4-Patch Slice Free Quilt Pattern and Tutorial.

4-Patch Slice Free Quilt Pattern and Tutorial:

Supplies
80 squares cut 5" x 5" OR 2 Charm packs- I used Riley Blake's Andrea Victoria Line 1 1/2 yards white for strips and inner border 1 yard for outer border 1/2 yard binding 3 1/2 yards backing 3 1/2 yards batting Thread. Lots and lots if you are quilting this yourself. :)


This quilt is made up entirely of the 4-patch slice block.
As I mentioned about a week ago, I was trying to figure out what to do with these charm squares I got in the mail a little while ago.
I was sitting there staring at my design wall and all of a sudden an idea popped into my head! I remembered seeing a similar idea from here that I thought was really cool. Plus, I really wanted to try doing a block that used the "slicing" technique. So this is what I cam up with:

I'm calling it the 4 patch-slice.

This is a really easy block and can be used to make several different designs!

So let's get started:
Cutting:
Charm squares: Leave as is
White fabric: Cut 10 3" x WOF (width of fabric) You will be able to use 1 strip for 2 blocks.
Border fabric (white) You will need 5 strips cut 3" x WOF
Border fabric (yellow) You will need to cut 6 strips 5.5" x WOF

Step 2:
Sew your four patches together. First sew the top two together and then chain piece your bottom two. Press seams in opposite directions.
You will now have these two pieces:

Now, sew your two pieces together. Nestle your seams together! This will ensure your seams line up nicely.

Press your block.

Step 3:
Time to slice! Cut from one corner to the other in a diagonal line using your ruler and rotary cutter.

You now have two triangle pieces.

Step 4:
Place your white strip right side up and place one of your triangle on your strip like so. Making sure right sides are together.

Sew a 1/4" seam all the way down. Now, you are sewing on the bias so be really careful that you aren't stretching your triangle at all. Just let your sewing machine do the work and you will end up with really great results. If you are worried about this, then pin your triangle to your strip first and that might help you so you don't stretch your triangle. Either way, just be careful. :)
Leave about a 2-3" space of white fabric at the top and bottom of your triangle! This is really
important when you are squaring up your blocks.

Step 5:
Sew your other triangle on.

To ensure that your two triangles line up, make a little finger press like pictured:

Now, place your triangle on your fabric and sew a 1/4" seam all the way down.

Step 6:
Press your block. I honestly did not have a preference on which ways to press my seams on this specific block. I just tried to stay consistent with each block. You can do whatever works for you. I did not press my seams open.

Step 7:
Squaring up.

This is a really important step!! You need to square up these blocks so that when you go to sew them all together your white strips match up nicely!
There is no center seam on this block, which is a bummer. So what I did was folded my block in half and then I folded it again and pressed the corner with my finger. So I could see where the middle point was.
I then lined up my middle point on my mat and squared up my block to 10.5" x 10.5"

Now here comes the fun part. This block is really quite versatile! You can make a chevron design using this block:

You can make a lattice-like design:

Or you can even do this design:

I'm sure you could dream up a few more designs if you wanted with this block. I honestly wanted to do this in the chevron design, but I felt like I needed to make it wider to achieve the look I was going for. I only had so many squares to work with and so the chevron wasn't really an option.

Quilt assembly:

This is a picture of how I pinned my blocks together. I made sure to pin at the seams.

Now your quilt top is done! Finished quilt size: Approximately 47" x 58 "
It's time to baste, quilt, and bind your quilt!

Talk to you soon,

Anything Goes by Stitch by Stitch* Design Wall Monday by Patchwork Times *Show and Tell Tuesday by Fresh Squeezed Fabrics
Tuesday by Free Motion by the River *Fabric Tuesday by A Quilt Story *Wow Me Wednesday at Polkadots on Parade
Whimsy Wednesday at The NY Melrose Family *Wip Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Cottage *We Did It Wednesday! at Sew Much Ado
Needle and Thread Thursday by My Quilt Infatuation *Really Random Thursday by Live a Colorful Life
Thursday Threads by 627Handworks * I Quilt by Pretty Bobbins
Link Party Palooza at Today's Creative Blog *Show and Tell Saturday at Be Different Act Normal