b | Create the block

Exercise 03b

03b | Create a custom Four Patch block.

Objective | To create a quilt block from scratch. We call this a custom quilt block. We will be creating this Four Patch block, which is made up of small and large square pieces.

Did You Know | Custom quilt blocks are designed and created using the Block Editor, a pop-up window in PreQuilt.

01 | Create a New Custom Block

1. Click on the BLOCKS tab on the left side control panel.

   
2. Click on the Make Custom Block button.

   
3. The Block Editor window will open.

   

02 | Changing the Block Settings

The Block Editor has some options in the left side control panel that will help us recreate (or reverse engineer) our desired block - The Sawtooth Star.

1. Click on the Block Info tab.

   
2. Rename the block name to Autumn Tints A.

   
3. Change both the horizontal and vertical gridlines to 4.

   • Note: The Sawtooth Star can be divided into 16 equal squares (4 columns and 4 rows). This information will help us know how many gridlines to set.

   
4. Ensure snapping is on - as a default it is turned on.

   • Note: If the circles are outlined, snapping is on. If the circles are not outlined, simply click on the buttons to turn snapping on.

   

03 | Create Quilt Block Pieces

Creating a quilt block in PreQuilt is much like piecing a block with fabric. To create our Four Patch block, we're going to use the different shapes beneath the Block Editor Canvas to create the different sized square pieces of the block.

a | Create First Small Square Piece

1. Click on the Square shape beneath the empty Block Editor Canvas (). Once you click on it, it will appear on the Block Editor Canvas.

   
2. Click on the Square on the Block Editor Canvas and while still holding down on the mouse button, move the square into the third grid on the top row.

   

   
3. To resize the square to fill the space between gridlines, click on the bottom right box on the outside of your square and drag it to make the square bigger.

   • It should snap to fit the size of the grid unit perfectly.

   

   

b | Create the Large Square Piece

1. Click on the Square shape beneath the empty Block Editor Canvas (). Once you click on it, it will appear on the Block Editor Canvas.

   
2. Click on the Square on the Block Editor Canvas and while still holding down on the mouse button, move the square into the top left corner.

   

   
3. Resize the square by clicking on the bottom right box on the outside of the square and dragging it to make it bigger.

   • It should snap to fit the size of 4 grid units perfectly.

   

   

c | Clone Pieces to Create the Four Patch Block

Now we have the two different sized square pieces that are used in the Four Patch block. We can now clone (copy) each of these pieces until we have our completed block.

1. Click on the Small Square piece in the Block Editor Canvas.

2. Click the Clone button ()on the vertical Toolbar.

   • Note: A second square will be added to the canvas area.

   

   

   
3. Move the second Square piece diagonally to the fourth grid spot on the second row of the block editor canvas.

   

   
4. Repeat Steps c.1-3 for the small square and large square so that your block looks like this:

   

d | Introduce a New Color Tag for Remaining Small Squares

To create the remaining small squares we will need to clone the small squares AND link them to a new Color Tag to identify them as using a new fabric:

1. Clone one of the small square pieces.

   

   
2. Change the fabric used for the cloned square to black by clicking the Link button next to Color Tag B.

   

   

   
3. Move the new small square into the top right corner of the canvas.

   

   
4. Clone and move 3 more black small squares until all the remaining empty spots on the grid are filled.

   

04 | Save Block to Quilt

Ta da! We've now created the Sawtooth Star block and need to save it to the quilt we started.

1. Click on the Save button () in the top right corner of the Block Editor window.

   
2. Click on Save To Quilt.

   
3. The Block Editor will close and you will now see our new block in the BLOCKS tab.