Guess what? I am the quilter-in-charge of my Do Good Stitches (chapter Harmony) quilting bee for the month of June. EEEK!! This means that I get to pick out a quilt block for my sewing bee to create. The other members/stitchers will all make two blocks and send them to me via USPS mail. Then I get to put them all together; quilt and bind it and then donate it to a local charity. I have always wanted to create a repeating Houndstooth quilt (or what I like to call a froggy block).  Do you see the frog?

So this quilt can be broken down into one repeating block. Today I will show you how to break it down and create your own Froggy block.

The color palette I am asking the bee to use is the colors that you would see on a lovely, summer pond day. This pattern and its colors will make a wonderful boy’s quilt. I always have a hard time creating quilts for boys. And since I mostly make donation quilts for girls, this one needs to be a boys quilt. The colors are Navy Blue, Sky Blue, Teals, and Lime Greens.

The contrast fabric should have white in it such as a white print on white, fully solid white or a white print on light cream. Please keep one color in a block but scrap it up. See what I mean? I used a variety of teal fabrics in one block. For the contrast fabric, if you can, use one fabric per block but if that is not possible don’t worry about it.

I can never decide on how big I want the repeating pattern to be. Often I have thought of making a sewing bag with a super small houndstooth pattern. Also I have wanted to make a really large block using 10″ squares with a layered cake. Hmmm… for this project let’s go with a 12.5” block that will finish as a 12” Froggy block.  

Paper Piece the Froggy Block

This block can be broken down into four 6.5” squares. Two of the squares are very simple. They are just a 6.5” x 6.5” square of a fabric. One will be colored and the other will be white fabric. The other two squares are four alternating strips (strip squares).

You can make the strip square a few different ways. I will show you how to Paper Piece it. Click here to get a printable template. Just follow the numbers adding fabric, trimming seams and ironing them open as you go. The grey area tells you to use color fabric. On number 3, I added an extra line in the middle of it. This is if you are low in scraps and need the extra height. If you are new to paper piecing, check out a previous post called How to Paper Piece. Also, If you have any questions please let me know.

Putting the Froggy Block Together 

Tear your paper out. Sew a white square to a strip square. Sew a strip square to a color square. Press open. Then sew the two together making a 12.5″ block.

This is what the finished Froggy block quilt can look like.