Quilt block · Logs and strips · Beginner

Interlocked Squares quilt block

Pairs of rectangles round a small center square, sewn in turn so they interlock like a woven frame.

FamilyLogs and strips
Grid6 × 6
Shapes3
Pieces13

What to cut for one block

A 12″ finished block measures 12½″ before it’s sewn into a quilt. Each fabric’s yardage is the least that cuts its strips across the width of fabric, with a strip to spare for straightening.

Dark · Navy in the picture

1 square and 4 rectangles

  • C1 square 4½″
  • A4 rectangles 6½″ × 2½″
⅜ yd

Medium · Denim in the picture

4 rectangles

  • B4 rectangles 4½″ × 2½″
¼ yd

Light · Powder Blue in the picture

4 rectangles

  • A4 rectangles 6½″ × 2½″
¼ yd

Worked out by @quarterinch/cutting · ¼″ seams included · strips cut across 42″ of usable width · the letters are the pieces the sewing steps name

How it’s sewn

For the 12″ block. Choose another size above and these steps follow it.

  1. Sew the set-in seams

    These pieces meet where a straight seam can’t run right across, so they’re joined with set-in (Y) seams. Mark the ¼″ seam points at each piece’s corners. Sew each seam only from mark to mark, backstitching at both ends, so the seam allowances stay free; sew the two seams into the corner, then pivot and sew the last one. Press the allowances so they swirl round the point. The part measures 12½″ (12″ finished).

Blocks like it

More like this: Log Cabin and strip quilt blocks · all quilt blocks

Questions

Short answers.

Something else? A real person replies.

hello@quarterinch.app

What size should I make it?

Its 6 × 6 grid lands on the ⅛″ marks at 6″, 9″ and 12″, so every piece measures with a ruler at all three. It also cuts cleanly at 15″ and 18″. In Quarter Inch you can make it any size, and it says when a cut falls between the lines.

Can I paper piece it?

Not as drawn: it has set-in (Y) seams, where three seams meet and none runs straight through. Piece it with a rotary cutter and templates instead, as the cutting list above does.

Is it a good block for a beginner?

It’s a good block for a beginner: 13 pieces in 3 different shapes. Nothing in it curves or has to be set in. We work the level out from the block’s own geometry, never by eye.

Design with Interlocked Squares, free

Open it in Quarter Inch at any size, in a layout of your own and in your own colors.

Start designing free