Quilt layouts, from straight sets to one-patch shapes
The layout is how the pieces cover the quilt. Change it and the same fabrics make a completely different quilt — often with less piecing, not more.
Almost every quilt you have seen sits on a square grid. That is not a rule, it is a habit, and it is worth breaking: the shape a quilt is built from changes its character more than the fabric does. This page covers the seventeen layouts FourPatch can draft, what each one costs you in piecing, and which ones need templates.
Quilters traditionally call this the setting — a straight set, an on-point set. That word is still correct and you will meet it in every book. FourPatch labels the control Layout because it now covers a good deal more than block arrangements, and because "setting" collides badly with "setting triangles", which are a different thing entirely.
They divide into two families. Block layouts carry a pieced block in every position — the block is the design and the layout decides how the blocks meet. One-patch layouts have no block at all: one shape, repeated, and the entire design is which fabric goes where. One-patch quilts are the oldest kind there is and by far the most forgiving of scraps.
Nine of these are rotary cuts with no template at all: rectangles, bricks, half-square and quarter-square triangles, and the three block settings. The rest come with a printed template in your pattern.
Block settings
The same block, three ways. Nothing about the block changes; only how the blocks are arranged.
Straight set
Blocks in plain rows and columns. Everything else is a variation on this.
How it goes together
- Lay the blocks out and photograph the layout before you sew — a block turned the wrong way is very hard to spot once the row is together.
- Sew blocks into rows, pressing the seams of odd rows one way and even rows the other so they nest.
- Join the rows, matching every block seam.
On point (diagonal)
The same blocks turned 45°, with setting triangles filling the edges.
How it goes together
- Lay the blocks out on the diagonal. The quilt is assembled in diagonal rows, not horizontal ones.
- Sew each diagonal row, adding a side setting triangle at each end. Add the four corner triangles last.
- Join the diagonal rows, then trim the edges straight — ¼" beyond the block points, so the points survive the binding.
Half-drop rows
Every other row slides half a block sideways, like brickwork. Breaks up the grid without changing a single seam.
How it goes together
- Lay the blocks out with every other row slid half a block sideways.
- Sew each row, then join the rows. Because the rows are offset, the vertical seams never line up — which is the point, and also why nothing needs matching.
- Trim both ends of the quilt straight, ¼" beyond the finished edge, cutting through the half blocks at the row ends.
One-patch settings
One shape, cut many times. There is no block to piece, which makes these quilts far less fiddly than they look — the work moves from piecing units to cutting accurately and to deciding where the colours go.
Rectangles (brick grid)
A plain grid of rectangles. Straight seams, no points to match, and the aspect ratio changes the whole character.
How it goes together
- Sew the rectangles into rows, press row seams in opposite directions so they nest, then join the rows.
- Nothing to match but the row seams — this is the most forgiving layout in the list.
Running bond (bricks)
Bricks in a running bond, each row offset by half. No seam ever crosses four ways, so nothing has to match.
How it goes together
- Sew the bricks into rows. Every other row starts with a half brick, which is what staggers the joints.
- Press row seams in opposite directions and join the rows, matching the half-brick ends.
- Trim the row ends straight once the top is together.
Half-square triangles
A field of squares, each split corner to corner. Two fabrics per square and the diagonal flips as you go — the most versatile shape in quilting.
How it goes together
- Each square is two triangles. Sew them in pairs on the long (bias) edge first — chain-piece them, then press toward the darker side and trim each unit square.
- Lay the squares out, sew into rows, press row seams in opposite directions, then join the rows.
- The diagonal alternates square to square, which is what makes the field read as woven rather than striped.
Quarter-square triangles
Squares split both ways into four triangles — hourglasses, pinwheels and broken dishes all live here.
How it goes together
- Each square is four quarter-square triangles. Sew them into pairs, then pairs into squares, matching the centre.
- Press the centre seam open so the four points do not stack up into a lump.
- Sew the squares into rows, press row seams alternately, then join the rows.
45° diamonds
Squares standing on their points, offset row to row. What most people actually mean by a diamond quilt.
Cut piece 6¾" × 6¾" from a 6" finished shape · cut 6¾" strips and cut diamonds with a 45° ruler; 6" across the points finished.
How it goes together
- Sew the diamonds into rows. Every seam is straight and every row is offset half a diamond, so the row ends need half diamonds or a straight trim.
- Press row seams in opposite directions and join the rows, matching the points.
Equilateral triangles
Rows of 60° triangles, point up and point down alternately. Straight seams, no set-in corners.
Cut piece 6⅞" × 6" from a 6" finished shape · cut 6" strips, then cut triangles with a 60° ruler, flipping it each time; 6" finished side.
How it goes together
- Lay the triangles out in rows. Sew each row alternating point-up and point-down; the tips overhang the row by ¼", which is what puts the point exactly on the seam once the next row goes on.
- Press row seams in opposite directions row to row so they nest, then join the rows, matching every point.
- Trim the row ends straight, ¼" beyond the outermost points.
Hexagons
The honeycomb. Y-seams by machine, or English paper piecing by hand — the classic Grandmother’s Flower Garden.
Cut piece 4⅞" × 5⅝" from a 5" finished shape · cut 4⅞" strips and cut hexagons with a 60° ruler — 2¾" cut side, 2½" finished. For English paper piecing, print 2½" papers and baste to the cut shapes.
How it goes together
- By machine: join hexagons into vertical columns with Y-seams — sew each seam from ¼" in to ¼" from the end and backstitch, leaving the corners free to pivot. Then join the columns.
- By hand (English paper piecing): baste each cut shape over a paper hexagon, hold two right sides together and whip-stitch the shared edge, then pop the papers out once every edge of a shape is sewn.
- Trim the edge hexagons straight once the top is together, ¼" beyond the finished edge — or bind the honeycomb edge as it is.
Long hexagons (coffin)
A hexagon pulled tall — "coffin" or "church window". Reads completely differently from a honeycomb for one number’s difference.
Cut piece 5½" × 8⅝" from a 5" finished shape · cut 8½" strips and cut with a template — 5" wide, 8" tall, 2⅛" points, finished.
How it goes together
- Join the long hexagons into vertical columns — each seam is straight and the columns interlock.
- Then join the columns with Y-seams, or English-paper-piece the whole thing by hand.
- Trim the edges straight ¼" beyond the finished edge once the top is together.
Tumbling blocks (60° diamonds)
Three 60° diamonds make a cube. Light on top, mid and dark on the sides, and the quilt reads as stacked boxes.
Cut piece 6⅞" × 4" from a 4" finished shape · cut 4" strips, trim one end to 60° and sub-cut every 4⅝" — 4" finished side. Three diamonds meet at each cube corner, so these are Y-seams.
How it goes together
- Build one cube at a time: join the lid to the left face, stopping ¼" short of the inner corner, then set the right face into the Y-seam.
- Join cubes into vertical columns, then join the columns, easing the 60° points to meet.
- Trim the edges straight ¼" beyond the outermost points.
Tumblers
A tapered trapezoid, flipped every other piece. Straight seams and no matching points — the friendliest one-patch there is.
Cut piece 5⅝" × 4½" from a 5" finished shape · cut 4½" strips and cut with the tumbler template, turning it end for end each time; 5" wide across the bottom finished. Row-end tumblers are trimmed straight once the row is sewn.
How it goes together
- Sew tumblers into rows, alternating wide-edge-up and wide-edge-down. The tips overhang by the seam allowance at both ends of every seam — line up the notches, not the corners.
- Press row seams in opposite directions and join the rows.
- Trim the row ends straight, ¼" beyond the finished edge.
Chevron (zigzag)
Rows of leaning parallelograms, the lean flipping row to row. Straight seams that read as a bold zigzag.
Cut piece 11¼" × 5½" from a 5" finished shape · cut 5½" strips and cut parallelograms at 45°, flipping the ruler each row; 5" across finished. Trim the row ends square.
How it goes together
- Sew the parallelograms into rows. Every row leans the opposite way from the one above it, which is what makes the zigzag.
- The row ends are trimmed straight — cut them off square once the row is sewn.
- Press row seams in opposite directions and join the rows, matching where the leans meet.
Octagons and squares
The truncated square tiling. Big octagons with small squares in the gaps, and the squares read as a second grid on the diagonal.
Cut piece 7½" × 7½" from a 7" finished shape · cut 7½" squares and trim 2⅜" off each corner with a 45° ruler; 7" finished across the flats.
How it goes together
- Sew a small square to each corner of an octagon with the stitch-and-flip trick, or set the squares in with Y-seams for a crisper corner.
- Join the units into rows, press row seams alternately, then join the rows.
- The little squares line up into a second grid on the diagonal — that secondary pattern is the whole point.
Clamshells
Overlapping fish scales. Appliquéd rather than pieced: only the domed edge is turned under, and each row hides the raw edges of the row above.
Cut piece 5½" × 5½" from a 5" finished shape · cut with the dome template — 5½" across. Turn only the curved edge under ¼" (freezer paper or a heat-resistant template helps), then lay each row over the raw lower edges of the row above.
How it goes together
- Turn the domed edge of every shell under ¼". Freezer paper or a heat-resistant template gives you a smooth curve; the flat lower edge stays raw.
- Work down the quilt row by row on a marked foundation. Each row's domes cover the raw lower edges of the row above; pin, then stitch the curve down by hand or with a small blind stitch.
- Trim the outer edges straight once every row is down.
Apple core
Every edge waves the same way, so each piece nests into its neighbour. Curved piecing, but only gentle curves.
Cut piece 6⅞" × 6½" from a 5" finished shape · cut with the apple-core template. Mark the middle of every edge, pin middles and ends first, then ease the curve — the concave edge goes on top as you sew.
How it goes together
- Mark the middle of all four edges of every piece before you start — that mark is what makes the curve behave.
- Pin middle to middle and end to end with the concave edge on top, ease the curve between pins, and sew with a short stitch length.
- Join into columns, then join the columns. Trim the wavy outer edge straight, ¼" beyond the finished size.
Why one-patch settings need templates
A square can be rotary-cut against a ruler edge. A 60° triangle, a hexagon, a tumbler and a clamshell cannot — not exactly, and not repeatably. Two things follow.
First, the seam allowance is not a constant you can memorise. On a square you add ½″; on a half-square triangle ⅞″; on a quarter-square 1¼″. On any other shape the amount depends on the angles. Push every edge of an equilateral triangle out by ¼″ and the side grows by ½√3 ≈ 0.866″, which is where the familiar “cut strips ¾″ taller than finished” rule comes from. Do the same to a hexagon and the side grows by ½÷√3 ≈ 0.289″. Different shape, different number, and no amount of remembering helps.
Second, that means a printed template is not a convenience, it is the pattern. FourPatch prints one at full size for every one-patch setting, with the cutting line solid and the finished line dashed inside it, plus a 2″ ruler check so you can catch a printer that has quietly scaled the page.
The half-rectangle triangle exception
One more shape deserves its own warning. A half-rectangle triangle is a rectangle cut corner to corner, and it is the only common patchwork unit where the seam-allowance rules break down completely.
There is no ⅞″ equivalent, because the extra fabric a diagonal seam needs depends on the aspect ratio of the rectangle. The honest instruction — the one every reliable tutorial gives — is to cut generously, sew, and trim the finished unit to size.
Worse, a mirrored HRT is a different piece, not the same one turned over. Flip a half-square triangle and it is still the same triangle; flip a half-rectangle triangle and you get its mirror image, which will not substitute for it. Cut the two diagonals in separate stacks, and keep them separate all the way to the sewing machine. FourPatch lists them as separate lines in the cutting list for exactly this reason.
Which setting should you use?
- Straight set if the block is the point. Everything else competes with it.
- On point to make the same blocks look larger and more formal — a block set on point occupies its diagonal, about 1.414× its width, so you need fewer of them. It costs you setting triangles around the edge.
- Half-drop when a straight set looks too rigid. It costs nothing: same blocks, same seams, and you trim the row ends straight at the finish.
- Equilateral triangles for the biggest visual change that still pieces in straight rows. No set-in seams anywhere.
- Tumblers if you want a one-patch with no points to match at all. It is the friendliest shape here.
- Hexagons for hand work. English paper piecing turns them into something you can do in an armchair, and it is the most portable quilting there is.
- Tumbling blocks when you want the quilt to read as three-dimensional. It needs Y-seams and it needs three clearly separated values — light lid, mid face, dark face — or the cubes collapse into a flat pattern of diamonds.
- Clamshells and apple core for curves. Clamshells are appliquéd rather than pieced, which makes them slower but much more forgiving; apple core is genuinely pieced curves and wants some experience.
Try any of them in the studio → The cutting list, yardage and templates recalculate as you switch.
Questions
What is a quilt setting?
The setting is how the pieces are laid out across the quilt top. A straight set puts blocks in plain rows and columns; an on-point set turns them 45 degrees; a one-patch setting drops blocks entirely and repeats a single shape such as a hexagon or a tumbler.
What is a one-patch quilt?
A quilt made from one repeated shape rather than from pieced blocks. Hexagons, tumblers, equilateral triangles, 60 degree diamonds, clamshells and apple core are all one-patch settings. The design comes entirely from where the fabrics go, which is why they suit scraps so well.
Do hexagon quilts have to be hand sewn?
No, but the seams where three hexagons meet are Y-seams, which most people find easier by hand. English paper piecing — basting each shape over a paper hexagon and whip-stitching the edges — is the traditional method and needs no machine at all.
How much seam allowance do you add to a triangle?
For an equilateral triangle, pushing every edge out by a quarter inch grows the side by about 0.866 inches and the height by 0.75 inches. That is where the standard instruction to cut strips three-quarters of an inch taller than the finished height comes from. Other shapes grow by different amounts, which is why templates matter.
Why are mirrored half-rectangle triangles different pieces?
Because the diagonal runs the other way. A half-square triangle is symmetrical about its diagonal so flipping it changes nothing, but a half-rectangle triangle is not — its mirror image is a genuinely different piece that will not substitute for it.
Stop looking things up
FourPatch does this arithmetic for every piece in your quilt, every time you change something — block size, sashing width, fabric width, waste allowance. The cutting list and yardage just update.