Road To Tennessee Block Tutorial

I mentioned to my friend Mary the other day that I have a TON of charms I need to use up. {A couple of years ago, I went through a phase of charm pack impulse purchasing. I literally couldn't stop buying them!} I've used a lot of them, but I still have at least 6 or 7 that are just waiting for some action. Mary suggested a "Road to Tennessee" {Rd.2TN}block to use them up. It's funny that she mentioned it because I'm currently slightly obsessed with the Japanese X block {that I made for Amy for her month in our OBO Bee} which uses the Rd.2TN block as a foundation.

I really love this block! It's so easy and fun - it goes together quickly and is great for beginner quilters who want to develop some cutting and piecing skills.

::This tutorial is based on using charm squares, but really you can start with any size square and find the proportion you like with the corner triangles::

For each block you'll need:

 {4} charm squares {5" squares}

{8} 2" squares from background fabric



Start by drawing a diagonal line on the wrong side of the 2" squares.




Place a small square in the top right corner of the charm square, right sidea together. Make sure the diagonal line is creating a triangle in the corner of the charm square. Pin in place.
{If you want, you can pin all of the small squares to all of the charm squares and chain piece at this point. Just make sure they're all facing the way they should!}




Sew along the diagonal line.




Repeat with opposite corner.





Trim each corner to 1/4" seam allowance. {Trim off corners 1/4" away from seam}. Press seams open.



Lay out pieces how you'd like them to look. Attach the top pieces first using a 1/4" seam allowance, then the bottom pieces and finally sew the two halves together.

The fabrics used in this block give it a traditional feel while the block at the top of the page feels a bit more cutesy.



Variation: If you flip the blocks so the outside corner points are facing out and the opposite corners are facing to the middle, your quilt will look more "snowballish".




Variation: If you use a 3" square to make the corner triangles, the result is a more pronounced "X". This is a more modern-looking block as it will look more linear and the modern fabrics against a white background make the juicy colors pop.






These are two quilts I put together using Picnik. This is just to show you what a quilt would look like if you used only 3 colors to make the blocks. This would be a super-easy and quick baby quilt to give as a shower gift.

~Inspiration!~

My friend Mary made this yummy little number!



A Barn Quilt