Making 4-Patch Quilt Blocks using the Strip Piecing Method

Victoria PeatNovember 11, 2024

Making 4-Patch Quilt Blocks using the Strip Piecing method is a wonderful skill to learn. The more experienced you become, the more often you will see it crop up in patterns.

You’ll discover that Strip Piecing is a great skill to have as it is a very efficient way of making lots of 4-patch quilt blocks.

You can use this method when making two, three or four coloured 4-patches.

It therefore really is a great skill to have and this tutorial will tell you everything that you need to know about this method.

You can scroll through this tutorial in order, or you can click on any of the buttons below to jump right to the section you are most interested in.

What is the Strip Piecing Method?

How to Strip Piece 4-patch Quilt Blocks

Cutting Guidance for Strip Piecing

WATCH the Strip Piecing Video Demonstration

What is the Strip Piecing Method?

The Strip Piecing method is a really efficient way of making multiple, identical 4-patch quilt blocks.

The technique involves cutting longer strips of fabric which are then sewn together in pairs. These wider strips are then sub-cut into smaller units/rectangles. The sub-cut units are then joined back together in pairs to create the 4-patch quilt blocks.

Pros and Cons of the Strip Piecing Method

If you need to make lots of identical 4-patch quilt blocks then this is the method for you!

Making multiples at a time will avoid you having to cut lots of individual squares only to sew all of them back together again! You can use this method regardless of whether you are making 2, 3 or 4 colour 4-patch blocks.

Here are some pros and cons of the Strip Piecing method:

great for making identical blocks
ideal for making lots at a time
great method to use when making multiple smaller sized blocks as there’s less cutting at the initial stage
fewer seams to sew
ideal when cutting from yardage

not ideal for working with scraps
not ideal when just making one quilt block
not suitable for fussy cutting
need to be careful with pressing the strips (especially the longer ones)

You can follow the illustrated step by step guide below, or you can jump straight to the demonstration video…

Strip Piecing Video Demo

Construction Guide for Strip Pieced 4-patch Quilt Blocks

In this section you can read about how to make two, three or four colour 4-patch quilt blocks using the strip piecing method.

You can read about how to calculate the size of strips you need to cut, further down the page.

Using Strip Piecing to Make TWO COLOUR 4-patch Quilt Blocks

When making a TWO colour 4-patch quilt block you will make just the one strip set, using two fabrics (A&B).

The two long strips are sewn together and pressed to one side (normally towards the darker fabric).

The strip set is then sub-cut down into smaller units/rectangles (see the video below for two different ways of doing this).

2 colour 4 patch sew sub cuts together in pairs to make block

Take two of the sub-cut units, rotating one of the units by 180 degrees, and sew together. You can swirl the centre seam allowance to get a flatter quilt block.

Click below to read more about Spinning Seam Allowances on 4-patch quilt blocks

Get flatter Quilt Blocks

Using Strip Piecing to Make THREE COLOUR 4-patch Quilt Blocks

When making a THREE colour 4-patch quilt block you will make two strip sets.

One strip set will feature fabrics A&B and the other strip set will feature fabrics A&C.

The strips are sewn together in pairs (A+B and A+C) and pressed towards the fabric that is featured in both strip sets, in this case A (this will help with nesting and swirling the centre seam).

The strip sets are then sub-cut down into smaller units/rectangles (see the video below for two different ways of doing this).

3 colour 4 patch quilt block sew strip sets

3 colour 4 patch quilt block sub cut strip sets

3 colour 4 patch quilt block sew together sub cut units

Take one sub-cut unit from each strip set, rotating one of the units by 180 degrees (in this example A&C), and sew together.

You can swirl the centre seam allowance to get a flatter quilt block. Click below to read more about Spinning Seam Allowances on 4-patch quilt blocks

Get flatter Quilt Blocks

Using Strip Piecing to Make FOUR COLOUR 4-patch Quilt Blocks

When making a FOUR colour 4-patch quilt block you will make two strip sets, using a total of four different colours/ fabrics/ prints.

When working out your pairings, remember that you are looking for a good level of contrast in your finished blocks.

The long strips are sewn together in pairs and pressed to one side. Press one pair towards fabric A and the other pair towards fabric D.

The strip sets are then sub-cut down into smaller units/rectangles (see the video below for two different ways of doing this).

4 colour 4 patch quilt block sew units together

Take one sub-cut unit from each pair and sew together. You can swirl the centre seam allowance to get a flatter quilt block.

Click below to read more about Spinning Seam Allowances on 4-patch quilt blocks

Get flatter Quilt Blocks

Cutting Guidance for Strip Piecing

How to work out what size of strips to cut for Strip Piecing

As you have seen above, you will need several strips of fabric to make your strip sets. The number and or length of these strips will depend on how many blocks you are looking to make.

‘Height‘ of Strips

The ‘height‘ of the strips will be half of your finished block size, plus half an inch for the seam allowances.

for example:

finished block = 8″ square

unfinished block = 8.5″ square

‘height‘ of strips = (8″ ÷ 2) = 4″+ 0.5″ = 4.5″ ‘high‘

Length of Strips

The length of the strips that you need will depend on how many blocks you are looking to make and whether you are making two colour or multiple colour 4-patch blocks.

When working out how long to cut your strips, or indeed how many strips to cut out you can use the following formula:

total number of blocks* x ‘height’ (see above) = total length of strips required

* allow for 2 per block when making 2 colour 4-patch quilt blocks with this method

PLUS I always like to add about an inch to the total length required to allow me to true up the edge before starting to sub-cut and to allow a little wriggle room.

Length of Strips for TWO COLOUR 4-patch Quilt Blocks

Two colour 4-patch quilt blocks made in this way are made from the same strip set (as opposed to three or four colour blocks that are made from a combination of two different strip sets…see below for more detail). This means that you will need to allow for TWO sub-cut units for each quilt block, from the one strip set.

Below are some examples of the calculations for cutting strips to make an 8″ finished quilt block. The ‘height’ of 4.5″ for the strips has been worked out using the calculation above.

As these examples are for two colour blocks, the number of strips required would need to be cut from each of the two fabrics being used (A&B).

Here are examples for making 2, 4 or 8 blocks:

example 1 – 2 Blocks

2 x 2 (total blocks x 2 units/block) = 4 x 4.5″ ‘height’ = 18″ long strips

I would cut strips 19″ long to give a little wriggle room

example 2 – 4 Blocks

4 x 2 (total blocks x 2 units/block) = 8 x 4.5″ ‘height’ = 36″ long strips

For ease, I would cut strips the full width of fabric (WOF)

example 3 – 8 Blocks

8 x 2 (total blocks x 2 units/block) = 16 x 4.5″ ‘height’ = 72″ long strip required

I would then divide the 72″ by the width of fabric (WOF) measurement (I tend to conservatively use 40″). This would mean I would need 1.8 WOF strips, so I would cut 2 full WOF strips.

Length of Strips for THREE COLOUR 4-patch Quilt Blocks

Below are some examples of the calculations for cutting strips to make an 8″ finished quilt block. The ‘height’ of 4.5″ for the strips has been worked out using the calculation above.

As these examples are for three colour blocks, the number of strips required will vary as follows:

colour A/background (featured twice in the finished block) – cut 2 strips
colour B (featured once in the finished block) – cut 1 strip
colour C (featured once in the finished block) – cut 1 strip

One strip set will be made with a strip from A and a strip from B and the second strip set will be made with a strip from A and a strip from C (see section above ‘Using Strip Piecing to Make THREE COLOUR 4-patch Quilt Blocks’ for illustrations).

Here are examples for making 2, 4 or 8 blocks:

example 1 – 2 Blocks

2 (total blocks) x 4.5″ ‘height’ = 9″ long strips

I would cut strips 10″ long to give a little wriggle room

example 2 – 4 Blocks

4 (total blocks) x 4.5″ ‘height’ = 18″ long strips

I would cut strips 19″ long to give a little wriggle room

example 3 – 8 Blocks

8 (total blocks) x 4.5″ ‘height’ = 36″ long strips

For ease, I would cut strips the full width of fabric (WOF)

Length of Strips for FOUR COLOUR 4-patch Quilt Blocks

When making four colour 4-patch quilt blocks you will need to cut strips for each of the colours/prints/fabrics being used.

You can use the same calculations as above for the three colour 4-patch quilt blocks.

Video Demonstration

How to make a 4-Patch Quilt Block – Strip Piecing Method

Below you can watch a full length video of me demonstrating the 4-Patch Quilt Blocks Strip Piecing method.

In this video you can see how I make 4-patch quilt blocks with the strip piecing method to make both two colour and three colour 4-patch quilt blocks.

As always, remember to select and arrange fabrics in a way that gives you the best contrast!

Hopefully you’ll have found this tutorial on making 4-Patch Quilt Blocks using the Strip Piecing method useful. Let me know if you decide to give it a try next time you need multiple identical quilt blocks.

If you would like a deep dive into the 4-patch quilt block (exploring layout styles, the effect of colour and different construction methods), then check out

The Ultimate Guide to 4-Patch Quilt Blocks.

The Ultimate Guide to 4-Patch Quilt Blocks

Want to try a different method?

If the Strip Piecing method isn’t for you or doesn’t suit the project that you are working, then you might like to try the one at a time or two at a time method. Each technique has some real benefits, so have a look and see which method works best for you!

Sew a 4 patch ONE at a time

Sew a 4 patch TWO at a time