Mother's Choice Traditional Quilt Block Pattern

Today let's put together this traditional Mother's Choice quilt block! The Mother's Choice block is basically a weather vane variation that goes by a few other names such as Dove at the Windows, Fringed Square, and Laurel Wreath. There's quite a bit of sewing so let's get started!

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Mother's Choice Quilt Block:

• Light/White: 4 - 2.5" squares, 12 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles
• Medium 1/Green: 12 - 2.5" squares, 2 - 3" squares
• Medium 2/Pink: 12 - 2.5" squares, 2 - 3" squares
• Dark/Black: 1 - 4.5" square

Wow, that's a bunch of fabric for a 12" square block!

Sewing Directions:

Step 1:

Half-Square Triangle Units:

Using the Medium 1/Green and Medium 2/Pink 3" squares make 4 Half-Square Triangle (HST) units. You can find my tutorial for HSTs here: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block Trim/square up the HSTs to 2.5" square.

Step 2:

Flying Geese Units:

Using the Light/White 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and Medium 1/Green 2.5" squares, make the left side of 12 Flying Geese units as shown in the photo below. You can find my tutorial for Flying Geese blocks at: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-block

Step 3:

Using the Medium 2/Pink 2.5" squares and the Step 2 units, complete the Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below. You will have a total of 12 Flying Geese units.

Step 4:

Lay out four of the Flying Geese units, the four HST units, and the Dark/Black 4.5" square according to the photo below.

 Step 5:

Sew the units together just like a basic Nine Patch block - sew into three rows as shown below. Press the seam allowances away from the Flying Geese units (oops, missed taking a picture here).

Step 6:

Now you can sew the three rows together as you can see in the picture below.

Step 7:

And press the seam allowances toward the center as shown in the picture below.

Step 8:

Sew two of the remaining Flying Geese units together as shown in the picture below and ...

Step 9:

Press the seam allowance toward the Medium 1/Green triangle as shown below. Repeat Steps 8 and 9 for a total of 4 units.

Putting It All Together:

Step 10:

Lay out the Step 7 center unit, the four Step 9 units, and the four Light/White 2.5" squares as shown in the picture below.

Step 11:

Using the picture below as a reference, sew the units into three rows. Sewing the Step 9 units to the center unit was the trickiest part of the block for me. I pinned a lot and only had to redo one seam!

Step 12:

Press the seam allowances in the top and bottom row toward the Light/White 2.5" squares. Press the seam allowance in the middle row toward the center of the block as shown in the picture below.

Step 13:

Almost done! Sew the three rows together as shown in the picture below.

Step 14:

Press the seam allowances toward the outside of the block as shown below. You're done!

In Conclusion:

I really enjoyed sewing this block together even though it was a bit tricky to match up those seams in Steps 11 and 13. Sure seemed like a lot of fabric for a 12" block! If you want to challenge yourself a little bit, this handsome Mother's Choice quilt block is the answer!

Layout Options:

I hope you've enjoyed this quilt block tutorial. 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.

Happy Quilting!

Elaine

P.S. If you would like a PDF download of this block, it is available for purchase in my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/listing/1116129675/mothers-choice-block-pdf-traditional

P.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