Skinny Courthouse Steps Blocks Tutorial

Introduction

My courthouse steps block quilt recently was shown at QuiltCon 2018, and to be honest, I didn't think it would be accepted when I submitted it. While I thought the technique and quilting was respectable, I didn't have much of a plan when I started this quilt, other than an idea of colors that I would like to use together. In retrospect, I wish I did something more interesting with the colors in this quilt and I might have chosen more dense quilting.

Anyways, I thought it would be a great basis for a tutorial, so here it is, a tutorial for creating 4 skinny courthouse steps blocks. Read on to learn more!

Before you Begin

This tutorial is written for creating 4 skinny courthouse steps blocks. This tutorial uses a "background color": and a single accent color: , but alternating colors can be used for different results.

To create the blocks not on point, a half yard of background color and accent color fabric is needed. To finish these blocks on point (see optional Step #13), 3/4 of a yard of background color fabric and a half yard of accent color fabric is needed.

This tutorial is best viewed on a Desktop or laptop.

Step 1

Cut two 1" strips at 18" length from the accent color. Cut one 4.5" strip 18" long the background color. Sew the three strips together, with the background color in between the accent color strips.

Step 2

Cut 4.5" wide blocks perpendicular to the pieced result.

4.5″

4.5″

4.5″

4.5″

Step 3

Rotate your blocks 90 degrees. Chain piece the blocks between 1" strips of the accent color. In order words, sew the top of each block to one 1" strip, and sew the bottom of each block to the other 1" strip. At this point, I suggest working with unmeasured 1" strips and saving the trimming leftovers for later steps.

Step 4

Trim excess between blocks to square each block.

After trimming, blocks will measure 5.5" x 5.5":

Step 5

Rotate your blocks 90 degrees. Chain piece the blocks between 1" strips of the background color, similar to previous steps. Trim the excess after sewing and pressing.

Step 6

Rotate your blocks 90 degrees. Chain piece the blocks between 1" strips of the background color, similar to previous steps. Trim the excess after sewing and pressing.

After trimming, blocks will measure 6.5" x 6.5":

Step 7

Chain piece your rotated blocks between two 1" accent strips, followed by pressing and trimming.

Step 8

Chain piece your rotated blocks between two 1" accent strips, followed by pressing and trimming.

After trimming, blocks will measure 7.5" x 7.5":

Step 9

Chain piece your rotated blocks between two 1" background strips, followed by pressing and trimming.

Step 10

Chain piece your rotated blocks between two 1" background strips, followed by pressing and trimming.

After trimming, blocks will measure 8.5" x 8.5":

Step 11

Chain piece your rotated blocks between two 1" accent strips, followed by pressing and trimming.

Step 12

Chain piece your rotated blocks between two 1" accent strips, followed by pressing and trimming.

After trimming, blocks will measure 9.5" x 9.5":

Step 13: Optional Set On Point

If you would like to set your blocks on point, cut 8 7.5" x 7.5" squares, then cut those 8 squares diagonally (at a 45 degree angle).

Sew the triangles to the the courthouse steps block, first on two opposite sides, then on the remaining two sides. Press and trim excess to your liking (depending on how you plan to piece the blocks together).

Check It Out

See finished mini quilts using this tutorial here. Below is a sneak peak of those finished minis.