Summer Sampler Series : Greek Cross

The first block I selected to make for the Summer Sampler Series is the Greek Cross, which can be found on Page 209 Block 1646c of Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia Of Pieced Quilt Patterns. According to The Quilted Cross by J Michelle Watts, "The Greek cross is one of the original forms used by Christians. Before Christianity, this cross was an emblem of the Greek goddess of crossroads, Hecate."

The Greek Cross is a traditional equal nine patch made up of half square triangles (HSTs), squares and rectangles. Nine patch blocks consist of nine squares, three across and three down. They are simple and were often used as a teaching block to children as they learned to quilt.

This block can look dramatically different depending on your color choices and where you decide to leave "white space".

Greek Cross Quilt Block Tutorial

Please note, all seams are 1/4"; Final block size 12.5" unfinished

Step 1. Cut your fabric:

Pattern Piece			Fabric Color
Center Cross	Cut 1	4.5” x 4.5”	Turquoise
	Cut 4	2.5” x 4.5”	Turquoise
Background	Cut 4	2.5” x 4.5”	White
	Cut 2	5” x 5”	White
Corners	Cut 1 Each (Total of 4*)	5” x 5”	Purple, Yellow, Orange, Pink

*If you chose to use the same fabric color/pattern for each corner piece, you will only need to cut 2 squares.

2. Place 1 White 2.5" x 4.5" rectangle and 1 Turquoise 2.5" x 4.5" rectangle right sides together. Sew together along the 4.5" edge. Press. Repeat for the other 3 sets of white and turquoise 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles.

Resulting squares

3. Cut your 2 White 5" x 5" squares along the diagonal. Repeat for your colored 5" x 5" squares. Set aside one of each of the resulting colored half square triangles (HST). You will only need 1 of each color.

4. Sew 1 White HST to 1 Colored HST along the long edge, creating a square. Press. Repeat with the remaining 3 White HSTs and 3 Colored HSTs.

5. Your resulting square should be slightly larger than 4.5". Trim your block to 4.5". Tip: Using a quilting ruler, place the seam down the diagonal of the ruler. Trim at the top and right of the square.

6. You now have all 9 squares needed to assemble your quilt block. Lay out your squares and sew together the top row, middle row, and bottom row. Press. Sew the rows together. Press.

You're done!

Be sure to post your block and any questions in the Flickr group.