Shoo Fly Quilt Block

Have you ever made the Shoo Fly quilt block? It is a simple quilt block that uses half-square triangle blocks and squares. This is a quick tutorial for the 6-inch size quilt block plus I’ll share some ideas on how I’m going to use it in a quilt project.

6 inch Shoo Fly quilt block

Here is how you will layout the pieces for the Shoo Fly quilt block.

Sew with an ¼-inch seam allowance. You can either press your seams to the darker fabric or press your seams open. If you plan on quilting in the ditch you don’t want to press your seams open.

Cutting for the Shoo Fly quilt block:

• 2 print – 2 7/8-inch squares (or 3-inch as mentioned below)
• 1 print – 2½-inch square
• 2 cream – 2 7/8-inch squares (or 3-inch as mentioned below)
• 4 cream – 2½-inch squares

When you make your half square triangles this way, you will get 2 half square triangles each time.

I thought I would also include the nine patch quilt block

6-inch Nine patch quilt block

Here is how you will layout the pieces for the Nine Patch quilt block.

Cutting for the 9 Patch quilt block:

• 4 print – 2½-inch squares
• 5 cream – 2½-inch squares

Last week I had someone send me a photo of a table runner she just completed using her scraps leftover from mask making which gave me the idea of combining both blocks for a quilt project.

Mixing batiks and other quilt fabrics

I decided to use one batik print and combined it with premium muslin for my background fabric. I do this quite often in my quilts.

Table Topper

I haven’t decided if I want to make a table topper or a table runner. This would make a neat center piece.

Table Runner

Table runners are something I always enjoy making and using in our house. So far I have made five Shoo Fly quilt blocks and five Nine Patch quilt blocks.

Table Runner with sashing

I have a little bit of the batik left and am thinking that sashing between the blocks might look neat and give me a bigger table runner.

Block made wrong

Would you like to see what happen if you sew the pieces together wrong? I did it with one block and instead of using my seam ripper on it, I just cut out another block. I’m not sure which layout I like better.

If you have an AccuQuilt Go! cutter, there are several dies that make the half-square triangles that I used in the Shoo Fly quilt block. I am using the HST die that is in the 8-inch Qube Mix & Match set. There is also a Half Square Triangle 2-inch die that will cut 16 HSTs at a time.