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More creativity with 5″ squares [4 quilt block designs]

More creativity with 5″ squares [4 quilt block designs]

by Jean Boyd

Yesterday I showed you how to finish your scrappy houses quilt. All week I’ve been talking about how to use the following products and how these made the process of making this quilt a breeze: OMNIGRIP Ruler – 5″ x 5″, Omnigrid Ruler Grip Double Suction Cup, OLFA 45 mm Ergonomic Rotary Cutter, OLFA Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 60 mm, OLFA Endurance Rotary Blade, Sulky Tear-Easy, Odif 505 Temporary Adhesive Glue Stick.

Here’s another quilt that I made using the same techniques. After the quilting was finished, I added some little beads for door handles. You could also add other embellishments to personalize your houses. Have fun and be creative!

Finished quilt with scrappy pieced blocks

Finished quilt

Close-up view of pieced houses showing beads that have been sewn on the doors.

Use beads for doorknobs!

Now let’s use our 5″ squares to make more blocks.

Block 1: Half-Square Triangles

Draw a diagonal line on 1 – 5″ square. Place the square, right sides together, with another 5″ square.

Stitch ¼” on each side of the drawn lines. Cut on the drawn line. Press open to make 2 half-square triangles that will be 4½” x 4½”. Itʼs also easy to trim them to a smaller size using the Omnigrip 5″ x 5″ Ruler.

Half-square triangles that have been sewn and then trimmed using an Omnigrip 5" ruler

Half-square triangles

Block 2: Pieced squares

Place 2 – 5″ x 5″ squares right sides together. Stitch a scant ¼” seam on 2 outside edges. Cut in half. Press open to make 2 pieced squares that will be 4½” x 5″.

Pieced squares that have been made by sewing 2 – 5" squares together.

Pieced squares

Block 3: Four-Patch Blocks

Place 2 pieced blocks (Block 2 above) right sides together. Stitch a scant ¼” seam on 2 outside edges. Cut in half to make 2 – Four-Patch blocks. Use the Omnigrip 5″ x 5″ Ruler to trim the blocks to the desired size.

2 pieced blocks have been sewn together along 2 outside edges.

Sew 2 pieced blocks together.

2 finished Four-Patch blocks

Finished Four-Patch blocks

Block 4: Disappearing Nine-Patch

Sew 9 – 5″ squares together to make a Nine-Patch block.

Cut the block in half from top to bottom and side to side.

A Nine-Patch block made with 5" squares is cut in half from top to bottom and side to side.

Cut a Nine-Patch block like this.

Re-arrange the squares to make a new block. There are several ways to rearrange the squares. Here’s my version.

The 4 cut squares are re-arranged to make a new block.

A new block design!

Block 5: Disappearing Four-Patch

Sew 4 – 5″ squares together to make a Four-Patch block.

Cut the block 1½” from the center on all sides as shown on the right-hand side of the picture below.

Squares cut from a Four-Patch block have been re-arranged to make a new design.

Re-arrange the cut pieces to create another new block.

Re-arrange the pieces to create your new block.

Finished block made from re-arranging squares that were cut from a Four-Patch block.

Finished Block

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the Omnigrid and Omnigrip rulers and accessories as well as the OLFA 45 mm and 60 mm cutters. I’ll be using the Omnigrip 5″ x 5″ ruler to make more scrappy quilt blocks!

This is part 5 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 4: Scrappy Houses Quilt | sewing houses row by row

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