Tile Puzzle Variation Quilt Block - a Free Tutorial
Posted by Elaine Huff on
This variation of the Tile Puzzle block makes an awesome looking quilt and is beginner friendly! It uses only squares and half square triangle units to create a complex-looking block. Let's get started!
Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Tile Puzzle Variation Quilt Block:
- Ivory: 4 - 3" squares, and 10 - 2.5" squares
- Aqua: 1 - 2.5" x 6.5" rectangle, 2 - 3" squares, and 6 - 2.5" squares
- Gold: 1 - 2.5" x 6.5" rectangle, 2 - 3" squares, and 6 - 2.5" squares
Sewing Directions:
Half Square Triangle Units:
Step 1:
Using the Ivory 3" squares and the Aqua 3" squares, sew together four Half Square Triangle units. Press the seam allowance toward the Ivory fabric as shown. Trim/square up the units to 2.5" square. You will find a tutorial for making a basic Half Square Triangle at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block
Step 2:
Repeat Step 1 only use the Gold 3" squares in place of the Aqua 3" squares.
Circle Units:
Step 3:
Lay out the Step 1 Half Square Triangles, four Aqua 2.5" squares, and one Ivory 2.5" square as shown in the picture below.
Step 4:
This unit goes together like a typical Nine Patch block. First, sew the patches into three rows as shown below.
Step 5:
And then you press the seam allowances away from the Aqua 2.5" squares as shown in the picture below.
Step 6:
Now sew the three rows together and press the seam allowances away from the center of the block. (I forgot to take a picture of the back of this step.)
Step 7:
Repeat Steps 3 through 6 using the Gold fabric squares and the Step 2 half square triangle units instead of the Aqua ones. You'll have a unit that looks like this:
Cross Units:
Step 8:
Piece together two Ivory 2.5" squares and one Gold 2.5" square as shown below. Press the seam allowance away from the Ivory fabric. Repeat for a total of two units.
Step 9:
Lay out the Step 8 units and the Aqua 2.5" x 6.5" rectangle as shown below.
Step 10:
Sew the three units together as shown.
Step 11:
And press the seam allowance toward the center of the unit as shown in the picture below.
Step 12:
Repeat Steps 8 through 11 swapping the Aqua and Gold fabrics so that you wind up with a unit like the one below.
Putting It All Together:
Step 13:
Lay out the Steps 6, 7, 11 and 12 units as shown in the picture below. From here the block goes together like a simple Four Patch block.
Step 14:
Sew the units into two rows,
Step 15:
And press the seam allowances toward the Step 11 and 12 units as shown in the picture below.
Step 16:
Finally, sew the two rows together.
Step 17:
Press the seam allowance. As you can see in the picture below, I've used the tweak/twirl/furl method for pressing. This helps the block lay flatter and also makes it easy to nest blocks when sewing them together in a quilt.
Layout:
I did add a column and a row of partial blocks to this layout so that the blue circle units would frame the whole quilt. I love the interwoven look the block produces!
Conclusion:
This block was easy to sew together and I really like how it looks in a quilt.
The original Tile Puzzle block is a Nine Patch block with the Gold Circle unit in the middle, the Aqua Circle unit in the four corners and then the corresponding Cross units filling in. I wasn't impressed with how it looked in a quilt though and came up with this solution. I hope you like it!
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Happy Quilting!
Elaine
P.S. To print a PDF of this tutorial, check out the free app at https://www.printfriendly.com/.
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