Checkerboard

About this block

This block places a small four-patch at its very center, then wraps it in quarter-square triangle corners set on the diagonal. Rather than piecing row by row, it's built along that diagonal: four triangle units are assembled first, then joined in pairs on either side of the center, and the two halves are sewn together along the final diagonal seam to complete the block. Building from the center out works just as well, starting with the four-patch and adding the corner triangle units afterward. It's closely related to blocks like Right and Left, which uses a single square at the center instead of a four-patch, and Whirlwind, which shares the same triangle construction but rearranges the pieces.