Garden Walk Quilt Block Tutorial
Sampler Sew Along Block 7
Today’s block is a variation of a traditional block, which Barbara Brackman has identified in her book Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, as Garden Walk, Garden Patch, or Texas. This is a new block to me! I first noticed it in the antique sampler quilt I shared as an example for this sew along where it is featured three times. You can go back to this post if you want to have a look at that quilt. The other day I sat down to dissect the block on dot paper and to my delight I discovered that it’s simply a Sun Ray’s Quilt block with the addition of four-patch blocks in the four corners and in the center. I hope you saved the templates you made from your Sun Ray’s Delight block we made for week 4 of the sew along because we will return to them for this block. In the image below you can easily see that this is a Sun Ray’s Quilt block, but when you look at the image zoomed out or if you squint at it you can see it transform to the Garden Walk block variation.
The finished size of the block is 12” (the unfinished size is 12 1/2”) because that’s what we’re working with in the sew along. As with all quilt blocks you can change the size of the block by changing the size of the pieces within which I explain in this post. In the following instructions I will refer to the colors as the ones I chose for my white background block: white and light blue. As you plan your block, swap my colors for your personal choices. For the natural dyers the color recipe I chose for my block on the left in the photo above is light blue indigo.
Garden Walk is a 9 patch block made from 4 Triangle in a Square blocks and 5 Four-patch blocks.
Finished Block Size 12”
1/4” seam allowance
Cut List
For the Triangle in a Square Blocks:
Cut 1 white strip (from a double layer of fabric) 4 1/2” wide by at least 9” long
Cut 1 blue strip (from a double layer of fabric) 4 1/2” wide by at least 8” long
For the Four Patch Blocks:
Cut 10 white squares: 2 1/2”
Cut 10 light blue squares: 2 1/2”
Make the Triangle in a Square Blocks
Gather the two strips you cut for the Triangle in a Square Blocks and your templates and head over to my Triangle in a Square tutorial. The tutorial explains how to make the templates if you haven’t already made them. Please note that the math in the tutorial is the same for today’s block so you will not need to change anything once you’re over there. You will need to make 4 Triangle in a Square blocks so use your templates to cut 4 center triangles and 4 pairs of side triangles from the strips. For those who like a visual, below you can see all the cut pieces required to make a Garden Walk block.
Be sure to trim your Triangle in a Square blocks to 4 1/2” as explained in the tutorial.
Make the Four-Patch Blocks
Gather the squares you cut for the four-patch blocks and place two white and two light blue squares on your work surface as shown below.
Sew the squares together to form two horizontal rows as shown below. Press the seams open or to the side if you prefer.
Sew the two rows together being sure to match the seams by pinning. Press the seams open or to the side if you prefer.
Repeat the four-patch instructions to make a total of 5 blocks as shown below.
Alrighty, we’ve now got all 9 pieces to put this 9-patch block together!
Arrange the pieces on your work surface as shown below being careful to orient them all correctly.
Sew the pieces into 3 horizontal rows as shown below. Press the seams open or to the side if you prefer.
Sew the rows together being careful to match the seams by pinning. Press the seams open or to the side if your prefer.
And there we have a pretty little Garden Walk block! It’s such a fun one. I’m still going strong with my light and dark background blocks and loving both versions!
I’m thoroughly enjoying seeing all of the beautiful work you’ve been sharing on Instagram. Thank you for tagging me and for sharing through our #folksamplersewalong hashtag! If you have any questions please ask in the comment section below for all to reference. Thanks for joining this block of the week adventure, I’m so glad you’re here! I’ll see you here next week for our next block installment.
