Four Patch

About this block

The Four-Patch is among the earliest pieced blocks: a square split into four equal smaller squares, set two over two and usually alternating light and dark to form a checkerboard. Its simplicity made it a natural block for beginners, and rather than standing alone it often works as a component tucked inside larger, more elaborate designs. Surviving examples turn up in collections spanning the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, evidence of how long the design has stayed in use. Quilt historian Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, which traces more than 4,000 pieced patterns to their earliest known printed sources, treats basic grid blocks like this one as part of the shared toolkit quilters drew on for the named patterns published over the 19th and 20th centuries.

Blocks that contain this block

Construction

Assemble the Top Row (Pieces Top-Left + Top-Right): Place Top-Left and Top-Right right sides together. Sew along the right-hand edge of Piece A using a 1/4" seam allowance. Press to the dark side.
Assemble the Bottom Row (Pieces Bottom-Left + Bottom-Right): Place Piece Bottom-Left and Piece Bottom-Right right sides together. Sew along the right-hand edge of Piece Bottom-Left using a 1/4" seam allowance. Press to the opposite side of step 1.
Join the Rows (Top Row + Bottom Row): Flip the Top Row down onto the Bottom Row, right sides together. Because you pressed the seams in opposite directions, the center seams will nest neatly together. Pin directly at the intersection to lock the center crosshair in place. Sew across the long horizontal raw edge using a 1/4" seam allowance.
Square the Block: Measure from the center point out and trim the block to the size your pattern calls for

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