- Background (muslin)
- Light (faded chambray)
- Medium (goldenrod)
- Dark (indigo)
- Accent (madder red)
Block No. 107 · pictorial
Sailboats (Three-Sail) Quilt Block
Part of: Flying Geese Quilt BlocksHalf Square Triangle Quilt BlocksQuilt Blocks For BeginnersSailboat Quilt Blocks
Sailboats (Three-Sail) carries one boat with a striped triangular sail: three accent stripes inside a light sail above a dark hull on medium water. The hull is a single large flying-geese unit, so the bottom half sews in one piece.
Version note: Quilter's Cache traditional Sailboats, with three accent sail stripes. It differs from the Sailboat block on this site. Layout confidence: medium.
- Level
- Confident Beginner
- Grid
- 6 × 6
- Pieces
- 23
Chart
Cutting for a 12" block
6 × 6 grid. All cuts fall on 1/8" ruler marks. Unfinished block: 12 1/2".
| Fabric | Shape | Cut | Size | Then | Pieces used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Background | Square | 2 | 4 1/2" square | Use as cut | 2 |
| Background | Half-square triangle | 2 | 2 7/8" square | Cut once diagonally (2 triangles each) | 4 |
| Light | Corner square | 2 | 2 1/2" square | Stitch and flip; trim seam allowance to 1/4 inch | 2 |
| Light | Half-square triangle | 4 | 2 7/8" square | Cut once diagonally (2 triangles each) | 8 |
| Light | Quarter-square triangle | 1 | 5 1/4" square | Cut twice diagonally (4 triangles each) | 13 spare |
| Medium | Half-square triangle | 1 | 6 7/8" square | Cut once diagonally (2 triangles each) | 2 |
| Dark | Quarter-square triangle | 1 | 13 1/4" square | Cut twice diagonally (4 triangles each) | 13 spare |
| Accent | Quarter-square triangle | 1 | 5 1/4" square | Cut twice diagonally (4 triangles each) | 31 spare |
Method
Piecing steps
Step 1: Cut every patch listed in the cutting chart for your size. Plain areas are cut as the larger squares and rectangles shown; do not subdivide them. Columns count from the left and rows from the top, starting at 1, in grid cells.
Step 2: Make the half-square triangles: cut each HST parent square once diagonally, sew contrasting triangles along the long edge, press toward the darker fabric and square up (2 at 2 1/2"). Keep each fabric pair and size in its own stack.
Step 3: Make the flying geese: sew a sky triangle to each short side of a goose triangle (cut from the quarter-square parent), pressing toward the sky. Make 1 trimmed to 12 1/2" wide by 6 1/2" high, 4 trimmed to 4 1/2" wide by 2 1/2" high.
Step 4: Make 2 snowball units: draw a diagonal on each 2 1/2" corner square, place it right sides together on the marked corner of the 4 1/2" square, sew on the line, trim 1/4 inch beyond and press out. Each unit measures 4 1/2".
Step 5: Make the hull: one flying-geese unit with a dark goose triangle and medium sky triangles, trimmed to 12 1/2" by 6 1/2".
Step 6: Build the sail in three rows. The accent geese sit point-down between light triangles, so the stripes line up across the sail.
Step 7: Make section 1: sew the light goose at column 3, row 1, pointing up and the accent goose at column 3, row 2, pointing down in a column, top to bottom. Press and check it measures 4 1/2" wide by 4 1/2" high.
Step 8: Make section 2: sew the background snowball unit at column 1, row 1, section 1 and the background snowball unit at column 5, row 1 side by side, left to right. Press and check it measures 12 1/2" wide by 4 1/2" high.
Step 9: Make section 3: sew the background/light HST at column 1, row 3 (background in the upper-left), the accent goose at column 2, row 3, pointing down, the accent goose at column 4, row 3, pointing down and the background/light HST at column 6, row 3 (background in the upper-right) side by side, left to right. Press and check it measures 12 1/2" wide by 2 1/2" high.
Step 10: Complete the block: sew section 2, section 3 and the dark goose at column 1, row 4, pointing down in a column, top to bottom. Press and check it measures 12 1/2" wide by 12 1/2" high.
Step 11: Press the finished block. Every join above runs edge to edge, with no set-in or Y-seams.