Snail's Trail quilt block
A four-patch center and four rounds of triangles. Each round turns the square 45° and two of its triangles are dark, so the dark fabric spirals out from the middle.
The Snail's Trail is pieced on a 8 × 8 grid, so a 12" block has 1½" grid squares.
Also called Monkey Wrench.
Cutting for 6", 8", 10", 12" blocks
| Fabric | Pieces | Cut | 6" block | 8" block | 10" block | 12" block |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| main | Center four-patch | 2 | 1¼" | 1½" | 1¾" | 2" |
| background | Center four-patch | 2 | 1¼" | 1½" | 1¾" | 2" |
| main | Round 1 triangles, cut once on the diagonal | 1 | 2" | 2⅜" | 2¾" | 3" |
| background | Round 1 triangles, cut once on the diagonal | 1 | 2" | 2⅜" | 2¾" | 3" |
| main | Round 2 triangles, cut once on the diagonal | 1 | 2⅜" | 2⅞" | 3⅜" | 3⅞" |
| background | Round 2 triangles, cut once on the diagonal | 1 | 2⅜" | 2⅞" | 3⅜" | 3⅞" |
| main | Round 3 triangles, cut once on the diagonal | 1 | 3" | 3¾" | 4½" | 5⅛" |
| background | Round 3 triangles, cut once on the diagonal | 1 | 3" | 3¾" | 4½" | 5⅛" |
| main | Round 4 triangles, cut once on the diagonal | 1 | 3⅞" | 4⅞" | 5⅞" | 6⅞" |
| background | Round 4 triangles, cut once on the diagonal | 1 | 3⅞" | 4⅞" | 5⅞" | 6⅞" |
Cut sizes include ¼" seam allowances.
How to sew a 12" Snail's Trail block
Sew the four 2" squares into a four-patch.
Cut the squares for each round once on the diagonal. Sew a triangle to two opposite sides of the four-patch, then the other two, with the dark triangles on two neighboring sides. Trim ¼" past the points.
Add the next three rounds the same way, keeping the darks on the same side of the spiral each time. The block measures 12" finished, 12½" with seam allowance.
Quilts made with the Snail's Trail block
Snail's Trail quilt patternTo paint it on a board, the Snail's Trail barn quilt pattern has the measurements for 2, 4 and 8 ft boards and the paint for each color.
Design a quilt with this block
Quiltspiration draws it in your own fabric and gives the cut list for any size.
