Dutchmans puzzle/Pinwheel flowers - a four patch block

This quilt block is put together in quadrants and therefore belongs in the four patch family.  It uses flying geese blocks to construct the subunits - although if you needed to you could substitute two HST's for the geese.  

This version by Nancy's notions uses a different colour sky at each side of the goose

The same approach is followed by this chock-block blog post whish calls the block Pinwheel Flowers, whereas this post from the same blog has the more traditional same colour sky

Patchwork Square has the traditional block and example layouts on the next page

So does Quilters Cache here.

This block is based upon a four patch - other four patch blocks

farm friendliness - a nine patch block

(See page on how to make your chosen quilt block any size you like.)

This block is based upon a nine patch and is closely related to the Churn Dash Block in that it uses all the same subunits the only difference is the direction in which the outside HST's are turned.  It uses Half Square Triangles, two bar blocks and a whole square in the centre as it's subunits.

This version is by Nancy's Notions

Click here to go to the nine patch page

waterwheel

Take a Friendship Star and add  four patches in the corners of the nine patch - result? The Waterwheel is a star block which is always popular but with a diagonal lattice that makes a fantastic pattern when actually in a quilt with other blocks.

This version is by Nancy's Notions

Click here to go to the civil war quilt blog for a waterwheel block with variable shading for lots of colourways and an example quilt top.  This post has instructions and includes other example (including one with a nine patch in the centre)

This post by quilters cache calls the block the Friendship Star Variation and has instructions for a 12 inch block plus an example layout.

This block is based upon a 3x3 grid - click here for other 3x3 blocks.

Free Pattern : Midnight Reverie

 This one uses panels for the centre portion of the quilt top, each panel is 18 x 18 inches so just substitute another panel, focus fabric or big blocks. Can you spot the flying geese, friendship star variations and variable star in the borders.

Click here for free

Moda Blockheads

 Originally started as a Block of the Week in 2017  Carol Thelen has collected links to all of them up to Blockheads 6 (2025)

Click here to go to the archive.

oklahoma twister

Oklahoma Twister is a based upon a 6x6 grid but is in fact easy to put together in quadrants so we are going to include it in the four patch family.

The centre is a pinwheel with "wings" in the outer edges.  All the main colour pieces are HST's with a lot of background colour in the block making it ideal for using up scraps whether you go traditional and have the pinwheel in a single colour and the wings in another (see Carol Thelen below) or you choose to go completely scrappy (see My Sewing Room below)

This page is from Patchwork Square and includes a sample block layout.

 This video is from Carol Thelen and uses Accuquilt

Beth from My Sewing Room also gave this quilt a try using triangles on a roll for her HST's

Generations Quilt Patterns has a chart with seven different sizes here (from 6 to 18 inches)

Pamela Quilts.com used it in a Road Trip Quilt Along here

Generations Quilt Patterns had a second go with three colours rather then 2 and added a layout here

more four patch blocks

Historic Quilt Site

 I stumbled across this site a while ago and then again the other day whilst searching for named blocks for another post.

The Quilt Index

It has over 90,000 quilts documented.

If you want to search for quilts from a particular time period - you can (from pre 1799 to present day).

If you want to search for a named block - you can

If you want to search for a Brackman ID number - you can (especially exciting for me but then I'm weird!)

It even has resources like lesson plans which you can use.

And you can add quilts to this - your own or (if you have written permission) an organisations

Seriously, check it out.

Meanwhile I'm off to create a pattern to recreate this quilt from 1800-1849 that is not just your standard on-point but has a zigzag sashing which I haven't seen before, and it is in several quilts in the time period.

Have fun browsing...