Medallion Quilt – 16-Patch Quilt Block Tutorial

This next round of the Medallion Quilt is the the 16-Patch Quilt Block Tutorial. It is both the easiest of the blocks in this quilt and the round that needs the most blocks.  That seems fair, right?  You have to make more of this one, but it is the easiest.

The reason that so many more 16-patches are needed than any of the other blocks is because the 16-patch checkerboard block will be used in both round three and round six.

But, before we get to the 16-Patches, here is a review of the Medallion Quilt up to this point.

Medallion Quilt

A Medallion Quilt starts with a center quilt block, and then each subsequent round is a new quilt block.

Each step of my Medallion Quilt has been its own block tutorial, with directions for both the size of block needed for the Medallion AND a tutorial for how to make an entire quilt of just that one block.

I started with a center block made up of Broken Dishes Quilt Blocks.

Round two was made from Sawtooth Star Quilt Blocks.

Now today, 16-Patch Quilt Blocks.  Round Three actually includes enough blocks to be used in round six as well.

You could certainly make a quilt entirely out of 16-patch blocks.  It might look something like this Checkerboard Baby Quilt:

Or, you could combine 16-patch quilt blocks with secondary quilt blocks to create a paper-pieced Baby Star Quilt,

or,

a Blitz Quilt.

As you can see, the options are limitless.

16-Patch Quilt Block Tutorial – Cutting the Fabric

The 16-Patch Quilt Block uses lots of strips in a variety of colors.  For this Medallion Quilt, the 16-Patches are checkerboards, which means that they are made by alternating white squares with squares in a variety of colors.

As with all of the blocks in the Medallion Quilt, these 16-Patch quilt blocks finish at 6” in the quilt.  That means each square within the 16-Patch finishes at 1½” and has a cut size of 2”.

But, as with all of the tutorials within the Medallion Quilt, I want you have the information to make the same quilt blocks in larger or smaller sizes.

Now, you could cut 16 individual 2” squares and sew them all together, and end up with a 16-patch quilt block that is the perfect size for this quilt.

And, it will look lovely.

But, it will take F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

Strip Piecing is the Way to Go!

Why work with tiny little pieces of fabric when strip piecing is an option?

The fastest way to make a 16-Patch Quilt Block will be to cut your fabric the desired width of strip (in this case, 2”) and use strips of fabric that are the full 40”-42” length of a strip.

If you are making a 16-patch only quilt, that is definitely the way to go!

But, since this is Round 3 of the Medallion Quilt, chances are you have already cut into your fabric stash and might be working with pieces that are less than 40”-42” long.

My recommendation is to cut your fabrics into strips that are 2” wide and a mix of 8½”, 6½” and 4½” long as well as the smaller scraps that are 2” square.

How many fabric strips do you need?  Well, that depends on how many of them match each of the sizes listed above.

We are making 64 16-Patch blocks total, to be used in Rounds 3 and 6.  If all of your strips are 8½”, you need 256 of them, if all of your strips are 6½” you need 342 of them and if your strips are 4½” you need 512.  If your strips are like mine, a mix of those sizes, you will need some amount between 256 and 512.

That seems like a lot?  Yes, yes it does.  But don’t forget, these strips are going to make Rounds 3 and 6 AND this quilt measures 66” by 78” which is essentially a twin size bed quilt or a very large couch quilt, so you are getting a lot of bang for your buck.

16-Patch Quilt Block Tutorial – Making the Blocks

From whichever size of strips you are using, sew a colored strip to a white strip. Use a ¼” seam allowance for all sewing, and take advantage of chain piecing.

Make approximately a one gazillion strip sets.  Press all strip sets towards the darker fabric.

Pair two strip sets together, alternating the colored fabrics and the white fabric.  Nestle those seams together.

And again, sew along the length of the strip, sewing the colored fabric of one strip set to the white fabric of the other strip set. 

Press towards the colored fabric and you’ve got a unit that is now 6½” wide.

Alternating colored fabrics and white fabrics, nestle those seams together again to pair two strip sets together.  As long as you used an accurate ¼” seam allowance all three seams in the unit will nestle nicely with the seams in the other unit.

Trim the edge.

Move to the other side of the cutting board, or rotate the cutting board, and sub cut the units in four sets that are 2”.  Of course, if you are using the chart from above, you will be cutting your units a different size, but for THIS quilt, sub cut them 2”.

Cutting the units two at a time means that the fabrics are already all lined up for the next sewing step.  Pin all three seams, making sure that a white square is at the top.

Use a ¼” seam allowance to sew the pieces into half a block, which is made up of eight small squares, half colored and half white, and which measures 3½” by 6½”.

It is useful to keep track of which side of the half block was against the feed dogs while sewing.  That’s good advice, not just for this 16-Patch Quilt Block Tutorial, but for all quilting.

I keep my sewn-and-ready-for-pressing units oriented on the ironing board the same way that they were oriented while sewing.  That way, ALL of my seams are pressed away from the side that was down against the feed dogs.

Repeat to make 128 half blocks.

Match those 128 half blocks into 64 pairs that will be full blocks.

This is where keeping track of which side was against the feed dogs is useful.  Do you see how (at the top of the pieces I am holding) those seems are pressed in opposite directions?  That helps the seams to nestle tightly together which helps the points to be as sharp and crisp and possible, AND means that I’m alternating directions when I sew which helps the block to lay flat instead of warping.

Pin all three seams before sewing the blocks together.

And that’s a 16-Patch Quilt block!  This one currently measures 6½” and will finish at 6” in the quilt.

Eleventy billion blocks!  Oh!  Um, 64 blocks.

16- Quilt Blocks Tutorial – Directional Fabrics

Unlike the other tutorials within the Medallion Quilt, this 16-patch quilt block tutorial does NOT include directions for directional fabrics.  Can it be done?  Absolutely!  If you do that thing I told you not to do at the beginning and cut your 16 squares individually instead of using strip piecing.

Instead, I went completely rogue and used my directional loops without any care for what direction the loops were looping.

16-Patch Quilt Blocks – Making the Rounds

Unlike other rounds in the Medallion Quilt, the 16-patch blocks go together in two different ways, the borders that will go on the sides of the quilt center are different from the borders that will go on the top and bottom.  This is true for both Round Three and the blocks that will be saved for Round Six.

That completed 16-patch quilt block that I shared above looks like this, with colored fabric in the upper left corner and white fabric in the upper white.

This is the SAME BLOCK, rotated 90 degrees to the right.  Now, colored block is in the upper left while the upper right is white.

There is no difference in how you make these two blocks, because they are the same block.  They are actually the same photo of the same block.  Just turned 90*.

To put these blocks together to make the left and right side borders, you are going to work with blocks that have white squares in the upper left.

Pin at every seam intersection before sewing.

This photo shows two blocks sewn together.  For the left and right borders of Round Three, you need to sew two sets of five squares.  For the left and right borders of Round Six, the blocks will go together in the same way, but the sets will be of 11 blocks.

To make the top and bottom borders of Rounds Three and Six, you’ll still make two sets of five and two sets of 11, but this time you’ll be working with colored fabric in the upper left corner of the blocks.

Again, pin every seam allowance.

No, you do not need to make a cat for your corner block.  I do think it adds a certain pizazz to the quilt though!

Set aside the borders made of 11 blocks, you’ll use these in Round Six.

Place the left, right, top and bottom Round Three borders around the center of the Medallion Quilt.

Do you notice that the right and left borders have a colored square in the upper left corner now that they are turned to horizontal?  That’s why they were put together differently than the top and bottom borders.

Pin frequently before sewing the quilt center to the left and right borders and then to the top and bottom borders.

Three of the six rounds of the Medallion quilt are now completely done, and the pieces for Round Six are already made so adding them at the end will be a snap!