Vintage Christmas Sampler – Waterwheel Block

The next block in the Vintage Christmas Sampler is the Waterwheel Block. I saw several variations of this block in the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. I drew a few of them out and didn’t like the proportions of the blocks, so I started over and this is the block I ended up with, I hope you like it!

Get the know how after the jump!Update: The measurements on this post were off by 1/2 inch – it was brought to my attention by one of my wonderful followers – Michelle! Thank you so much for letting me know Michelle! I truly appreciate it!

You will need three different fabrics. One main fabric – this can be a large print fabric or medium size print. I used a medium fabric. You will also need a background fabric (white stars) and an accent fabric (red holly print).

All seams in this block are 1/4″.  The most challenging skill is Half Square Triangles. You will need to make 4 Half Square Triangles. I have a tutorial here for anyone who does not know the basics of how to make HSTs.

Draw a line down the white 4 7/8″ square, corner to corner, place your 1/4″ seam foot on the line and sew down each side of the line. Cut the block in half down the drawn line. This creates two 4.5″ squares. (do this twice)

Next assemble the corner squares following the pictures below:

This block should measure 4.5″ x 4.5″

Layout your block:

Sew your rows:

Finish your block!

Congratulations! Another block completed!  Two blocks left to go.

If you have any questions, as always, please feel free to ask!