Today let's learn how to piece this 12" Prairie Queen quilt block! The Prairie Queen block also appeared in the Hearth & Home publication under the name True Blue. Since I'm a prairie girl, I like the Prairie Queen name!
The Prairie Queen quilt block is easy to put together - you just need to pay attention to the orientation of the little four-patch units. This is so you get a nice little checker board pattern when you sew the blocks together.
Fabric Requirements:
Light/White: 8 - 2.5" squares, and 2 - 5" squares
Medium/Dark 1 (Green): 2 - 5" squares
Medium/Dark 2 (Blue): 8 - 2.5" squares
Medium/Dark 3 (Black): 1 - 4.5" square
Sewing Directions:
First you will need to make four Half-Square Triangle (HST) units using the Light/White and Medium/Dark 1 (Green) 5" squares. You can find my tutorial on HSTs here: https://fabric406.com/how-to-sew-a-basic-half-square-triangle-block/
Next you need to sew together 4 four-patch units using the Light/White 2.5" squares and the Medium/Dark 2 (Blue) 2.5" squares. I chose to use the tweak/twirl/furl method for pressing the seam allowances. You can see my tutorial on the four-patch block at: https://fabric406.com/how-to-sew-a-basic-four-patch-block/
Lay out the HST units, the four-patch units, and the Medium/Dark 3 (Black) 4.5" square as shown in the picture. Make sure you get the orientation of the four-patch units right so you will get a checkerboard pattern when sewing blocks together.
Sew the units together in 3 rows and ....
Press the seam allowances toward the four-patch units as shown the picture below.
Sew the rows together - all done! Quick and easy!
Almost done anyway - press the seam allowances toward the outside of the block as shown below. Now you're done!
I hope you like this block. It is really pretty made into a quilt - especially if you put it on point!
Happy Quilting!
Elaine
I really like this block. I thought it looked hard but after reading your tutorial its doable to me. Ty!
Hi Denise, Yes, when you break down a block into its components, most of them are very doable! I’m glad you found the tutorial helpful!