Quick Charm Square Quilt Tutorial

This quick, charm square quilt tutorial is now in the running to be the quickest quilt tutorial I have ever shared and it makes such a cute baby quilt!

What Is a Charm Square?

A charm square is a 5” square of fabric.  Many quilters like to buy fabrics pre-cut and ready for quilting.  Generally charm squares come in a pack of 40 5” squares.

I did not buy a charm square pack for this quilt, I cut my own fabrics down to 5” squares.

Supplies to Make a 41” by 50” Baby Quilt

99 5” squares total

49 from assorted bright colors and 50 from white print on black fabrics

If you want a larger quilt, you’ll need more squares.  Based on the quilt size, if you have an even number of squares, half will be bright and half will be black.  If, like mine, you need an odd number of squares, you’ll need one more bright square than black squares.  These squares finish at 4½” in the quilt.

Quick Charm Square Quilt Tutorial

Set aside 6 bright squares and 5 black squares.  These will be used later.

Using a ¼” seam allowance, sew the remaining 44 bright squares to the 44 remaining black squares.  The bright squares will always be on the left of the pair, and now is the time to take note of any directional fabrics to make sure the direction is facing the correct direction.

Press towards the black squares.

Then, sew the 44 pairs into 22 sets of 4, again using a ¼” seam allowance, alternating bright and black, and continuing to keep any directional prints oriented correctly.

Move all 22 sets of 4 plus the remaining 6 bright square and 5 black squares to the design wall or design floor.  Make 11 rows of 8 blocks, and then fill in the remaining 11 blocks to create a checkerboard pattern.

Sew the rows together into the quilt top, making sure to pin at every seam intersection.

Baste and quilt as desired and then add binding.

I used the white stars on black print from the quilt as my binding, and a white dashed stripe on black flannel for the backing.  I quilted with purple thread, and I did double lines, ¼” from each seam.