step 7:

Lay out two of the Step 6 Half Square Triangle units, one Light/White 2.5" square, and one Medium/Blue Floral 2.5" square as shown in the picture below.

Step 8:

Now you can sew the patches together just like a Four Patch block. First, sew them into two rows and press the seam allowances toward the Half Square Triangle units as shown in the picture below.

Step 9:

Then sew the two rows together and press the seam allowance away from the Medium/Blue Floral fabric as shown below. Repeat Steps 7 through 9 for a total of four Corner units.

Putting It All Together:

Step 10:

From here the Indian Puzzle block goes together just like a Nine Patch block. Lay out the Square in a Square unit, the Flying Geese units, and the Corner units as shown in the picture below.

Step 11:

Sew the units together into three rows as shown below.

Step 12:

And press the seam allowances toward the Flying Geese units.

Step 13:

Sew the three rows together and...

Step 14:

Press the seam allowances away from the center of the block as shown below. You're done!

Layout Options:

This one is the block as I've shown in the tutorial in a basic 4 x 4 layout.

Here's the same layout as above but with dark sashing and light cornerstones added.

This one is fun - all the dark fabrics are toward the center and create a star design, and the light fabrics outline the star.

For this one I added in another color. All sorts of secondary designs start showing up!

And here's the block alternating with a simple chain block for another look:

Then you have all the possibilities of putting the block on point. Here's one example with the block alternating with an Hourglass block:

Here's another on-point example with an alternating applique block and plain setting triangles.

This on-point version has coordinating sashing and cornerstones with plain setting triangles. I also changed up the color value in the block.

Conclusion:

I had fun putting this block together! The individual components aren't hard to sew and it makes an interesting block. I didn't have much trouble getting points to show nicely or having seams line up even though some of the intersections got quite bulky. It looks so different when the color placement and values are changed up. And look at what happened when it was alternated with a chain block and then put on point with an Hourglass block. You really should give this one a try!

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial for the Indian Puzzle 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. To figure out yardage for a quilt, check out this post: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-much-fabric-do-i-need

P.P.S. Check out my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/fabric406