Providence Quilt Block Pattern - Beginner Friendly

By: Elaine Huff

The Providence quilt block is a classic star design that comes together quickly and is perfect for confident beginners and seasoned quilters alike. Finishing at 10", this block uses straightforward piecing to create a crisp, eye-catching star that looks beautiful in a wide range of color palettes.

Whether you choose a planned three-color scheme, a bold modern contrast, or a charming scrappy mix pulled from your stash, the Providence block adapts effortlessly to your style. In this tutorial, I’ll walk you step by step through cutting and construction so you can add this versatile star to your next quilt project with ease.

Fabric Requirements for a 10" Finished Providence Quilt Block:

Light/White: 2 - 3.5" squares, 4 - 3" squares, and 8 - 2.5" squares
Medium/Yellow: 4 - 3" squares
Dark/Pink: 2 - 3.5" squares, and 4 - 2.5" squares

Sewing Directions:

Half Square Triangle Units:

Step 1:

Using the 4 - Light/White 3" squares and the 4 - Medium/Yellow 3" squares, sew together 8 Half Square Triangle units as shown in the picture below. You can find my tutorial for making a basic Half Square Triangle block and how to square them up at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block Trim/square up the units to 2.5".

Hourglass Units:

Step 2:

Piece together four Hourglass units (also known as quarter square triangles) using the 2 - Light/White 3.5" squares and the 2 - Dark/Pink 3.5" squares like the ones in the picture below. The tutorial for making a basic Hourglass block (includes squaring up) can be found at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-hourglass-or-quarter-square-triangle-block Trim/square up the units to 2.5" square.

Putting It All Together:

Step 3:

Lay out the Half Square Triangle units, the Hourglass units, the 3 - Light/White 2.5" squares, and the 4 - Dark/Pink 2.5" squares as shown in the picture below.

Step 4:

Sew all the patches into five rows like you see in the picture below.

Step 5:

Press the seam allowances away from the Half Square Triangle and Hourglass units as shown below.

Step 6:

All that's left is to sew the rows together and...

Step 7:

Press the top and bottom seam allowances toward the center and press the middle two seam allowances away from the center as shown in the picture below. You're done! Quick and easy!

Layout Ideas:

This is a basic 4 x 4 layout using colors similar to the tutorial.

The same layout as above only with narrow (1") sashing and cornerstones added.

This is an alternating layout using a simple chain block in every other space. I also colored the block different by replacing some of the background color with blue.

For this alternating design I used a modification of the main block for the alternating block.

This is what a scrappy layout could look like with narrow sashing and cornerstones.

This is an alternating on-point layout with background fabric for the setting triangles and the modified block for the alternating block. I also added in another color (yellow) in place of some of the background.

And this is another on-point layout where the block extends into the setting triangles. Really changes how the block looks!

Conclusion:

The method of piecing the Providence block was fun. Beautiful results in a short amount of time. The traditional method used templates and Y-seams, so this version is much easier! I recommend using fabrics with a lot of contrast on this block because a wonderful secondary design emerges when sewing multiple blocks together.

I hope you've enjoyed this quilt 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