This year, for the quilt guild I am apart of, I am providing instructions for how to make a different quilt block each month. For the month of November, we learned about the Louisiana Quilt Block.
Something I learned about this block is that, not only is there a block named after Louisiana, but there are blocks named for every state in the United States. There are lots of different versions, so it just takes a quick Google search to see a bunch of options.
For a 12 inch finished block (12.5 inch unfinished), you will need to cut the following:
Big Triangle in the Flying Geese - 7 3/4" x 7 3/4"
Small Triangles in the Flying Geese - 4 of 4 3/8" x 4 3/8"
Background (White) - 4 of 3 1/2" x 6 1/2"
Sew:
Start by creating the flying geese units. I use the Four-In-One Flying Geese instructions from Connecting Threads.
Lay two small squares on two diagonal corners of the large square, right sides together.
Draw a line, corner to corner, on the small squares, then stitch a scant 1/4" away from both sides of the line.
Cut on the drawn line and press to the dark side.
You should have two units that look like this.
Next, match another small square into the corner of the large triangle.
Draw a line from the corner to corner of the small square, as shown in the picture. Stitch a scant 1/4" from the line. Cut on the line and press to the dark side.
Trim down to 3 1/2" x 6 1/2". Make sure you stay 1/4" away from the top point of the flying geese so you don't loose your point when you sew it.
Sew a background rectangle to each of the flying geese units.
Sew all four together, as shown, to create the final block.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below!
Check back each month for a new How-To of quilt blocks! To see the other blocks, just search my blog for Quilt Guild Block of the Month.
If you would like a PDF version of these instructions, please check out Group #2 of the How-To Block of the Month Downloads.
(This block was originally published in Hearth and Home Magazine (1868-1875). As I have mentioned before, these block designs come from the book 5500 Quilt Block Designs by Maggie Malone. (c) 2003 but these instructions are written by me.)
Have fun quilting!