{Classic Quilt Blocks} Spool - Another Tutorial

Classic Quilt Blocks have been sewn for centuries, are easy to recognise and are every quilter favorite. Let's celebrate these blocks and add them to our projects!

In last week's Spool block tutorial, we sewed a basic block, but I also wanted to share another version with you because I think this block is a little bit fancier and oh so pretty! It's perfect for scrappy quilts and at the end of the tutorial I've drafted a rough layout to get you started.

I provided a colouring sheet and a diagram of this version in last week's post, so hopefully you've had some time to pick fabrics and you're ready to sew along with me. I've decided to use diagrams for this tutorial so you can clearly see the orientation of the HST's, making it easier for you to follow along.

So, here's the block we're sewing:

This tutorial is for an 8" (finished) version of this block and it's basically a bunch of 2" (finished) HST's sewn in 4x4 rows. There's nothing tricky about this block, but it is important you play close attention to the orientation of the HST's - don't want you using that pesky seam ripper!

Seam allowances have been added to all measurements and we are sewing with a 1/4" seam. I prefer sewing my HST's slightly larger and then trimming before piecing them together - this will keep them accurate and square.

Here are your cutting requirements:

Begin by sewing a light blue (E) triangle to each of the two dark pink (F) triangles, along the long sides and pressing the seams towards the dark pink triangles. Carefully trim each HST unit to 2 1/2" square:

Sew a white (A) triangle to each of the remaining cut triangles - 4 x yellow (B), 4 x Dark Blue (C), 4 x Green (D) and 2 x Light Pink (G). Sew along the long sides and press seams towards the darker fabrics. Carefully trim each HST unit to 2 1/2" square.

Being careful with block orientation, arrange all of the HST units into four rows of four units according to the following diagram:

Sew the HST units together into the four rows, pressing the seams in alternate directions for nesting:

Carefully matching all seams, sew the four rows together to complete your Spool block which should measure 8 1/2" square.

And that's it! Another version of the gorgeous Spool block ready to use in future projects.

Of course, you can resize this block using last week's Cutting Chart and altering the size of the HST units - e.g. 3" HST's (finished) will yield a 12" block, 5" HST's (finished) will yield a 20" block etc. The blocks will be sewn together in the same manner, it's just the size of the HST's that differs.

I mentioned how perfect this block is for scrappy quilts, so I thought I'd draft up a little example so you can see for yourself.

I added sashings between the blocks to define the spools, and cornerstones to add a secondary pattern but you could leave those out. You could also alternate the block orientations so it's not so uniform or set the blocks on point - I think any way you choose to sew and set these blocks will result in a gorgeous quilt.

And that's it for this week. Next week I'm sharing all my favorite Spool quilts. There's lots of styles, shapes and creativity in this bunch of quilts, and I'm sure you'll be adding some of these to your must make list - they are gorgeous!

Happy sewing :)