How to Make an Hourglass Quilt Block ~ A Tutorial

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Our fifth block in our Sampler Quilt is going to be another classic quilt block and one that is used quite often as part of other quilt blocks. As I said in our Sampler Quilt Introductory post, this series is a beginning quilting series, designed as the perfect project for first-time quilters. However, just because this is meant for a beginning quilter, it doesn’t mean quilters of all skill levels can’t join in!

My plan in all of this is to build a library of free quilt tutorials with easy blocks, and next year, start another series with more difficult ones, so that we can all gain new skills. I hope you are enjoying this series of quilting tutorials (and quilting videos)!

Let’s Talk Hourglass Quilt Blocks!

The hour glass quilt block is one that I was quite scared of when I was a beginner.. in fact even when I had a better skill level I still avoided it! I would not call it a simple block, but when you break it down into steps, it is easier than it looks.

This traditional block is often used to make up parts of other quilt blocks, and once again would look great using any size squares including charm packs and a layer cake. It’s a great way to use up leftover charm squares, and other fabric squares left over from projects. Today we will be using eight inch squares, a bit larger than the ones we have used so far because I have added a little leeway for trimming.

I would love to make an entire quilt with hour glass blocks – scrappy ones! I like the idea of even having different fabrics in each hour glass quilt block…. ok, that needs to go on my quilting to do list!

Since we are making large blocks, I thought instead of making a giant hour glass block, we would make four hourglass units and then combine them into a four patch, like we did with the half square triangle tutorial.

This will be our last four patch for this QAL!

When we finish this block, we will also officially be half way through our QAL because I have decided to make into into 9 blocks instead of 12… just so that we can be sure we have it done by the end of the year.

Ok, enough chatter, let’s get started on making an hourglass quilt block!

Hourglass Quilt Block Tutorial

Fabric Requirements for a Single Block – Twelve and a Half Inch Block Unfinished

Fabric

• background fabric
• two scraps of feature fabrics

These are the fabrics I have chosen for this block:

Cutting Instructions

From the background fabric:

• Cut 2 (two) 8″ squares

From the scrap feature fabrics:

• Cut 1 (one) 8″ square of each fabric

for a total of 4 (four) squares:

Step 1

We are going to start by by making four half square triangles with our four background squares and “feature fabric” squares. For the sake of length of blog post, please go to THIS TUTORIAL for making (almost) perfect half square triangles (lol!) and follow Steps 1 – 5 and come back here!

Please note! We are not doing step 6: trimming the half square triangles!! We will trim later!

If you’ve followed steps 1 – 5 from this blog post you will have four half square triangles like this:

Step 2

We will be working with one pair of half square triangles at a time. Take one of the half square triangles and draw a line on the diagonal like this:

When you are drawing the line, don’t just look at the corners – line the seam from the half square triangles up with one of the lines on the ruler:

I couldn’t take a proper photo of it due to the reflection of the light, but you can watch the video on YouTube for a better look.

Step 3

Then take the matching half square triangle and place it right sides together with the one we just drew a line on so that the darker fabric is on top of the lighter fabric and vice versa. Nesting the seams together so that they are nice and flat:

Pin! Because the squares are large, don’t be afraid to use a lot of pins. This will help keep it all in place:

Sew a quarter inch on both sides of the drawn line, like we did while making the half square triangles:

Step 4

Cut on the line to separate the two blocks using a rotary cutter or pair of scissors:

Step 5

Take them to the iron board, set the seams and then press them open – it doesn’t matter which side you press to:

You will now have two hourglass blocks!

Take the other pair of half square triangles and repeat steps 3 – 5 so that you have four hourglass blocks.

Step 6

Before we move on to sewing the four hourglass blocks togther to form a four patch we need to trim them to 6 1/2″ square, getting rid of the dog ears while we are at it!

Trimming an hourglass block is much easier if you have a ruler like Lori Holt’s Cute Cuts ruler. We are trimming each hourglass block to 6 1/2″ square, so I am using the 6 1/2″ square Cute Cuts ruler.

Simply place the ruler on top of the block, matching up the diagonal lines with the seams and the center of the block:

Then trim all four sides…

If you don’t have the Cute cuts ruler but you do have a 6 1/2″ square ruler, you can also use that, but it will be a bit harder.

Take the 6 1/2″ square ruler and place it on top of the square, lining up the 45 degree line with the one of the diagonal seams:

The middle needs to be lined up to where with the 3 1/4″ lines intersect with the diagonal line. Trim the right side and then the top side.

Flip the block around, line up it up again in the same way – the edges you cut will line up with the sides of the ruler and the 6 1/2″ mark. Trim the right and top sides.

If you don’t have a square ruler, you can use the same principle with a rectangular ruler.

Do this with all four hourglass blocks., then lay them out like this:

Step 7

We are now going to sew the block together in the same way as we did the four-patch. Take the two top pairs, place them right sides together as shown in the picture below, and sew:

Bring it back to the cutting board and set it back in place to make sure everything is in the right position:

Step 8

Now sew the bottom two pairs together and bring them back to the cutting board to place them in the correct position.

Step 9

Before we sew the two rows together, we need to take them to the ironing board. Again, we need to set the seams first, then we press the seams in opposite directions. I pressed my seam on the top row towards the dark triangle and on the bottom row towards the dark as well.

Bring them back to the cutting board – this is what it will look like from the back:

Place them back into position ready for the next step.

Step 10

Time to sew the rows together.

Flip the top row down on top of the bottom row. As we did with the first block, we are going to pin them, starting with matching up the centers. With the seams pressed in opposite directions, they should nest together nicely:

You can tell if you have “nested” them properly if you go over the join with your thumb and finger, and it is nice and smooth – no bumps!

Pin!

I like to pin on an angle with one half of the pin in the left seam and the other half in the right seam, like this:

Pin at each end and then add a few more in the middle…

Sew the rows together using a quarter-inch seam allowance.

Step 11

Now we need to take it back to the ironing board and set that center seam that we just sewed.

Then press the seam towards the top of the block:

This is how it will look from the back:

All Done

And here is the finished block on the design wall, all done!

The block size should be 12 1/2″.

Here it is with our other blocks:

Printable Tutorial Style Pattern

You can purchase a printer-friendly and ad-free version of this tutorial for a small price here:

How to Make an Hourglass Quilt Block ~ A Tutorial

Christmas Version

Here is a pic of the Christmas one I made on YouTube using Lori Holt’s Home Town Holiday Fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop:

And all of them on the design wall:

YouTube Video

You can watch the video tutorial here if you like:

Happy Quilting!

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