For those quilters wanting a little more of a challenge, five inch quilt blocks might be the answer -- smaller blocks usually means more blocks to make. Another reason for using five inch blocks is to create a secondary pattern. By using 4 blocks and rotating each of them, you get a different larger quilt block. These larger blocks can then be laid out in variety of ways to make some very interesting original designs.

Back and Forth

Sample Quilt Layouts

These two quilt layouts shown below, each use four of the Back and Forth blocks, rotating each of those four blocks by 90 degrees to make a larger block. These new groupings are then set either side by side or on point to create the desired quilt layout.

Directional quilt blocks offer all sorts of interesting design possibilities. If you look closely, you will notice that one of the quilts also uses sashing to separate the blocks. Additionally, changing up the border fabric selection can make quite a difference.

Download the BACK AND FORTH free quilt block pattern

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