Spring Picnic Quilt Block Tutorial (and Free Quilt Pattern)

This pattern is one that I originally planned to use a jelly roll and charm pack with, but I decided to go bigger and use a layer cake and charm pack instead. It looked a lot different in my head and in my digital mock up than it came out, but I still love the design. Plus it it pre-cut friendly so you can use those you already have in your stash, or maybe just save yourself from a lot of cutting and pick up some that you’ve had your eye on.

For this quilt you only need one 10″ layer cake and one 5″ charm pack. For my quilt I used the Ruby Star Society Speckled layer cake and a Riley Blake Basics White 5″ charm pack. I wanted to make a very colorful quilt but simple quilt and this quilt is exactly that!

Making the Easy Quilt Block

This quilt block is simple. You need (2) different colored 10″ squares and (2) accent color 5″ squares. (This will yield (2) blocks.)

Each 10″ square should be cut in half to create (2) 5″ x10″ rectangles. Then one rectangle will be cut in half again to create (2) 5″ squares. The other will be trimmed to 9 1/2″ x 5″.

Pair (1) accent 5″ square with a 9 1/2″ x 5″ rectangle and the (2) 5″ squares from the other colored 10″ square. The pairings are shown below.

Sew the accent color 5″ square to the colored 5″ square as shown below.

Draw a diagonal guide line on the wrong side of the remaining 5″ square. Then place right side down on the 9 1/2″ x 5″ rectangle.

Sew along the diagonal guideline and trim off the excess fabric. Then press open.

Sew the 5″ square unit to the 9 1/2″ x 5″ rectangle we just snowballed in the above step. These are your two finished blocks.

For a quilt you will need (40) 10″ squares and (40) 5″ squares. I actually mixed up all the colors so I didn’t have two of the same blocks. I think it added an organized level of scrappiness!

I’ve made it easy and written a free pattern for you! Want to make the quilt? You can grab the free pattern here. You can also head to our Freebies page to see our other free patterns!

30 thoughts on “Spring Picnic Quilt Block Tutorial (and Free Quilt Pattern)”

  1. Kristen from I See Stars Quilting made this quilt and it turned out gorgeous. I asked her about the pattern and she sent me to you. I’m going to be digging in my fabric Friday to get started. Thanks for the free pattern!

      1. Hi,
        Oh gosh this is such a great design. Thank you for sharing the pattern and tutorial! Could the quilt be made larger, like a twin or full size? Just by adding more rows and setting triangles?

    1. I’m here via Kristen too! This is the perfect pattern for my grandaughter’s quilt. I’ve been searching for something not too fussy or girly for her. Thank you for this pattern!

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    1. Hi! to get the free pattern you click the free pattern here link and enter your information. Once you submit you will be redirected to the pattern for printing or saving on your device of choice!

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  5. ISeeStarsQuilting sent me here for the pattern. Super excited to do this one. I’m also enjoying your website. Thanks!

  6. Our quilt group picked this pattern for a charity quilt we will raffle off. The blocks went together quickly. The problem is the setting triangles don’t fit! Cutting the blocks in half makes them too small to fit. We have had to trim every seam and seams aren’t matching up. Plus the points on top and bottom will be cut off when we attach the binding. We looked for an update, but couldn’t find anything! If you want the setting blocks to fit w/out trimming everything, they need to be cut much bigger!( like 14” instead of 9.9”!) Just beware!

    1. Hi Carol! Thanks for your feedback 🙂 That was 100% a design preference made by me to keep the pattern simple. I really just wanted a fast pattern with minimal cutting to be used with pre-cuts.

  7. Hi Katherine ,
    Christen from ISeeStarQuilting send me . The pattern is beautiful, will definitely going to make. I was able to locate your YouTube channel & subscribe!

  8. Kristin with ISeeStarsQuilting made a beautiful quilt using your pattern and it turned out absolutely beautiful!

  9. Kristen from I see Stars did a lovely quilt with this pattern and I am trying to recreate her design. Thank you for the free pattern!

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  12. Christen from ISeeStars quilting sent me to your site to find this beautiful quilt pattern. (I’m seeing a pattern here when I read the comments. I appreciate how you share information!) I’m looking forward to trying this pattern. Thanks for sharing.

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