Four Patch quilt block
Two light squares, two dark, sewn into a two-by-two — the first block almost every quilter finishes, and the unit that hides inside a hundred more complicated ones.
Also known as Four-Patch, Four Square.
The four patch is less a pattern than a building block. It shows up in the earliest surviving American scrap quilts because it is what you get when you sew together whatever squares you have and keep going. Its real career is as a component: Double Four Patch, Jacob's Ladder, Burgoyne Surrounded and dozens of others are four patches wearing a costume.
Four Patch cutting chart
Cut sizes include a ¼″ seam allowance: ½″ on squares and rectangles, ⅞″ on half-square triangles, and 1¼″ on quarter-square triangles. Pick a finished block size:
| Fabric | Shape | Cut size | Qty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Background | Square | 3½" × 3½" | 2 | finishes 3" × 3" |
| Dark | Square | 3½" × 3½" | 2 | finishes 3" × 3" |
| Fabric | Shape | Cut size | Qty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Background | Square | 5" × 5" | 2 | finishes 4½" × 4½" |
| Dark | Square | 5" × 5" | 2 | finishes 4½" × 4½" |
| Fabric | Shape | Cut size | Qty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Background | Square | 5½" × 5½" | 2 | finishes 5" × 5" |
| Dark | Square | 5½" × 5½" | 2 | finishes 5" × 5" |
| Fabric | Shape | Cut size | Qty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Background | Square | 6½" × 6½" | 2 | finishes 6" × 6" |
| Dark | Square | 6½" × 6½" | 2 | finishes 6" × 6" |
| Fabric | Shape | Cut size | Qty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Background | Square | 8" × 8" | 2 | finishes 7½" × 7½" |
| Dark | Square | 8" × 8" | 2 | finishes 7½" × 7½" |
How it goes together
Sew two pairs, press the seams in opposite directions, then nest those seams when you join the pairs. That nesting is the entire lesson of the block — if the centre matches, your quarter-inch seam is honest, and if it does not, you have found the problem before you invested in anything harder.
Tips
- Strip-piece it. Sew a light and a dark strip together the full width of fabric, press, then subcrosscut segments at the same width — two segments make a block and the centres match automatically.
- Press the two pairs in opposite directions so the centre seam nests instead of stacking into a lump.
- If the centre is consistently off, your seam allowance is off. A four patch is the cheapest seam-allowance test there is.
How much fabric for a Four Patch quilt?
Yardage for a whole quilt of Four Patch blocks, computed the way the studio does it — every piece packed across a 40″ usable width with 10% added for waste.
| Quilt size | Blocks | Finished | Top fabric | Backing | Binding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baby 36×48 | 12 | 36" × 48" | Background ⅞ yd · Dark ⅞ yd | 2½ yd | ⅜ yd |
| Throw 60×72 | 30 | 60" × 72" | Background 2 yd · Dark 2 yd | 3⅞ yd | ½ yd |
| Queen 90×108 | 72 | 96" × 108" | Background 4⅞ yd · Dark 4⅞ yd | 8¾ yd | ⅞ yd |
What it looks like in a quilt
A single block only tells you half the story. Set sixteen of them together and the secondary pattern appears where the blocks touch:
Four Patch questions
What size squares do I need for a 12 inch four patch?
Each square finishes at 6 inches, so cut four squares at 6½ inches. FourPatch works this out for any finished size you set, including the awkward ones.
Is a four patch the same as a nine patch?
No — a four patch is a 2×2 grid of squares, a nine patch is 3×3. The four patch is the simpler of the two and the more common component inside larger blocks.