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.

Desert Highway

Sample Quilt Layouts

As you might notice, I have chosen colours of the desert and its sun for this Desert Highway quilt block. However, you might have a very different colour scheme in mind for your quilt block and resultant quilt. The five patch block makes good use of the simplest of quilt patches -- squares and half square triangles.

The two sample quilt layouts illustrated are created using the most commonly used settings. The quilt layout on the left uses a standard side by side setting of the blocks while the right quilt layout lays the blocks on point and features sashing strips and extra blank blocks to give an additional pop of colour. What will you choose as the perfect quilt layout for your blocks?

Download the DESERT HIGHWAY free quilt block pattern

BACK to DESERT HIGHWAY quilt block