Dutchmans Puzzle Block: 3 Yard Quilt Pattern

You can sew this Dutchman’s Puzzle Quilt pattern with just 3 yards of fabric! Seeing how much my readers love my 3-yard quilt patterns makes me so happy. They are easy to sew and so popular. If you have three 1-yard pieces of fabric in your stash and are feeling creative, you can make a quilt. This darling quilt uses the Dutchman puzzle quilt block to make a 47” x 59” throw quilt pattern with 12” quilt blocks.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The free Dutchmans Puzzle 3 Yard Quilt Pattern is included in the blog post below and is free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The PDF download is inexpensive and optional. Did you know you can get ALL the Optimized for Printing PDF files organized in a library for you to access anytime you want? Check it out.

What size is this 3-yard quilt?

Most 3-yard quilts are throw quilts or lap quilts because they don’t require a lot of fabric. This pattern would also make a darling baby quilt with 3 yards of fabric. Since this type of quilt isn’t very big, you can finish it quickly and give it as a gift or use it in your home. Because of the size, throw quilts like this one are easy to quilt on a domestic sewing machine.

This Dutchman Puzzle quilt pattern uses three different fabrics in each block, instead of just two, in order to make a beautiful secondary design. Can you see the Friendship Stars and pinwheels in the secondary design?

You’ll have enough fabric to finish the quilt top, including 12 blocks and 3 borders. More fabric is required for the binding and quilt back.

If you love to use your AccuQuilt fabric cutter like I do, I’ll share the optional cutting die numbers to make this pattern Accuquilt-friendly. Using an Accuquilt is optional, but I love it! See all my Accuquilt-friendly quilts. Look under the cutting dimensions below for a list of fabric-cutting dies you may use instead.

Except for the strips, all of the dies I used for this quilt were in the GO! Qube Mix & Match 12″ Block set.

How to Choose the Right 3 Yards of Fabric

All my 3 Yard Quilt Patterns make it really easy to pick your fabric. First, find a beautiful ‘focus fabric’ in your stash or at your local quilt shop. This should be a fabric that really sings to you – or that makes you think of the intended recipient of the quilt.

In the example above, my focus fabric is a gorgeous yellow, pink, and teal floral print from Tilda’s Bloomsville Collection.

After you have chosen your focus fabric, choose one coordinating fabric that is lighter and one coordinating fabric that is darker. My darker coordinating fabric is also in the Bloomsville Collection, and my lighter collection is from Ruby Star’s Speckled Collection. It’s called Speckled Metallic Neon Pink. I’m so glad it’s still available – I love this fabric!

Wouldn’t this quilt pattern make a beautiful blue and cream quilt too?

I used my EQ8 Quilt Design Software to see what this quilt would look like using some fabrics from a special project I’m working on with Benartex. I’ll share more information about it soon! Make sure you are signed up for my free newsletter.

If you follow these instructions for choosing your fabrics, you can’t go wrong, and you probably already have 3 fabrics in your stash that will make a beautiful quilt.

Dutchmans Puzzle Free Three Yard Quilt Pattern

This free quilt pattern includes instructions for the Dutchman’s Puzzle Block using three different fabrics. There are 12 easy blocks in this quilt, and each block finishes at 12”.

Including the borders, this finished throw quilt is 47” x 59”. It’s perfect for snuggling on the couch or donating to Project Linus or another worthy organization.

Let’s get creative and sew a beautiful quilt today!

Important note: This pattern squeezes as much as possible out of each yard of fabric. The width of each piece must have 42” of usable fabric. Most fabric printed in the last 5-10 years will work great because it’s 44” wide, including the selvages so it is 42-43” wide after you cut off the selvage. Please measure the width of your fabric pieces before getting started to make sure and follow the cutting charts below carefully.

You will need:

• 3 one yard cuts of fabric (a main focus fabric, one darker fabric, and one lighter fabric)*
• a rotary cutter acrylic ruler, and mat
• sewing machine
• thread (I suggest thread matching the lighter fabric)
• ironing board and iron

*Note: You may need a few inches of extra fabric if you are using an AccuQuilt fabric cutter.

To sew the quilt top into a finished quilt, you will also need:

• 3 yards of backing fabric (or enough to piece together a 53” x 65” or larger quilt back)
• a piece of quilt batting at least 53” x 65”
• 1/2 yard of fabric for the binding

Cutting:

Fabric A is your focus fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 12 squares 7 1/4” x 7 1/4”
• 4 strips 3 1/2” x 42”
• 2 strips 3 1/2” x 27”

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• Instead of cutting 7 1/4” squares, cut 48 6” finished QST triangles using die 55726 (in the 12” Qube set)
• The border strips may be cut with the 3 1/2” strip cutter die 55032

Fabric B is the darker fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 12 squares 7 1/4” x 7 1/4”
• 24 squares 3 7/8” x 3 7/8”
• 2 strips 2” x 12”
• 4 strips 2” x 42”

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• Instead of cutting 7 1/4” squares, cut 48 6” finished QST triangles using die 55726 (in the 12” Qube set)
• Instead of cutting 3 7/8” squares, cut 48 3” finished HST triangles using die 55703 (in the 12” Qube set)
• The border strips may be cut with the 1 1/2” strip cutter die 55024

Fabric C is the lighter fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 72 squares 3 7/8” x 3 7/8”
• 3 strips 1 1/2” x 33”
• 2 strips 1 1/2” x 42”

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• Instead of cutting 3 7/8” squares, cut 144 3” finished HST triangles using die 55703 (in the 12” Qube set)
• The border strips may be cut with the 1 1/2” strip cutter die 55024

Quilt Piecing

Use a scant 1/4’’ seam allowance and a regular stitch length such as 2 – 2.5.

Tip: It is helpful to use a scant 1/4” seam allowance when making flying geese units using this method. That way, you will have a little extra to trim away and make your pieces perfectly sized.

How to Sew the Dutchman’s Puzzle Quilt Block

Make 48 Flying Geese Units

1. Cut all of the 7 1/4” Fabric A and Fabric B squares in half diagonally twice. You should have 48 triangles in each fabric.

2. Cut all of the 3 7/8” Fabric B and Fabric C squares in half diagonally once. You should have 48 Fabric B triangles and 144 Fabric C triangles.

3. To make a ‘flying geese unit A,’ sew one larger Fabric A triangle to a smaller Fabric B triangle and a Fabric C triangle as shown. It is very important that the Fabric B triangle is sewn to the left side and the Fabric C triangle is sewn to the right side.

Make 48 flying geese unit A pieces. Cut off the ‘dog ears’ and trim each piece to 3 1/2″ x 6 1/2″, if desired.

4. To make a ‘flying geese unit B,’ sew one larger Fabric B triangle to two Fabric C triangles as shown.

Make 48 flying geese unit B pieces. Cut off the ‘dog ears’ and trim each piece to 3 1/2″ x 6 1/2″, if desired.

Assemble the Dutchman’s Puzzle Quilt Blocks

1. Sew a flying geese unit A piece to a flying geese unit B piece, with the unit A piece on top, as shown.

Make 48 square pieces.

2. Sew two of these square pieces together as shown. Note how the second piece is rotated 90 degrees.

Make 24 half-block pieces.

3. Arrange two half-block pieces as shown. Note that the second piece is rotated 180 degrees.

Sew the two pieces together to make a Dutchmans Puzzle block. Repeat to make 12 blocks.

Assemble the Dutchmans Puzzle 3 Yard Quilt Top

1. Arrange the 12 quilt blocks on a large table, a quilt design wall, or the floor. There should be four rows, each row having three blocks.

2. Sew the blocks together to make four rows.

3. Sew the quilt block rows together.

Measure and Sew the Inner Border

1. Sew all the 1 1/2” strips of the light fabric (Fabric C) together to make one long strip. You will cut pieces from this to make the inner border.

The expected length of the side border pieces is 48 1/2”. I highly recommend measuring the quilt top and cutting all border pieces to the correct size. See how to cut the correct size quilt borders. Attach the side borders.

2. The expected length of the top and bottom border pieces is 38 1/2”. Measure your quilt and cut two strips for the top and bottom border. Attach the top and bottom border pieces.

Measure and Sew the Second Border

1. Sew a 2” x 12” Fabric B strip to a 2” x 42” fabric B strip. Repeat to make one more long Fabric B strip. You will cut these two strips to the correct size for the second side border pieces.

The expected length of the second side border pieces is 50 1/2”. Measure the quilt top with the inner border and cut two strips for the side edges. Attach the side borders.

2. The expected length of the top and bottom second border pieces is 41 1/2”. Measure your quilt and cut these pieces from the remaining 2” x 42” Fabric B strips. Attach the top and bottom border pieces.

Measure and Sew the Outer Border

1. Piece together all of the 3 1/2” wide strips of fabric A for your outer border.

Measure your quilt top with the two other borders. The expected length of the outer side border pieces is 53 1/2”. Cut two strips the required length. Attach the side border pieces.

2. The expected length of the top and bottom border pieces is 47 1/2”. Measure your quilt and cut two strips for the top and bottom border. Attach the top and bottom outer border pieces.

Finishing the Dutchman’s Puzzle Three Yard Quilt Pattern

1. Cut or piece together a 53” x 65” or larger piece of quilt backing fabric and make a quilt sandwich with the backing, batting, and top.

2. Baste together with fusible batting, pins or basting spray.

3. Quilt as desired. Straight line quilting or cross hatch quilting with your walking foot would be fast and easy.

4. Cut 5 binding strips and bind using your favorite method. This is my favorite quilt binding method.

As always, I love seeing the quilts you make with my free sewing patterns. Please post a picture to Instagram and tag me @sewcanshe so I can take a look!

xoxo,