G is for Greek Cross

This month I'm participating in A to Z Challenge, where 100's of bloggers around the world challenge themselves to write every day for the month of April, working their way through the alphabet.  I'm sewing a patchwork block for each letter of the alphabet. Each day I will share that block and a little about the block and direct you to where you can find a tutorial for that block on the Web.

G is for Greek Cross

Greek Cross is a traditional block. Whilst researching it I came across a website called Delaware Quilts who posted a tutorial on the Greek Cross in which they said 

If you look at the Double Monkey Wrench, you will see that this is just another version of the same block, with the colors rearragned. And that block is just another name for the Churn Dash block. And if you look in Block Base for other blocks with named Greek Cross, you will find what I like to call the chunky churn dash (BB Block 1851) That's the way blocks are named I guess...don't ask me why.

I love that last sentence. It sums the conundrum of quilting blocks and names that can haunt a quilting group organising a block swap (where participants make multiples of the same block and swap them with each other) You have to be sure that you are all making the same block - not just one of the same name!


This was my first attempt at the Greek Cross using a tutorial found on  Quilter's Cache here

It came out a bit small... too small for me to be able to fudge it into the quilt. It measured under 12" and needed to be 12.5". I can fudge 1/4" no problem and even 3/8" but 1/2" is problematic and this was more than that! So I redid it (and the small one went into the backing)

It looks  different doesn't it. Its all in the fabric choice - can completely change the look of a block/quilt. In the first attempt I had a different colour in the centre, no doubt because I didn't have a big enough piece of the fabric in my scrap bin to make the centre square.

This is an alternative for the block, and is a way of using feature fabric for an eye spy quilt for a child, as demonstrated in this block from Quilter's cache

Quilter's Cache showed a quilt made just from the Greek Cross block.

The Delaware Quilts tutorial for the block offered a number of different layouts for a quilt made with the block, interspersing it with other blocks

This one is interspersed with Churn Dash (or Double Monkey Wrench.)

This one has snowball blocks between them