Petit Four Quilt Along

The Courthouse Steps quilt block is the first block in the Petit Four Quilt Along hosted by Fat Quarter Shop. For this quilt along I am using scrap fabrics from the Beautiful Day fabric collection by Corey Yoder.

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The Petit Four quilt along is being hosted by Fat Quarter Shop to showcase their new 4 inch foundation paper pads. The pads come in a collection of the following quilt blocks

Courthouse Steps Quilt Blocks
Economy Quilt Blocks
Log Cabin Quilt Blocks
Pineapple Quilt Blocks
Snail Trail Quilt Blocks
Sparkle Star Quilt blocks

Each of the quilt blocks is only 4 inches finished, so the pieces needed for each section are small. This makes it the perfect project for scraps in your fabric stash. The finished quilt is 32.5 inches square.

I love participating in quilt alongs with Fat Quarter Shop because it challenges me to try different techniques. You also are able keep up with others progress on social media by following their hashtag #petitfourQAL. Kimberly will also periodically share her progress on her Friday livestreams on their YouTube Channel.

Fabric Selection

I have been working really hard at using up some of my scraps from other projects. I’m finding it easiest to use up collections of fabric scraps first. Those piles that are left over at the end of another quilt project. Since I only need small amounts of fabric for the foundation papers, I chose to use my Beautiful Day scraps that came from making the Heartfelt Quilt which was a free pattern and quilt along by Fat Quarter Shop that they used to raise funds for Make-A-Wish in 2022.

Scrap fabric of Beautiful Day by Corey Yoder

The Charm of Courthouse Steps Blocks

As I mentioned before, the 4″ size of these quilt blocks requires pretty small pieces to make the completed blocks. The largest strip needed was only 1.5 inches wide. Courthouse steps are made with coordinating strips “stepping in” from the left and right and another alternate color stepping in from the top and bottom. I used the white and grey background fabric for the side steps and one color for the top and bottom for each block. Since I needed 8 blocks, I made two blocks in each of the 4 main colors.

8 foundation paper pieced court house steps quilt blocks pictured with the pad of Courthouse Steps foundation paper.

The Courthouse Steps Blocks

I have previously posted about the basics of paper piecing. Including tools that will make the process easier to follow. Foundation paper piecing involves placing the fabrics on the wrong side of the numbered paper pattern. You then stitch the fabric down to the paper by following the lines on the right side of the paper. This means the fabric will be under the paper as you stitch. You then iron the fabrics open and then fold the paper back along the lines and trim the fabric seam edge before adding the next fabric strip in the numerical order. Then you keep adding strips on and trimming between each step. If you would like to see a video, Kimberly of Fat Quarter Shop shared the process to make the blocks this YouTube live stream.

After adding all of the fabrics to the foundation paper, you trim the outer most edge and will be left with a perfectly sized quilt block. I will wait to remove my papers until I am ready to put all of the quilt blocks together.

A courthouse steps quilt block made with 4 inch foundation paper in pink and white beautiful Day fabric.

Completed Courthouse Steps Quilt Blocks

The eight Courthouse Steps blocks for this month are completed. I made 2 in each of the colors I had of Beautiful Day fabrics. They came out perfectly sized. I kept the foundation paper attached to the back of the blocks to keep them crisp until I have all of the remaining quilt blocks made for the Petit Four Quilt Along.