Crow’s Foot Quilt Block Tutorial
Sampler Quilt Sew Along Block 3
Welcome to week 3 of The Quilt Sampler Sew Along! It’s been super fun to see the work you’ve been sharing on IG. You can check it out by viewing our hashtag #folksamplersewalong. Be sure to tag your work for all to see! This week I have another traditional block to share. In her book Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, Barbara Brackman identifies this block as both Crow’s Foot and Large Star. I’m going with Crow’s Foot because I have a thing for crows, especially a particular one named Gloria who is a regular here on our farm.
The Crow’s Foot block is simple. It consists of 16 HST’s, 4 center squares, and 4 corner squares. The finished size of the block is 12” because that’s what we’re working with in the sew along. If you want to make a different size block you can do so very easily by changing the size of the pieces within the block. Making custom size blocks is explained in this post. In the following instructions I will refer to the colors as the ones I chose (white, olive green, ticking stripe, and walnut tan) so as you plan your block, swap them for your personal colors. For the natural dyers the olive green recipe is here, and the walnut tan is [formula 12: black walnut browns] in my book on page 70.
The Crow’s Foot block is made up of 24 patchwork shapes:
4 corner squares
4 center squares
16 HST’s
Finished Block Size: 12”
Seam Allowance 1/4”
Cut List
For the Corner Squares:
Cut 4 white squares- 2 1/2”
For the Center Squares:
Cut 2 ticking stripe squares- 4 1/2”
Cut 2 walnut tan squares- 4 1/2”
For the HST’s:
Cut 8 white squares- 3”
Cut 8 olive green squares- 3”
All of the Crow’s Foot block pieces
Make the HST’s
Gather the 16 (3”) squares you cut for the HST’s and lay them out on your work surface. Place a lighter square on top of a darker square and use a 1/4” seam marker to mark them as shown below. I’ve had some questions about this tool. I prefer the Fons & Porter quarter inch seam markers which come in a set of 2. I don’t have many quilting tools but this is one that I find to be extremely handy.
Follow my HST tutorial beginning where it says “Assemble HST’s”. When you get to the trimming part of the tutorial, trim your HST’s to 2 1/2”.
You now have 16 HST’s ready to become a Crow’s Foot block!
All of the Crow’s Foot patchwork pieces ready for block assembly.
A little behind the scenes. The help around here is truly the best!
Annnnd I have another helper. These feet were too good to crop out! Lay all the patchwork pieces out on your work surface being careful to orient the HST’s correctly. Time to sew some horizontal rows! Begin with the top and bottom rows. After sewing the rows press the seams open (or to the side if you prefer).
Now to get the middle section assembled.
Sew the HST’s and center squares into pairs as shown above. Press the seams open.
Sew the pieces together to create 2 horizontal rows as shown above and press the seams open.
Sew the 4 rows together being sure to use pins to match the seams. Press all the seams open (or to the side if you prefer).
Finished Crow’s Foot block!
The seam side too pretty not to share.
Three complete sew along blocks! I’m looking forward to sharing next week’s block. If you have any questions please ask below in the comment section for all to reference. Thanks so much for joining this adventure, I’m so glad you’re here!
