Four Patch in a Sqaure

It's funny how fabric you loved in 2012 might not be a favorite in 2021.  But when I found some forgotten Lucy's Crab Shack charm packs it brought back fond memories and a desire to make a simple, no stress quilt.

A great source for Four-Patches using 5" squares is Mary from Me & My Sister Designs and her video from The Fat Quarter Shop.  I followed every step of her video to make all my four-patches.

Each four-patch was supposed to end up 4.5" unfinished - but mine didn't - so I trimmed them to 4". 

This extra trim meant that I could cut a 5" square into 4 pieces,  twice on the diagonal - and make a square in a square (or economy block).  The math worked out.  Even a 4.25" center square 4-patch was too large to accomplish my goal - using up all the Lucy's Crab Shack charm squares and no other fabrics.  

Other inspiration came from Jolene of Blue Elephant Stitches - and her lovely quilt and post here. She also has a link to a tutorial on how she made her quilt - and here is my tutorial of the same block but in a larger size.  

The final trim of the block is 5.5" with hardly any waste at this stage.   So, that's what on the sewing table right now - a simple, very beginner friendly block made with  pre-cuts.   

Materials: 

Lucy's Crab Shack from Sweetwater

Four-Patch Tutorial from Me & My Sister Designs here

Thanks to Blue Elephant Stitches for inspiration

January 2021