Union Square Quilt Block – A to Z Block Hop

The Union Square Quilt Block is a classic, just how classic is up to debate though. Some say it dates back to the Civil War era and others say the 30s when quilt patterns in the newspaper were all the rage. Either way, this quilt block is a great skill-builder block and is easy to put together.

This version of the Union Square Block is a 6 ¹/₂-inch block and only uses squares and half-square triangles. I know a few of you are looking at it and saying to yourself, “Umm, I see quarter square triangles.” and you are right but those are achieved by making the half-square triangles.

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Fabric Choice for Union Square Quilt Block

This quilt block is a great example of how the scale of a fabric pattern changes how a block looks. I first made this block as part of a sew-along with Fat Quarter Shop. When I was picking fabric I grabbed two amazing fat quarters, sewed the block up, and went “EWWWW”. It was horrible and why was that? The scale of the pattern was too large for the pieces of the quilt block.

The prettiness of those flowers just disappeared. It was such a sad moment but it is a wonderful teaching tool.

I used Ruby Star Curio for this digital mockup. You can see how some of the pieces end up with no pattern on them and they end up being plain orange instead of orange with stars.

Picking The Right Fabrics

So how do you pick the right fabric? You could always do like I did in the first example and just sew up a sample block but that wastes fabric. If you have digital software you can always mock up the block like I did in the second example.

Let me show you what I do even after making a digital mock up.

Supplies for Union Square Quilt Block

You will need all of the basic quilting tools and a sewing machine. You will also need two fabrics, for this example, I’m using a print and a background fabric. For the background, I like to use something like Moda Grunge, Northcott Stonehenge, or QT Fabrics Vertex. You will also need the pattern, it’s free.

Techniques Used in the Quilt Block

If you are new to quilting I have some in-depth tutorials to help you make the Union Square Quilt Block.

• Cutting Fabric
• Half-Square Triangles – we are using the two-at-a-time method
• Quarter Square Triangles

Putting The Quilt Block Together

This block goes together really quickly. It is also a great scrap buster, use one background fabric but bust out your scraps for the print. Please be sure to follow the pattern for the corner unit and not the video. I didn’t rotate the bottom left HST correctly. I also didn’t catch the issue until it was too late. #quilterlife