Vintage Cracker Block Updated and FREE Pattern

No, not a Saltine! Not a Triscuit or a Graham or other crunchy bite sized snack. This is the traditional name of a block that is easy to make without templates. It's a workshop I've taught several times and I love the "aha" moments my students have.

This is one of the quilts I made 20 years ago which was published in Quilt Magazine. I didn't have a decent photo of it until a few weeks ago when the person I gave it to asked me to put a rod pocket on the back so she could hang it. Doris loves red and black and didn't want to sit under it - she wanted to hang it so she could look at it!

Red and Black Cracker Quilt: 51" x 60"

Using my Magic Stax method, the blocks begin as 10-1/2" squares and end at 9-1/4" finished. That size doesn't matter because they are stitched one to another, tilting them back and forth.

Here's an even better photo:

Let's see two blocks from another quilt. These are from batiks and are very scrappy.

Two Cracker Blocks

They are NOT made using templates, just a stack of five 10-1/2" squares that are stacked, sliced, swapped and resewn. It's part of my Magic Stax series I developed 25 years ago. Look at the blocks. They each have 5 patches, so five 10-1/2" squares are used.

The FREE pattern is offered on the Windham Fabrics web site. I designed a quilt using their Crackle Collection (no kidding). Here are a few images of the quilts.

Crackle Quilt: 51" x 60"

And the blue bordered one that is the cover of the pattern:

Crackle Quilt Pattern

Any stack of 10-1/2" squares work with this pattern. No, they are not 10" squares because the square has to be divided by 3 (as you will see in the pattern photos). Take a look and pull out your fabrics. You can get four 10-1/2" squares from a 42/44" width. Trust me - that's how I made my dozen or so quilts using my Magic Stax technique.