Acorn Quilt Block

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Get the free pattern for making this little acorn quilt block! Perfect for sewing a fall pillow—or make a bunch for a quilt!

Keyword: Acorn, Quilt Blocks, Quilting

Servings:

Author: Cori George

Equipment

sewing machine

Ingredients

1/2 yard white fabric (includes pillow back)
1/4 yard light brown fabric
Generous scraps of dark brown fabric
White thread

Instructions

Note: all seams are 1/4". Press your seams however you prefer.
Cut out your pieces
4.5" x 3.5" dark brown
4.5" x 4.5" dark brown AND white (finished trimmed HST size 3.5" x 3.5")
1.5" x 1.5" dark brown
8.5" x 6.5" light brown
3" x 6" light brown AND white (finished trimmed HRT size 2.5" x 4.5") (cut two)
6.5" x 2.5" white (cut two)
2.5" x 1.5" white
.75" x 1.5" white (cut two)
2.5" x 3.5" white (cut two)
3.5" x 9.5" white (cut two)
8.5" x 1.5" white
For reference, this is how the pieces will be connected in the finished block:
To make the angled portions of the acorn top, use half-square triangles. If you've never made a half-square triangle, it's simple!
If you're using a fabric that's directional, you'll notice that the diamonds end up going different directions in my two finished pieces.
So just make two HSTs, so you can use all of the vertical pieces. Having two horizontal pieces leftover will be perfect to make another pillow, just with the diamonds facing the other way!
For the bottom of the acorn, make a 2.5" x 4.5" half rectangle triangle. This is much easier said than done. After much research, the math for half rectangle triangles is pretty much advanced trigonometry (that's not an exaggeration). So instead, use this method to make half rectangle squares starting with 3" x 6" rectangles.
Clearly these rectangles were a lot longer than what was wanted, though the height of 2.5" was pretty much perfect. So just trim them as follows, and it should work perfectly.
Trim off the far edge so that the light brown piece is 1/4" tall. That will be the seam so the angle should link up perfectly when sewn.
Trim from the other side, so that the finished piece is 4.5" wide.
Sew those two pieces together, and you should see that the bottom of the acorn lines up perfectly! It's not quite as tall as planned, but it worked out just fine.
Once you get all of your pieces cut out, and your HSTs and HRTs pieced together, lay out all your pieces.
Then sew together as follows. First sew the white pieces to the acorn stem, and if you haven't already, the two bottom pieces of the acorn.
Then the white piece above the acorn stem and the bottom part of the acorn and the bottom white piece:
Then you can sew the horizontal strips together, as follows:
And then sew the three horizontal strips together. And that's all!
You can make a bunch of these blocks and piece a full-size quilt, or use it to make a fun little acorn pillow, perfect for fall!