Granny Square Quilt Pattern: Fat Quarter Friendly and Free!

Sew a beautiful Granny Square Quilt reminiscent of earlier days using fresh new fabric! This free and fat quarter friendly quilt pattern uses 11 fat quarters (pre-cut 18” x 21” pieces of fabric) and 3 3/4 yards of background fabric to make a generous 71” x 71” throw quilt.

The Granny Square Block is a traditional quilt block that mimics the look of the classic crochet design. You may have also heard this block called Courthouse Square Quilt Block.

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There are 16 Granny Square Blocks in this quilt – 8 blocks with large granny square motifs and 8 blocks with smaller granny square motifs. I’ll share with you how I selected my 11 fat quarters when I was choosing fabrics and colors for my quilt. Then you can select similar color combinations or make a completely different and unique Granny Square Quilt.

This Granny Square Quilt pattern:

• Uses easy patchwork piecing
• Would make a great housewarming or birthday gift
• Is a generously sized throw quilt, great for making a bed warmer or snuggling up on the couch.

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.

The pre-cut fat quarters that I used were from the Jubilee collection from Tilda Fabrics. They give it a cheery and traditional feeling.

Of course, you can also use more traditional fabrics if you want to give your Ohio Stars a classic look. I used EQ8 quilt design software to show you how that might turn out.

What is a Granny Square Block?

Let’s break it down! This Granny Square Quilt Block is sewn from 13 equally sized squares and 12 triangles. The triangles at the sides are cut as quarter square triangles so the long straight edges will give stability to the sides of your quilt block. The corner triangles are cut as half square triangles to give stability to the corners of the block. This quilt block is 12 1/2” square when finished.

Our quilt blocks that contain smaller granny squares are framed with corner squares to bring these blocks to 12 1/2” finished as well.

After all 16 of your blocks are sewn, we’ll put them together with some sashing, add a border, and finish the quilt.

So let’s get started!

How to Choose Fat Quarters for this Granny Square Quilt

For my quilt, I decided to use mostly blue, red, and turquoise fat quarters, and accent those with 3 (mostly) cream fat quarters and one yellow fat quarter.

You can use my tips for selecting fabrics or throw them to the wind and make your quilt however you wish! I used:

• 2 blue fat quarters for the main color in half of my large granny square blocks
• 2 red fat quarters for the main color in the other half of the large granny square blocks
• 2 cream colored fat quarters for the accent color in the large granny square blocks
• 2 turquoise fat quarters for the main color in the small granny square blocks
• 1 cream colored fat quarter for an accent color in the small granny square blocks
• 1 red fat quarter as an accent color in the small granny square blocks
• 1 yellow fat quarter for the sashing squares

I used my 2 blue fat quarters and 1 cream fat quarter to make 4 blue large granny square blocks, with the center blocks cut from leftover red fabric.

I used my 2 red fat quarters and the second cream fat quarter to make 4 red large granny square blocks, with the center blocks cut from leftover blue fabric.

I used my 2 turquoise fat quarters and the third cream fat quarter to make 8 turquoise small granny square blocks, with the center squares and corner squares from a third red fat quarter.

How to Sew the Fat Quarter Friendly Granny Square Quilt

Finished quilt dimensions: 71’’ x 71’’. Finished block size: 12 1/2” x 12 1/2”.

You will need:

• 11 coordinating fat quarters (18” x 21” pieces of fabric), suggested:
  • 2 blue fat quarters
  • 3 red fat quarters
  • 2 turquoise fat quarters
  • 3 cream colored fat quarters
  • 1 yellow fat quarter
• 3 3/4 yards background fabric
• 5/8 yard binding fabric
• 4 1/4 yards backing fabric, or enough to piece together a 76” x 76” square
• a 76” x 76” piece of quilt batting
• a rotary cutter, acrylic ruler, and mat
• sewing machine
• thread (I suggest thread matching the background fabric)

Cutting:

These cutting instructions assume that you will allocate fat quarter colors the same way that I did. Feel free to cut the same number of pieces in any combination that you wish.

From the blue fat quarters, cut:

• 36 squares 3 1/2” x 3 1/2” (half from one fat quarter and half from another)

From the red fat quarters, cut

• 36 squares 3 1/2” x 3 1/2” (half from one fat quarter and half from another)
• 40 squares 2 1/2” x 2 1/2” (from the third red fat quarter)

From the turquoise fat quarters, cut

• 64 squares 2 1/2” x 2 1/2” (half from one fat quarter and half from another)

From the cream colored fat quarters, cut:

• 32 squares 3 1/2” x 3 1/2” (half from one fat quarter and half from another)
• 32 squares 2 1/2” x 2 1/2” (from the third cream colored fat quarter)

From the yellow fat quarter, cut

• 25 squares 3” x 3” (for the sashing squares)

From the background fabric, cut:

• 16 squares 5 3/8” x 5 3/8” (for the quarter square triangles in the large granny square blocks)
• 16 squares 2 7/8” x 2 7/8” (for the half square triangles in the large granny square blocks)
• 16 squares 4” x 4” (for the quarter square triangles in the small granny square blocks)
• 16 squares 2 1/4” x 2 1/4” (for the half square triangles in the small granny square blocks)
• 32 rectangles 2 1/2” x 9” (for the border strips inside the small granny square blocks)
• 40 rectangles 3” x 13” (for the sashing strips)

For the borders, cut:

• 7 strips 4 1/2” x width of fabric (WOF)

Border tips:

• You will need to piece strips together to make the border.
• Wait until the center of the quilt top is finished so you can measure it and sew accurate borders. See how to measure and cut accurate quilt borders.

Accuquilt Cutting Tips:

If you have an Accuquilt cutter, you can quickly cut the squares, some of the triangles, and strips for the sashing and block borders. The following dies will work with this quilt pattern:

• The 3 1/2” squares may be cut with die 55006 or the 3 1/2” strip cutting die 55032
• The 2 1/2” squares may be cut with die 55059, 55709 (in the GO! Qube Mix & Match 8″ Block Set), or the 2 1/2” strip cutting die 55017
• Instead of cutting 2 7/8” squares, cut twice as many 2” finished HST triangles with the Value die 55018 or 2” finished HST die 55712 (in the GO! Qube Mix & Match 8″ Block Set)
• The 2 1/2” block border strips may be cut with the 2 1/2” strip cutting die 55017
• The 3” sashing strips may be cut with the 3” strip cutting die 55084

How to Sew a Large Granny Square Block

Note: Both the Large Granny Square Block and the Small Granny Square block finish at 12 1/2” square. The words ‘large’ and ‘small’ refer to the size of the granny square motif inside the block.

Use a 1/4” or scant 1/4” seam allowance (if preferred) and a medium stitch length.

1. The number of pieces that each Large Granny Square Block requires is shown above. You will sew a total of 8 Large Granny Square Blocks. I made 4 blue with red centers and 4 red with blue centers.

2. Sew two main color squares, two coordinating color squares, and the square that you want to be the center of the block in a row (as shown above), with the center square in the middle of the row and the main color squares at the ends.

Make 1.

3. Sew two main color squares and one coordinating color square in a row with the coordinating color square in the center.

Make 2.

4. Cut the 2 7/8” x 2 7/8” background fabric squares in half diagonally once. Sew two of these triangles to the ends of the row of 5 squares as shown.

5. Cut the 5 3/8” x 5 3/8” background fabric squares in half diagonally twice. Sew two of these triangles to the ends of a row of 3 squares as shown. Repeat with the remaining row of 3 squares.

6. Sew quarter square triangles to the side edges of two main color 3 1/2” x 3 1/2” squares.

7. Sew the pieces together in 5 diagonal rows, as shown. Sew half square triangles to the remaining corners. Square the block to 13”, if desired.

8. Repeat to make 8 Large Granny Square Blocks.

How to Sew a Small Granny Square Block

Note: Both the Large Granny Square Block and the Small Granny Square block finish at 12 1/2” square. The words ‘large’ and ‘small’ refer to the size of the granny square motif inside the block.

Use a 1/4” or scant 1/4” seam allowance (if preferred) and a medium stitch length.

1. The number of pieces that each Small Granny Square Block requires is shown above. You will sew a total of 8 Small Granny Square Blocks. All of mine are turquoise with cream and red accents.

2. Sew two main color squares, two coordinating color squares, and the square that you want to be the center of the block in a row (as shown above), with the center square in the middle of the row and the main color squares at the ends.

Make 1.

3. Sew two main color squares and one coordinating color square in a row with the coordinating color square in the center.

Make 2.

4. Cut the 2 1/4” x 2 1/4” background fabric squares in half diagonally once. Sew two of these triangles to the ends of the row of 5 squares as shown.

5. Cut the 5 3/8” x 5 3/8” background fabric squares in half diagonally twice. Sew two of these triangles to the ends of a row of 3 squares as shown. Repeat with the remaining row of 3 squares.

6. Sew quarter square triangles to the side edges of two main color 2 1/2” x 2 1/2” squares.

7. Sew the pieces together in 5 diagonal rows, as shown. Sew half square triangles to the remaining corners.

8. Sew 2 1/2” coordinating color squares to the ends of a 2 1/2” x 9” background fabric strip.

Repeat to make 2.

9. Sew 2 1/2” x 9” background fabric strips to the side edges of the small granny square piece.

10. Sew the two pieces sewn in step 8 to the top and bottom edges of the block. Square the block to 13”, if desired.

8. Repeat to make 8 Small Granny Square Blocks.

Assemble the Quilt Top

1. Use a quilt design wall or a bed to lay out your blocks in the alternating design shown or one that looks good to you.

2. Sew the blocks into rows with 3” x 13” sashing strips in between each block and sashing strips at the ends of the rows. Press the seams toward the sashing strips. Make 4 rows.

3. Sew four 3” x 13” sashing strips with 3” x 3” coordinating color squares in between and squares at the ends. Press the seams toward the sashing strips.

This is a sashing row. Repeat to make 5 sashing rows.

4. Sew the quilt block rows together with the sashing rows in between. Sew Sashing rows to the top and bottom of the quilt top as well.

Measure and Sew the Borders

1. Sew all of the 4 1/2” strips of the background fabric together to make one long strip. You will cut pieces from this to make the border.

The expected length of the side border pieces is 63”. 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. Cut two strips for the side borders. Attach the side border pieces.

2. The expected length of the top and bottom border pieces is 71”. Measure your quilt and cut two strips for the top and bottom border. Attach the top and bottom border pieces.

Finishing the Fat Quarter Granny Square Quilt Pattern

1. Cut or piece together a 76” x 76” piece of 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 7-8 binding strips and bind using your favorite method. This is my favorite quilt binding method.

xoxo,