Seesaw Traditional Quilt Block Pattern

By: Elaine Huff

This traditional quilt block called Seesaw is a great confident beginner quilt block that experienced quilters will enjoy too. With only snowballed rectangles and flying geese, the block creates a pinwheel in the center that looks great in a quilt. Using four (or three if you prefer) different fabrics, it goes together fast! Let's get started!

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Seesaw Quilt Block:

Light/White: 8 - 3.5" squares
Medium/Green: 4 - 3.5" x 6.5" rectangles
Medium/Pink: 4 - 3.5" x 6.5" rectangles
Dark/Black: 4 - 3.5" squares

Sewing Directions:

Flying Geese Units:

Step 1:

Using the Medium/Green rectangles and Light/White squares, you will need to make 4 Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below. You can find my no-trim method for making perfect Flying Geese blocks at: https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-block

Half Flying Geese Units:

Step 2:

Next, using the Medium/Pink rectangles and the Dark/Black squares, make 4 of what I'm calling Half Flying Geese units as shown in the picture below. You can follow my Flying Geese block tutorial except only do the upper right corner of the Flying Geese block.

Corner Units:

Step 3:

Using the picture below as a reference, layout one Flying Geese unit and one Half Flying Geese unit.

Step 4:

Sew the two units together and ...

Step 5:

Press the seam allowance toward the Flying Geese unit as shown below. Repeat Steps 3 - 5 for a total of four Corner units.

Putting It All Together:

Step 6:

Layout the four Corner units you just made as shown in the picture below.

Step 7:

Sew the units into 2 rows (or columns) like in the picture below.

Step 8:

Press the seam allowances in opposite directions so the seams will nest together nicely in the next step.

Step 9:

Now you can sew the 2 rows (or columns) together, making sure the center seams nest together.

Step 10:

You're all done except for the pressing!

I pressed my seam allowance using the twirl/tweak/furl method and here is a closer look at the center where the seams come together. Can you see the little pinwheel in the seam allowance?

If you go to my tutorial on the Four Patch block, you can find directions there on this tweak method. https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-four-patch-quilt-block

Layout Ideas:

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

This is the same layout but with narrow (1.5") sashing and cornerstones added.

This example is an alternating design where every other block is a Snowball block. Additionally, I used only three colors in the main block.

Another alternating layout using a simple chain block for the alternate block.

In this alternating on-point layout, a mirror image of the main block is used for the alternate block and extends into the setting triangles.

Here is a monchromatic on-point layout with narrow sashing and cornerstones. The light background fabric is used for the setting triangles.

In Conclusion:

The traditional Seesaw quilt block is a lovely variation of a Pinwheel block. It sewed up quick and makes for some interesting layouts. The block is fairly easy but also provides an interesting design. Give it a go!

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial for the Seesaw 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. For more quilt blocks that use Pinwheels, check out this roundup post at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/20-of-the-best-pinwheel-quilt-block-patterns

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