Quilt Block Identifier

Squares framed on two sides in light and dark so each 'window' appears three-dimensional.

Elaborate appliqué sampler quilts of wreaths, baskets, and flowers — the showpiece style of 1840s–50s Baltimore.

A pieced triangle basket — often with sawtooth edges — under an appliquéd or pieced handle, always set on point so the basket sits upright. Dozens of named variations.

Four large 'paw' squares, each edged with small half-square-triangle 'claws,' set around a cross of sashing. Built on a 7×7 grid.

A 2×2 of squares where two diagonal squares carry small folded or pieced corners that meet in the middle — forming a bow tie's knot across the block.

Four half-square triangles turned so the triangles clash rather than spin — like shards of a dropped plate. One of the oldest four-patch designs.

Four 'cards' appear tucked over and under each other around a pinwheeling hourglass center — built entirely from half- and quarter-square triangles on a 3×3 grid.

Folded background squares rolled over bright inserts — a folded-fabric technique, not pieced patchwork, and famously heavy.

Rows of half-square triangles arranged so the diagonals connect into continuous zigzags across the quilt.

A 3×3 frame: half-square triangles in the corners, rectangle pairs on the sides, plain center. Named for the resemblance to a butter churn's dash.

Overlapping shell curves in rows — a one-patch curve pieced or appliquéd, centuries old.

A Log Cabin variation: strips added in opposite pairs (top/bottom, then sides), so the lights and darks stack symmetrically like steps instead of spiraling.

Irregular fancy-fabric pieces sewn to a foundation and covered with decorative embroidery — the Victorian parlor showpiece.

A plus sign of squares or rectangles on a background grid — no triangles anywhere. Album and signature quilts often used cross blocks with a signed center.

Large half-square triangles edged with sawtooth 'peaks,' usually radiating in rings — named from Pilgrim's Progress.

A large square set on point inside a framed square — the iconic Lancaster Amish medallion, usually in bold solids with wide borders.

A nine patch sliced in quarters and the quarters rotated — a modern shortcut that scrambles the checkerboard.

A 2×2 where two opposite quarters are themselves little four-patches and the other two are plain squares — checkerboard corners marching diagonally.

A pinwheel whose four quarters are each split again, so a second, smaller spin turns inside the first.

Interlocking pieced rings covering the whole quilt, each ring built from small arc segments with four-patch 'connectors' where rings cross. A famous marriage and anniversary quilt.

A ring of fabric wedges — often with pointed or scalloped tips — appliquéd to a background square around a circle center. A signature block of 1930s scrap quilts.

Each unit is a square with a quarter-circle sewn into one corner. Rotating the units produces dozens of named arrangements — winding paths, circles, and chains.

Rows of wide triangles ('geese') each flanked by two background triangles ('sky'), usually all flying the same direction. A goose unit is twice as wide as it is tall.

The simplest 3×3 star: four half-square triangles spin around a plain center square, with plain corners. The points pinwheel rather than sit upright.

A quarter-circle fan of wedges opening from one corner of the block, usually appliquéd down. Fans set in rows or facing circles were 1930s favorites.

Hexagon rosettes — a center hexagon ringed by six 'petals,' often ringed again — joined into an all-over honeycomb. The defining English-paper-piecing quilt of the 1930s.

One square split into four triangles meeting in the center, opposite pairs matching — an hourglass whichever way you turn it.

Diagonal chains of small squares crossing the quilt in a lattice, with open background squares between — traditionally showcasing fancy quilting in the open spaces.

Little four-patches climb one diagonal while half-square triangles fill the rest — a ladder of checkerboards crossing the block.

Eight true 45° diamonds meeting at the center — the parent of the Lone Star. If the points are diamonds (not triangles) and all meet in the middle, it's the LeMoyne family.

Strips ('logs') sewn around a small center square, traditionally light on two sides and dark on the other two. The center square is classically red — the hearth.

One enormous eight-pointed star built from hundreds of small diamonds in radiating color rings, usually filling the whole quilt. A LeMoyne Star at quilt scale.

A 3×3 leaf: half-square triangles shape the leaf's lobes, a plain square its body, and one corner square carries the appliquéd or pieced stem.

Quarter circles ringed with sharp piecing spikes, joined by pieced sashing — a dramatic curved showstopper.

Nine equal squares in a 3×3 checkerboard — the first block most quilters ever sew. If the squares alternate two fabrics with no triangles anywhere, it's a Nine Patch.

A 3×3 star whose points are hourglass (quarter-square triangle) units — four small triangles in each point square. Hourglass points distinguish it from the Sawtooth Star's solid points.

Football-shaped 'peels' at every square's intersection, pieced or appliquéd, forming all-over curves.

Four half-square triangles rotated around the center so the dark triangles spin. If it looks like it's turning, it's a Pinwheel.

A whole quilt of tiny same-size squares — often thousands — prized for sheer patience.

Squares made of two to four parallel strips ('rails'), rotated 90° from neighbor to neighbor so the quilt zigzags or steps.

Rows of half-square triangles used as borders and block edging — the 'teeth' on countless 19th-century quilts.

A star on a 4×4 grid: plain center square, flying-geese points, plain corner squares. The most common pieced star — solid points, unlike the Ohio Star's hourglass points.

A pictorial pieced house with gable, roof, windows, and door — a favorite since the 1870s.

Strips pieced, cut, offset, and re-sewn into intricate geometric bands — developed by the Seminole people of Florida.

A Nine Patch with half-square triangles in the four corners and plain squares elsewhere. Like a Churn Dash without the side rectangles.

Triangles spiral outward from a tiny four-patch center, two colors chasing each other — curvy-looking, straight-pieced.

A plain square with small triangles across its corners, turning it into an octagon. Almost always alternated with Nine Patch or star blocks, which its corners appear to link into circles.

A square set on point inside another square (and often again inside a third) — corner triangles frame each round. As a repeated unit it's the beloved 'Economy' scrap block.

Squares-on-point, diamonds, and triangles whose aligned points create sweeping curves across the quilt — though every single seam is straight. The most famous 'no curves' illusion in quilting.

Narrow scrap strips ('strings') sewn to a foundation, often forming diagonals or spider webs — the great scrap-basket emptier.

The appliquéd girl in a bonnet whose face never shows — beloved and gently controversial since the 1920s.

A pieced tree of triangle 'foliage' on a trunk, set on point — one of the oldest named American patterns.

Thousands of same-size squares arranged in concentric diamonds of color radiating from the quilt's center — no blocks at all, just rounds of color.

Sixty-degree diamonds in three values assembled into 3-D cubes that appear to tumble — the classic optical illusion quilt, pieced with Y-seams or English paper piecing.

A pinwheel variation whose blades read as longer sails — quarter sections of triangles rotating around the center.

Gathered fabric circles tacked together into an airy coverlet — a novelty technique, no batting at all.