How to Make a Snail Trail Quilt Block

The quilt that I repaired earlier this year – and if you haven’t checked out that tutorial yet, you really should – was a Snail Trail quilt block pattern that I made many years ago.  Working with it made me want to make another and then this most perfect fabric fell into my lap and I knew I couldn’t use it for anything else.

The Snail’s Trail pattern is a type of Log Cabin quilt, but with triangles instead of rectangles.  This means that you go around your block, adding a new piece to each edge as you circle around.

Because of the way the block is assembled, this is a great pattern for working on several blocks at a time, so that you don’t have to stop after every seam to trim and iron.

This version of the quilt is made of 12 blocks, and uses 12 quarter yards of fabric, and finishes at 45” by 60”.  The finished block size is 15”.  You can make your quilt smaller or larger by subtracting or adding blocks.

How to Make a Snail Trail Quilt Block

Cutting Directions:

From each quarter yard of fabric, cut one square 8¾” off the end of the strip, then cut two squares 8 3/8”, one square 5”, two squares 4 5/8”, two squares 2¾” and four squares 1 7/8”.

(See the graph below- it’s not to scale, but will help you to see how to get all of the pieces cut from just 1/4 yard of fabric.)

Sewing Directions:

To make a snail trail quilt block, start by sewing all of the 1 7/8” squares into pairs, and then sew the pairs into 4-patches.  Make sure to pin the center seam before sewing the 4-patch so that the seam lines up perfectly.

I recommend laying out all four triangles for each new round of this block, to make sure that the swirl is going the same direction for all 12 blocks, and to make sure that each successive round continues the swirl from previous rounds.  (What I’m saying is- the times I thought I had it right and started sewing without double checking, I often got it wrong and had to rip the seam apart.  Learn from my mistake, lay those four triangles out each time.

For round one, cut all of the 2¾” squares in half diagonally.

When you lay out your 4-patch, whichever fabric is in the upper right-hand corner, that’s the fabric that will be the triangle on the right.  The fabric in the lower right-hand corner will be the triangle on the bottom, and so on, around the four sides.

Using the right most triangle, place it right sides together with the 4-patch, lining up the triangle point with the center seam. 

Flip it over to so the 4-patch is on top, pin in place right on the seam.

Press towards the triangle.

Repeat with the bottom triangle.  Match the triangle point to the center seam

Pin the triangle into place on the side with the 4-patch seam (not shown), sew, and press.

Repeat with the triangle on the left.

Repeat with the last triangle, the one on the top.  Round one is complete!

For round two, cut the 5” squares into quarters, by cutting diagonally from corner to corner twice.

Again, lay out the center piece, and then lay out all four triangles, to make sure they are all in the right place.

It does not really matter which of the 4 triangles you start with in any given round.  As I was making my way around the center in a clockwise order, I chose to always start each new round with the same fabric that was last in the previous round.  However, use whatever method works best for you.

The only difference between round one and round two is that in this round, when you add every triangle and pin it in place, you want the new triangle to be on top, not the center 4-patch.  Fabric has a bit of stretch to it.  Thread has tension, and the tension on most sewing machines is slightly different between the thread in the bobbin and the thread through the top needle.  Always sewing in the same direction will cause a warp.  If you are sewing with long strips, the warp leads to a curve.  If you are sewing a log cabin or snail’s trail type block, the warp will cause it to become rounded.  Switching directions on a regular basis solves this problem and keeps everything nice and straight.

So, to recap: round one, sew with the center 4-patch on top, round two, sew with the triangles on top.

Sew and press, repeating on all four sides

For round three, cut the 4 5/8” squares in half diagonally.

For round three, go back to pinning with the center 4-patch on top, adding each new triangle to the bottom.

Pin, sew, press and repeat for all four sides.

For round four, cut the 8¾” squares into quarters, by cutting diagonally from corner to corner twice.

Lay out round four, as before.  This time the lay out is not photographed.  For round four, add and pin each new triangle to the top of the quilt block that is forming.

{Photo 18}

For round five, cut the 8 3/8” square in half diagonally.

Round five is the last round, woo hoo!  Lay out all of the triangles and pin them to the bottom of the block.  I know, it’s hard to keep track of whether the new pieces should be added to the top or bottom of what you have done previously, but it is going to make such a difference in the finished block! 

And that is a finished Snail’s Trail block!

Sew blocks into rows, and rows into the quilt top.

Baste, quilt and bind as desired.

And THAT is a finished Snail’s Trail quilt!  It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?

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