Quatrefoil Quilt Block Pattern - a Free Tutorial

By: Elaine Huff

The Quatrefoil quilt block (also called the Quarterfoil block) is a traditional block that is easy to sew together and it makes a beautiful quilt! Typically it is made with just two colors and a background but I had to add more fabrics - this also gives you an idea of how it would look as a scrappy quilt. I've also done some layout options at the end. Let's get sewing!

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Quatrefoil Quilt Block:

Light/White: 1 - 4.5" square, and 16 - 2.5" squares
Medium 1/Blue Floral: 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles
Mediium 2/Yellow: 4 - 2.5" squares
Dark 1/Multicolor: 4 - 2.5" squares
Dark 2/Green: 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles

Sewing Directions:

Corner Units:

Step 1:

Using eight of the Light/White 2.5" squares, the Medium 2/Yellow 2.5" squares, and the Dark 1/Multicolor 2.5" squares, sew together 4 Four Patch units as shown in the picture below. You can find the tutorial for making a basic Four Patch at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-four-patch-quilt-block

Flying Geese Units:

Step 2:

Now you can sew together four Flying Geese units using the rest of the Light/White 2.5" squares and the Medium 1/Blue 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles as shown below. You will find the 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:

Next thing is to sew a Dark 2/Green 2.5" x 4.5" rectangle to the bottom of a Flying Geese patch from Step 2. In the picture below you can see that I pressed the seam allowance away from the Flying Geese patch.

Step 4:

Repeat Step 3 for a total of four Flying Geese units as shown below.

Putting It All Together:

Step 5:

Using the picture below as a reference, lay out the Corner units, the Flying Geese units, and the Light/White 4.5" square.

Step 6:

From here the Quatrefoil block goes together like a basic Nine Patch block. You first sew the patches into three rows as shown below.

Step 7:

Then press the seam allowances away from the Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below.

Step 8:

Then you can sew those three rows together to complete the block!

Step 9:

All that's left is the pressing. Press the seam allowances away from the center of the block as shown below.

Layout Ideas:

This is the basic 4 x 4 layout with colors somewhat similar to the tutorial.

And this is the same coloring/layout as above but with narrow (1") coordinating sashing and cornerstones added.

This is a monochromatic alternating design where every other block is a Snowball block.

This is another alternating layout using a chain block for the alternate block.

This is an on-point alternating design using a chain block for the alternating block and the background fabric for the setting triangles.

This on-point layout uses the light blue fabric for sashing, cornerstones, and setting triangles.

I had to get a scrappy layout in here! Lots of room for some fancy quilting/embroidery/applique in the Snowball blocks.

Conclusion:

This was a fun quilt block to sew together. The most difficult part is the Flying Geese patches and they're not that hard - just check out the tutorial link for step-by-step instructions. I think my favorite is the one using the Snowball block for an alternating block.

I hope you've enjoyed this Quatrefoil 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 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