Easy Dog Quilt Block Pattern (Free Beginner Tutorial)

Instructions

Step 1: Cut your fabric

Start by cutting your fabrics. I made a 12-inch dog block. Here are my two (2) pieces of fabric for the half-square triangle unit (also known as HSTs) cut at 9-3/4" square and the two smaller squares cut at 4-1/2". My dog block will have a brown dog on a white background.

Step 2: Mark your half square triangesl (HSTs)

You'll need seven (7) half square triangles for this quilt block. I'm going to show you how to make 8 half square triangles at a time. This is a super quick and easy way to make them. You'll have one left over.
Take the lightest fabric and draw two diagonal lines on the wrong side of the fabric with your fabric marker forming a big X through the center of the square.

Step 3: Sew the HSTs

Layer your two larger squares with right sides together. I find with the larger squares I like to put a few pins in to keep the squares aligned while I'm sewing.

Next, sew 1/4-inch next to each of the drawn lines on both sides of the line.

Here I'm starting to sew along the other drawn line.

Here are the two larger squares sewn together.

Now the magic happens! We'll first cut the sewn-together large square in half down the middle.

Then, cut the rectangle in half down the middle.

Next, cut along the drawn lines to form the half-square triangles.

Here are eight (8) half square triangles ready to be pressed. Press to your seam allowances to your preference. Read our article on pressing seams for quilting for more information.

Step 4: Press and trim

After your seams are pressed, trim up your half square triangle blocks so they are all the right size. They should be the same size as your solid blocks. Since my solid blocks are cut at 4-1/2", I trimmed the HSTs to 4-1/2". See our video below with tips for trimming up half square triangles.

Step 5: Lay out the block

Lay all of your blocks out to form the dog.

Step 6: Sew units and rows together

Begin sewing the units together. I like to sew the units together in rows first, and then sew the rows together to form the larger quilt block.

TIP: Chain sew the pieces to be more efficient and quicker. This means to take the first two units from the first row and sew them together. Then, take the first two pieces from the second row and sew them together, and so on. When you've sewn the first two together, cut them apart and then sew on the third unit for each row. I always lay them back out and make sure I've got them all in the right position before sewing.

Here are the three rows sewn together.

And, the three rows sewn together to make the dog block.

Step 7: Add personality

Now the fun begins! Let's bring these puppies to life by adding their facial features. I looked through my scraps to see if I had anything that might be great for the eyes. And, then, I found this flower fabric that I thought looked like a dog's tongue!

Both of these fabrics already had fusible web on the wrong side. I played around with different ways to lay them out.

And, here is the mini quilt with four dog blocks ready to be quilted..