Wyoming Valley Quilt Block Free Tutorial

Let's give a nod to my southern neighbors and look at the Wyoming Valley quilt block today. I used the traditional coloring for this 12" finished block - one light, one medium, and one dark fabric. I have seen examples with more than just the three colors and it is lovely that way too. Let's get started!

Fabric Requirements for a 12" Finished Wyoming Valley Quilt Block:

• Light/White: 1 - 4.5" square, 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, 6 - 3" squares, and 12 - 2.5" squares
• Medium/Navy Print: 6 - 3" squares, and 4 - 2.5" squares
• Dark/Navy: 4 - 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles, and 8 - 2.5" squares

Sewing Directions:

Center Unit:

Step 1:

Using the Light/White 4.5" square and the four Medium/Navy Print 2.5" squares, sew together a Square in a Square unit for the center of the block as shown in the picture below. You can find my tutorial for sewing a Square in a Square block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-square-in-a-square-block

Chevron Units:

Step 2:

Take the four Dark/Navy 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and eight Light/White 2.5" squares and make four Flying Geese units as shown below. The Flying Geese tutorial can be found at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-flying-geese-block

Step 3:

Now you can make four more Flying Geese units but reverse the coloring - four Light/White 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and eight Dark/Navy 2.5" squares as shown below.

Step 4:

Take one Step 2 unit and one Step 3 unit and sew them together to make a dark chevron design. Press the seam allowance as shown in the picture below. 

Corner Units:

Step 5:

Using the Light/White 3" squares and the Medium/Navy Print 3" squares, sew together 12 Half Square Triangle units. You can find my tutorial for making a Half Square Triangle block at https://fabric406.com/blogs/fabric406-blog/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block

Step 6:

Lay out a Light/White 2.5" square and three Step 5 Half Square Triangle units in a Four Patch configuration and sew into two rows as shown in the picture below. Press the seam allowances as shown too.

Step 7:

Now sew the two rows together and press the seam allowance toward the Light/White 2.5" square as shown in the picture below.

Putting It All Together:

Step 8:

Lay out the Center unit, the Chevron units, and the Corner units as shown in the picture below. This is a typical Nine Patch layout.

Step 9:

Now you can sew the units into three rows and ...

Step 10:

Press the seam allowances away from the Chevron units as shown in the picture below.

Step 11:

Sew the three rows together and you are done!

Step 12:

Except for the pressing! Press the seam allowances toward the center of the Wyoming Valley quilt block as shown below. That's a bunch of seams and not the easiest to press!

Conclusion:

I really like the look of the Wyoming Valley quilt block but I'm not entirely sure I did the best job of figuring out which way to press seams. The seam intersections get really bulky because not all of them nested. Pressing seams open might be an option. Anyway, I am going to go back and see if there's a better way to press the seams and I'll keep you updated on that!

Interestingly, I took the pictures of these steps at night (dentist was able to get me in this afternoon so I worked in the evening to make up time) and the navy blue looks black in the pictures. Even though I had good lighting, I still needed that natural light filling the room to get the proper color!

I hope you like the Wyoming Valley quilt block and watch for my update on the block!

Happy Quilting!

Elaine

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