Huddle Quilt: Easy and Free Diamond in a Square Pattern!

Sew a fast and easy throw quilt using fat quarters! This free quilt pattern is great for beginners.

The Huddle Quilt is a fast and easy medallion quilt pattern that’s perfect for large prints because it makes them the focal point. Plus there is plenty of negative space to let the eye enjoy your favorite fabrics even more.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The free Huddle 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 to access anytime you want? Check it out.

It’s also a medallion quilt (albeit a very simple one) because the quilt top is pieced together starting at the center, and working outward – a technique that is similar to log cabin quilt blocks.

My Huddle Quilt is a 54’’ square throw size.

Some of you have asked so I will share with you: I also did the math for an 82’’ square queen sized Huddle Quilt, which simply requires one more round of Diamond in a Square blocks plus a border. I never completed this big size, but I will provide the instructions for adding those 2 extra rounds at the end of this blog post . Keep in mind you will need twice as much fabric to make the queen sized quilt.

Free Huddle Quilt Pattern

Fabric requirements for a 54’’ square throw quilt:

• 1/4 yard each of 8 different focus fabrics (you could use FQ’s or fat eighths)*
• 2 1/2 yards of background fabric
• 1/2 yard of fabric for binding
• 3 yards of backing fabric
• 60’’ square of quilt batting

* Note about focus fabrics: as you can see above, I separated my Tula Pink All-Stars Fat Quarters into different colorways and then chose 2 FQ from each colorway. You will only use 1/2 of each fat quarter (or may use fat eighths of fabric) for 4 of the prints, and if you have at least 20 5/8’’ of usable width, you may use fat eighths (or half of a FQ) for all of the prints. See my cutting layout below.

Cutting:

Divide the focus fabrics into two sets – each set will have four FQ’s, one fabric from each colorway. If there are smaller prints, put them in set 2.

From each FQ in focus fabric set 1, cut:

• 2 squares 7’’ x 7’’
• 2 squares 3 1/2’’ x 3 1/2’’

From each FQ in focus fabric set 2, cut:

• 2 squares 7’’ x 7’’
• 2 squares 3 1/2’’ x 3 1/2’’
• 1 square 3 1/8’’ x 3 1/8’’

From your background fabric, cut:

• 2 squares 4 3/4’’ x 4 3/4’’
• 2 strips 3 1/4’’ x 7 3/4’’
• 2 strips 3 1/4’’ x 13 3/4’’
• 32 squares 3 1/4’’ x 3 1/4’’
• 2 strips 3 3/4’’ x 21 3/4’’
• 2 strips 3 3/4’’ x 28 1/4’’
• 32 squares 5 3/4’’ x 5 3/4’’
• 2 strips 4 1/4’’ x 46 3/4’’
• 2 strips 4 1/4’’ x 54 1/4’’

Sewing:

1/4’’ seam allowance used throughout.

Piece the center 4-patch block:

1. Use the four 3 1/8’’ x 3 1/8’’ focus fabric blocks to sew 2 rows of 2, and then sew the rows together.

2. Cut the two 4 3/4’’ x 4 3/4’’ background fabric squares in half diagonally.

3. Center a triangle along one side of the 4-patch square. Stitch.

Place another triangle opposite the first and stitch.

4. Press the triangles away from the center of the block. Trim away the little ‘dog ears’ on both sides of the triangles to reduce bulk.

5. Sew two more triangles to the block. Press the triangles out.

6. Trim the block so it is 7 3/4’’ square.

Add the first border:

1. Sew the two 3 1/4’’ x 7 3/4’’ strips to the sides of the block.

2. Sew the two 3 1/4’’ x 13 3/4’’ strips to the top and bottom edges of the block.

Make 16 small Diamond In the Square blocks:

1. Cut all of the 3 1/4’’ x 3 1/4’’ background fabric squares in half diagonally

2. Center a triangle along one side of a 3 1/2” print fabric square. Stitch.

Place another triangle opposite the first and stitch.

3. Press the triangles away from the center of the block.

Trim away the little ‘dog ears’ on both sides of the triangles to reduce bulk.

4. Sew two more triangles to the block. Press the triangles out.

5. Square up and trim each block to a 4 3/4’’ square.

Make 16 blocks.

Sew the small Diamond in a Square blocks around the quilt top:

1. Arrange the small blocks around the border of your 4-patch block in a way that you like.

2. Sew together 2 sets of 3 blocks in a row and 2 sets of 5 blocks in a row.

3. Sew the sets of three to the sides of the quilt top and the sets of 5 to the top and bottom.

Add the Second Border:

1. Sew the two 3 3/4’’ x 21 3/4’’ strips to the sides of the top.

2. Sew the two 3 3/4’’ x 28 1/4’’ strips to the top and bottom edges of the top.

Make 16 medium Diamond In the Square blocks:

1. Cut all of the 5 3/4’’ x 5 3/4’’ background fabric squares in half diagonally

2. Sew the new triangles to the 7’’ squares in the same way that you did for the small Diamond in a Square blocks.

Square up and trim each block to a 9 3/4’’ square.

Make 16 blocks.

Sew the medium Diamond in a Square blocks around the quilt top:

1. Arrange the medium sized blocks around the quilt top in a way that you like.

2. Sew together 2 sets of 3 blocks in a row and 2 sets of 5 blocks in a row.

3. Sew the sets of three to the sides of the quilt top and the sets of 5 to the top and bottom.

Add the Third Border:

1. Sew the two 4 1/4’’ x 46 3/4’’ strips to the sides of the top.

2. Sew the two 4 1/4’’ x 54 1/4’’ strips to the top and bottom edges of the top.

Your throw sized quilt top is done! I sandwiched mine with a pieced backing and wool batting and quilted it with wavy lines. See my technique here.

I did promise you instructions for making a queen sized quilt using this design.

In addition to the above, an 82 3/4’’ square queen size quilt would require:

• 24 large focus fabric squares 8 1/8’’ x 8 1/8’’
• 48 background fabric squares 6 1/2’’ x 6 1/2’’
• 2 background fabric strips 4’’ x 75 3/4’’ (side border pieces)
• 2 background fabric strips 4’’ x 82 3/4’’ (top and bottom border pieces)

Cut the background squares in half diagonally and sew them to the edges of the large focus fabric squares. Trim each large Diamond in a Square block to 11 1/4’’ square. Arrange and sew together as seen above. Sew the shorter border strips to the sides and the longer border strips to the top and bottom, as you did before.

If you make a Huddle Quilt (throw or queen), I’d love to see! Please tag me on Instagram @sewcanshe so I can check it out.

xoxo,