Marion's Choice Quilt Block Tutorial — Easy 10" Block with Stunning Secondary Designs

By: Elaine Huff

If you're looking for a quilt block that punches well above its weight, Marion's Choice might just become your new favorite. This classic 10" block is wonderfully beginner-friendly - built entirely from squares and half-square triangles, so there's no fussy cutting or tricky seams to wrestle with.

But don't let the simplicity fool you. Depending on how you play with color placement, Marion's Choice generates a stunning array of secondary designs when blocks are set together. Whether you like to work scrappy and spontaneous, plan every last fabric pull in advance, or land somewhere in the happy middle, this block adapts beautifully to your style. Let's dig in.

Fabric Requirements for a 10" Marion's Choice Quilt Block:

Light/White: 4 - 3" squares, and 12 - 2.5" squares
Medium/Pink: 4 - 2.5" squares
Dark/Blue: 4 - 3" squares, and 1 - 2.5" square

Sewing Directions:

Half Square Triangle Units:

Step 1:

Using a Light 3" square and a Dark 3" square, make Half Square Triangle (HST) units as shown. Here are the steps corresponding to the images in the picture below going from top to bottom, left to right.

Match up a Light square and a Dark square right sides together. Mark a diagonal line from corner to corner on the back of the Light square 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 Dark fabric.
Square up/trim the units to 2.5" square.
You can find my tutorial for making HST units at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block

Step 2:

Repeat for a total of four Light/Dark Half Square Triangle units like the ones shown below.

Putting It All Together:

Step 3:

Lay out the Step 2 Half Square Triangles, the Dark 2.5" square, the Medium 2.5" squares, and the Light 2.5" squares as shown in the picture below.

Step 4:

Sew the units into five rows.

Step 5:

Press the seam allowances away from the Half Square Triangle units and the Medium and Dark squares as shown in the picture below. All the seam allowances will nest together nicely in the next step.

Step 6:

Sew the five rows together, and...

Step 7:

Press the seam allowances. You can see in the picture below that I pressed the middle two seam allowances toward the center of the block and the outer two seam allowances away from the center of the block. I felt like the block lay flatter this way but you can press whichever direction you wish.

Layout Options:

Here's the basic 4 x 4 layout. I love how the blocks create a square-in-a-square design.

This is what a scrappy version of the basic layout could look like. Every block has a different color combination.

This is the same basic 4 x 4 layout but with pieced sashing and cornerstones added. The blue part of the sashing creates a spool design.

Here's a scrappy example of the previous layout. Every block has a different coloring for the center of the block.

In this alternating layout every other block is a Framed Nine Patch block.

This is another alternating layout using a chain block for the alternate block. The background fabric has been changed to black which makes the jewel-toned colors of the blocks really stand out.

This on-point example uses monochromatic colors and the blocks extend into the setting triangles.

This is another on-point layout with pieced sashing and the background fabric is used for the setting triangles and the cornerstones.

Conclusion:

I enjoyed how quick and easy the Marion's Choice block was to sew together. And I was pleasantly surprised with how many different looks you can get with this simple block!

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. Looking for more easy blocks? Take a look at these fun block tutorials: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/tagged/tutorials_beginning-blocks

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