Southern Belle Quilt Block Pattern
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The Southern Belle quilt block is a beautiful and classic block that is perfect for creating a traditional quilt. Here are the steps to sew a Southern Belle quilt block:
Materials:
- Fabric in three different colors (a light, medium, and dark shade)
- Rotary cutter, mat, and ruler
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- Iron and ironing board
Instructions:
- Cut fabric into the following pieces:
- Light fabric: four 4 ½” squares, two 3 ⅞” squares, two 3 ½” squares, and four 2 ⅞” squares.
- Medium fabric: four 4 ½” squares and four 2 ⅞” squares.
- Dark fabric: four 3 ⅞” squares and four 3 ½” squares.
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Take the 3 ⅞” light and dark squares and draw a diagonal line on the back of the lighter square.
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Place one light and one dark square right sides together, aligning the edges. Sew a ¼” seam on each side of the diagonal line you drew in step 2.
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Cut along the diagonal line to create two half square triangles. Press the seams towards the darker fabric.
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Trim the half square triangles to 3 ½” square.
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Take the four 2 ⅞” light and medium squares and draw a diagonal line on the back of the lighter squares.
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Place one light and one medium square right sides together, aligning the edges. Sew a ¼” seam on each side of the diagonal line you drew in step 6.
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Cut along the diagonal line to create two half square triangles. Press the seams towards the darker fabric.
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Trim the half square triangles to 2 ½” square.
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Arrange the pieces as shown in the diagram below, using the 4 ½” squares as the corners and the half square triangles and 2 ½” squares as the inner squares.
L M L H H H L M L
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Sew the pieces in each row together. Press the seams towards the darker fabric.
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Sew the rows together, matching the seams and nesting them together. Press the seams in the opposite direction of the previous row.
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Your Southern Belle quilt block is complete! Repeat these steps to make as many blocks as you need for your quilt.
The secret to the perfect four patch is all about ironing seams so that they butt together when the seams are joined. You may make the four patch by cutting individual squares if you want to make a scrappy quilt or only a few blocks to make with pre-joined strips. I'll take you through both methods.
Cut two A squares and two B squares in your required size. Chain piecing, join A square to a B square, right sides together, with a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance. Press towards the dark fabric.
This is your result:
This is also the result of cutting across pre-joined strips to create two units.
To make a standard four patch, the width of the unit cut from pre-joined strips is the same as the width of the original strips.
Press all the seams towards the dark fabric so that the seame butt-up.
Take the two A/B and place them right sides together, butting seams. Pin if required. Join with a scant 1/4 inch seam allowance, then press.
Wider Application:
You can apply this technique to all kinds of four patch blocks. As long as a block has a 4x4 grid, no matter how many pieces, the basic principles apply. It is repeated over and over again each four patch laying adjacent to the next. As long as you keep pressing seams in pairs of opposite directions, piecing will become easy.
All of the following blocks have 4x4 grids and can be pieaced as a four patch.
How to Resize Quilt Blocks: