Celtic Cross Block Tutorial

We have a great tutorial in store for you guys today! Janet from Simply Pieced is stopping by today to show us how to make this Celtic Cross Block!  

Hi, My name is Janet.  I'm a full-time working mom of two adorable children and a wife to a very dedicated teacher.  This is my first guest post and I'm so excited to be here on Fort Worth Fabric Studio's blog!

Picture taken by BluOrchid Photography

I love to quilt whenever I have a spare moment and share my progress and final creations on my blog, Simply Pieced.  I love sharing my love of quilting with fellow quilters and friends.  You can check out the quilts I've already finished this year on my Quilts 2014 page and the quilts I have finished in past years here .  Today, I will be showing you how to assemble this easy Celtic Cross Block that can be turned into a mini-quilt or into a much larger quilt using several blocks.  This block can work well with just a few fabrics or a wide variety of fabrics for a more scrappy look.

What you need:

5 fat quarters of various prints
1 fat quarter of a neutral fabric

I went over to the Fort Worth Fabric Shop and picked out some great Art Gallery Fabrics.

 

I chose Sweet as Honey Orchard Blossom, Oval Elements Mist, Reminisce Timeless Rosewood, Squared Elements Citrine, Floral Elements Tangerine, and Kona White.

Cutting Requirements:

Fabric A (the center of the block and HSTs):

One 4 1/2" Square

Two 3" Squares cut into triangles

Fabric B (the plus pieces attached to center block): 

Four 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" Strips

Fabric C (the ends of the cross):

Four 4 1/2" Squares

Fabric D (the corners of the block):

Four 4 1/2" Squares

Neutral:

Eight 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" Strips

Two 3" Squares cut into triangles

Sixteen 2 1/2" Squares

Once you have everything cut out, go ahead and lay out the center square (Fabric A) and the plus strips (Fabric B).  This is the beginnings of your block.

Now let's assemble our Half-Squared Triangles (HST).  Take your triangles pieces of Fabric A and the Neutral fabric and sew right sides together along the long edge.

 

I chain-pieced my triangles using the yellow tape marker to keep my quarter-inch seam allowance. 

Trim up your HST to 2 1/2" Squares and add them to your block.  Make sure the Neutral fabric is pointing towards the center.

Let's move on to the ends of the cross.  Get your Fabric C squares and eight of your neutral 2 1/2" squares.  Lay one of your neutral squares in the corner one of your Fabric C Squares matching edges.  Sew a diagonal line across the neutral square.  Some people find it helpful to draw a diagonal line on the smaller squares before you start sewing.  I used the blue tape as my guide.  The edge of my tape is lined up with the needle on my machine.  Sew one neutral square onto each patterned square.  Trim a 1/4" out from the stitch line and press open.  Now place the second neutral square on the opposite corner so that the seams will cross to make a point.  Sew your diagonal line across, trim, and press open.

Add these pieces to your block along with the neutral 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" strips.

 

Time to assemble the corners of the block.  Grab your Fabric D squares and the remaining 2 1/2" neutral squares.  Just like we did for the previous section, place your neutral square in the corner of your fabric and sew a diagonal line across the square.  Place the second neutral square caddy-corner and sew.  Trim a 1/4" out from the stitch line and press open.

Add these to the corners of your block with the neutral corners pointing towards the center of the block.

Time to start assembling the block together.  Lets start with the corners.  Take the pieces on the right and turn them over onto the left piece.  Match up the right edges, sew together, and press open.  Now, take the bottom piece and flip up on to the top piece.  Match the bottom edges, sew together, and press open.  Repeat for the remaining 3 corner sections.

For the cross sections, take your cross piece and fold onto the cross end.  Match up your egdes, sew together, and press open.  As you can see from my pictures, I pressed my seams open.  I find open seams easier to match on other seams, but not everyone does.  Press to the side if that works better for you.

Now your block should be in a 9-Patch arrangement.

Sew each section of the three rows together and then sew your rows together.  Don't forget to match up your seams.  Press after each section/row is sewn together.  Once you are done, your block is complete!  The block should measure 16 1/2" square.

I decided to turn my block into a mini quilt.  I used the last fabric selection to create my binding.  I will be hanging this up on the wall in my sewing room to add a bit of color.

 

This can easily be turned into a quilt by assembling several of these blocks together.  

Here's an example of a 16-block quilt.  This quilt would measure 64" x 64"

A 25-block quilt measures 80" x 80".  This example shows a scrappy look.

 

Thank you for following along with my "Celtic Cross" block tutorial.   I plan on using this block for a very scrappy quilt using some beautiful Anna Maria Horner fabrics.  Can't wait to get started on it!

I want to thank Janet for her wonderful block and tutorial! I love how it turned out, and I can't wait to try this block out! :) Be sure and check out Janet's blog: Simply Pieced and all of her wonderful quilts!