This classic quilt block is easy to cut and piece. The version in this quilt uses a common background fabric of white tone-on-tone and a single fabric in each block for the accent.
Jacob's Ladder Block - 9" Finished
This tutorial includes cutting and piecing insructions for rotary cutting as well as for using the AccuQuilt Fabric Cutting System. I used Electric Quilt 8 to design this quilt and pattern. Download the EQ8 project file at the end of the lesson.
Layout 1
Layout 2
Layout 3
Finished block size: 9"
Number of blocks: 63
Accent fabric: 16 fat quarters
Background fabric: 16 fat quarters or 4 yds
Binding: 3/4 yds
Cut Background Fabric
- Cut 8 strips @ 18" x WOF.
- Cut each strip in half to make 16 @ 18" x 21" fat quarters.
Prepare The Fat Quarters
- Press each fat quarter and use starch for easier cutting.
- Place an accent fat quarter and a light fat quarter right sides together with selvages aligned. This makes one fat quarter set.
- Cut according to the Rotary Cutting or AccuQuilt Cutting diagram in the following sections.
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Rotary Cutting
For rotary cutting we will use the Eight at a Time method to make the half square triangles and strip piecing for the four-patch units.
NOTE: the 7.75" squares below will give you the exact size for the half square triangle. If you prefer to make them slightly larger so you can trim to size at the end, make these squares 8".
For each fat quarter set, make the following cuts:
A great tool for accurate strip cutting is the Stripology Ruler.
Make 8 Half Square Triangles (HST)
Use one light square and one dark square. On the wrong side of the background fabric, draw 2 diagonal lines.
Place the background fabric with riht sides together on top of the accent fabric.
Stitch 1/4" on each side of each diagonal line.
Cut the square in half vertically, horizontally, and along both diagonal lines to make 8 HST.
Press toward the accent fabric. Trim off the nubs.
Repeat the above steps for all the 7.75" squares. You should have 16 HST for each accent fabric.
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AccuQuilt Cutting
Half Square Triangles - 3" finished HST from 6" or 12" Mix & Match Qube (2 triangles per die)
Half Square Triangles - Die 55009, 3" finished HST (4 triangles per die)
Strip Piecing - 2" strip cutting die 55025
Stack 3 of the fat quarter sets and make the following cuts:
Cut the 8.5" x 21" piece first. Place it on the 2" strip cutter and cut 4 pairs of strips @2" x21". Leave the strips in pairs to make sewing them together easier
Use the 3" finished HST die, cut the 4 @ 4.5" x 9" pieces into 16 HST pairs. Stitch all the HST together along the diagonal edge. Press toward the accent fabric.
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Piece the 4-Patch Units
The accent and background strips should all be paired together with right sides together. Stitch each pair together along the long sie to make a strip set. Press toward the accent fabric.
Cut the stacked strip sets into 10 @ 2" segments. SEw each of the cut segments together along the long side to make the four patch unit.
Repeat the steps above with the remaining accent and background fabric strips. You should have 20 of the 4-patch units of each accent fabric.
Assemble the Blocks
Lay out the 5 4-patch units and 4 HST units as shown tomake each block.
Make 63
Assemble the Top
Using either of the settings above or one of your own, lay out the blocks into 9 rows of 7.
Piece the blocks into rows. Piece the rows together.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE PATTERN - Jacob's Ladder FREE Quilt Pattern
DOWNLOAD THE EQ8 PROJECT FILE - Jacob's Ladder EQ8 Project File by Carol Thelen
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Did you make this project?
Send a picture of your Jacob's Ladder quilt to CarolThelen at gmail dot com and you may be featured in the next Subscriber Show and Tell video!
Carol