Courthouse Steps Quilt Pattern

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Ladies and gentlemen of the quilting jury 👩‍⚖️👨‍⚖️, I present to you the Courthouse Steps quilt layouts—where every block is built like its namesake, with strips of fabric evidence stacked on all sides of a central square! 🏛️🧵

We're about to cross-examine various arrangements that will have you reaching for your (rotary) gavel 🔨 and cutting mat faster than a lawyer chasing an ambulance. 🏃‍♀️💨

A scrappy Courthouse Steps quilt
5 blocks across and 7 down

Courthouse Steps Quilt Block

For all the Courthouse Steps quilts shown below the number of blocks in the rows and columns is underneath the image.

The drawing (below, left) shows a center square framed by four 'rounds' of logs, added a pair at a time. Our center square(this time) is equal to the width of the strips.

Our blocks are draw on a 9x9 grid, but this may change as YOU add or subtract rounds to meet YOUR design needs.

A line drawing...

...and with fabric

On the right (above), is a traditional coloring of this block—light fabrics on opposing sides and dark ones on the remaining sides.

Several ways to lay out this traditional block are shown below. All are straight sets without sashing.

These first two layouts look like strings of beads...

5x7

5x7

This next layout resembles Hour Glass quilt blocks in a Broken Dishes setting.

5x7

This final setting reminds me of a Native American blanket...

5x7

Courthouse Steps Quilt: Color Variation #1

I call this variation 'Concentric Squares'.

The quilt below is illustrated with just these two blocks. But don't let that stop you from making this totally scrappy. It's a great way to use up scraps or play with color.

This layout is particularly effective when the outside round alternates between a light and a dark fabric choice. (We've used alternating pink and brown outside rounds in our example.)

This use of value creates more visual movement in the finished quilt.

5x7

Fast and Fun Courthouse Steps Baby Quilt

The quilt below was made with 1930's reproduction flannels.

The center square is 4-1/2 inches finished to accommodate the cute machine embroidery designs. If you don't have access to an embroidery machine, you could easily substitute fussy cut squares or redwork.

The larger center square makes this quilt fast and easy to piece!

A small border of pink flannel frames the center blocks. More Courthouse Steps blocks, this time with only one 'round' were stitched to form the outside border.

Courthouse Steps Baby Quilt

Courthouse Steps Quilt: Color Variation #2

Each quadrant of this block is pieced with a different fabric.

The fabric choice for the center square is the same for all the blocks.

Now when these blocks are laid out, they form squares that appear almost woven together.

For the more adventurous, make this a scrappy quilt.

We recommend creating a map of the fabric placements. When I pieced a quilt in this pattern, I pieced only a block or two at a time.

Keeping your fabric strips organized is crucial to the successful completion for a scrappy version of this design.

5x7

Courthouse Steps Quilt: Color Variation #3

13 x 13 grid

This particular layout is from an antique quilt. The colors shown are as close as I could get to the colors of the fabrics used in the actual quilt.

Honestly, I think this block looks ugly.

Really ugly!

But...

A few extra rounds of strips have been added to increase the visual complexity of the design. The piecing isn't any harder, there's just more of it.

Each quadrant alternates strips of two colors.

Two opposite quadrants are the same fabric and color placements (the gray and the cheddar).

The remaining quadrants are each made from a different pair of alternated fabrics.

When laid out and rotated, those ugly blocks become a very dramatic quilt.

That I think is just smashing!

7x7

It's interesting to note, the diagonal lines of this quilt almost appear to curve.

But we know it's all made from rectangles and squares!

And one last example...

15 x 15 grid

A very scrappy Courthouse Steps!

It has a total of 7 rounds of strips and is drawn on a 15x15 grid. (Yes, more rounds means more piecing. But it's not any harder than any other quilt on this page.)

A traditional coloration—two opposite light quadrants and two opposite dark—set in an on point layout.

Now add an on-point layout and you create this beauty.

Isn't amazing how the blocks seem to disappear. Love it!

5x7

This is one of those quilts that justifies my purchase of an AccuQuilt Go! to cut all those strips.

It really makes all the difference in the world.

Learn more about AccuQuilt fabric cutters here.

My Favorite Quilt Design Software

All the free patterns and block/quilt illustrations on this site were created in either EQ7 or EQ8—my favorite quilt design software.

Click here to purchase EQ8 from Amazon

This program makes it so easy to audition different colors and values with just a few mouse clicks.

Rotate and flip the blocks with another series of clicks.

I can't imagine going back to graph paper and colored pencils.

Or worse yet—simply keeping my fingers crossed. Fabric is much too expensive!

The box contains a software download license—License ID and Password—and a booklet to get you through installation and get you started. There is no disk as in the past. 

Download the software onto your computer from the EQ website using the ID and password as directed. At the time of download you can choose either PC or MAC. 

I LOVE Electric Quilt!

I hope you do to.

And there you have it, Fabric Fanatics!

You've just been through the Supreme Court of Quilting, and the verdict is in: you're now officially qualified to create a Courthouse Steps quilt that would make even RBG's collar jealous. 👩‍⚖️✨

Remember, in the world of quilting, there's no such thing as double jeopardy—you can make this block as many times as you want. So gather your fabric witnesses, prepare your batting for cross-examination, and get ready to stitch a quilt that'll sway the jury every time.

May your bobbins always be full, your seams always straight, and may the quilt odds be ever in your favor. Court is now adjourned – go forth and create quilting justice! 🏛️🧵⚖️

Case closed.

For more on Log Cabins, check out:

• Log Cabin Quilt Designs—ideas for YOUR Log Cabin quilt patterns

• Courthouse Steps Quilt Pattern

• Pineapple Quilt Pattern

• Cutting Instructions for a 9" finished Log Cabin

• How wide should the strips and center square be?

• Amish Square quilt block—a variation on a Courthouse Steps

• Secrets to perfect Log Cabin blocks

• Make a Log Cabin block

• Log cabin quilts can be paper pieced—try it for yourself

• Chimneys and Cornerstones Quilt

• How to quilt a Streak of Lightning quilt—a Log Cabin quilting suggestion

This article was printed from Generations-Quilt-Patterns.com

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