Blockalogue: Rail Fence Block Tutorial

Welcome to the very first Blockalogue tutorial. I'm very excited to finally have this underway. If you would like to know more about this series, read the Blockalogue Introduction.

Please note that the following is not intended as a standalone tutorial. It has been written to complement the free PDF pattern available for download in my Craftsy store (Rail Fence Quilt Block Pattern). You will need the PDF in order for this tutorial to make sense.

I have chosen an easy, traditional block for the first pattern. I really love the Rail Fence block. It is so simple to piece yet so effective as a full quilt. You will see in the PDF that there are two different construction methods. I have chosen to show you the second method here as it probably needs more visual instruction than the first. I also had a jelly roll sitting around that I wanted to use.

If you have any questions on either method, please don't hesitate to email me on sewtodaycleantomorrow@gmail.com or visit my Facebook page.

Shall we begin?

(P.S. For some reason my camera has fish-bowled the photos below. I can assure you that each unit is actually square LOL).

Fabric Selection
This block looks fantastic if you use four fabrics ranging from dark to light tones. For example, black, dark grey, light grey to white. You could also use four completely different fabrics for an interesting, unique look.

For this tutorial, I have used the following fabric. You can see that I've ranged them from a darker orange through to yellow. This is simply what I had on hand and you may very well have chosen a different combination. There are no right or wrongs as far as I'm concerned.

Choose four fabrics of varying tone.

Cutting
The Rail Fence consists of four identical units rotated and sewn together to create the whole block. The first construction method shown in the PDF involves cutting each individual strip of fabric and sewing the four units separately. This is a great method if you're dealing with smaller cuts of fabric, if you're taking a scrappy approach, or if you're not confident enough in your cutting skills for the second method.

The second method uses a very quick and easy strip piecing technique where you have a single strip of each fabric, sew them together and then cut them into the four units. This works really well if you have longer strips of fabric, for example width of fabric (WOF) strips.

In the pattern I have given the exact measurements needed to cut your strips. For method two, I highly recommend cutting them longer than is required to account for any rotary mishaps. I made a 16'' block for this tutorial and used the full WOF jelly roll strips rather than the 34'' length written in the pattern.

Piecing
Using a 1/4'' seam, sew your four strips together, in order, along the long edge.

Use a 1/4'' seam

HINT: When you have sewn the first two strips together, move straight on to strips three and four, as shown in the image below. This technique is known as chain piecing and will save you both time and thread. It's especially useful when working on a larger project where you have to piece many of the same block. It became my best friend when piecing my Aviatrix quilt.

Chain piecing saves time and thread

Four strips sewn in order

 Press your seams toward the darker fabric.

Seams pressed toward the darker fabric

Trim the end of your strips to ensure your units will be cut straight. Just as you would when squaring up your fabric.

HINT: Line your ruler markings up with each horizontal seam. See how the ruler markings at 4, 6 and 8 are lined up with the seams in the image below?

Trim the end to square the strips

Flip the strips so that the newly squared edge is now on the left side and subcut into four units (check your PDF pattern for the correct size). Use both the squared vertical edge and the horizontal seams as guides for your ruler to ensure your units are straight.

Subcut four units

Four units ready to join

Join two of the units, using a 1/4'' seam. Pay special attention to the orientation of each unit. Press toward the left (i.e. the vertical yellow strip)

Rotate the units and sew together

Two units joined

Sew the remaining two units together, using a 1/4'' seam. Again, pay attention to the orientation as they are different to the first two units. Press toward the right (i.e. the vertical orange strip).

Second units sewn

 Finally, sew the two units together using a 1/4'' seam. Take care to match the centre seam. It should nest neatly as the seams have been pressed in opposite directions, as shown in the second photo below.

Sew the two units together

Seams nesting neatly

 Press the final seam in whichever direction you like.

Rail Fence block complete

Congratulations, you have finished your first Rail Fence block. Pretty quick and easy right?

The PDF shows an example of using this block in a full quilt. You could easily snazzy it up a bit by adding sashing, borders or rotating each block in different directions. You'll quickly end up with a unique quilt that looks much fancier than the time taken to piece it.

I hope you enjoyed the first Blockalogue pattern and tutorial. I'd love to hear what you think so please let me know by either leaving a comment below, or on the pattern on my Craftsy page (Rail Fence Quilt Block Pattern).