Easy Bricks Quilt Tutorial

This Easy Bricks Quilt designs is one of my favorite simple quilt tutorials for using 5″ Charm Square precuts and 10″ x 10″ Layer Cake precuts. I love the simplicity of this quilt and using the precut fabric squares makes the quilt come together SO quickly. (This post was updated in 2019.)

The Easy Bricks Quilt is a perfect quilt for beginners or anyone who needs to make a good-looking quilt, fast. It works well in lots of different types of fabric too.  The fabric choice can take this look from traditional to modern.

This quilt finishes at 63″ x 84″

Fabric Requirements:

• 2 Solid White Charm Packs (or cut 84 squares 5″ x 5″ from 1 5/8 yard of white solid fabric)
• 42 print squares 10″ x 10″ (or one Layer Cake or 10″ Stacker)
• 1/2 yard  binding
• 3 3/4 yards backing

[SIZE OPTION: This would be an easy quilt to make into a twin size quilt by adding a 4″ border all the way around. For this adjustment, use 1 yard of additional fabric for the border, cutting it into 8 strips 4 1/2″ x Width of Fabric. Backing requires 5 1/4 yards and 5/8 yard for binding.]

Take 42 10″ squares and cut them in half, creating 84 5″ x 10″ rectangles.

Sew one Bella Solid 5″ square to the top of each of the 84 5″ x 10″ strips. I like to just chain sew them through.

Press seams toward the print rectangles.

Sew 14 of the new units together, alternating the white square at the top and the bottom. Create 5 more similar rows of 14 units each. (I suggest laying out the whole quilt before assembling these rows.) Press the seams to the left on rows 1, 3, and 5 and press seams toward the right on rows 2, 4, and 6.

Sew the 6 rows together. Alternating seam directions should help rows line up nicely. Press final seams all one direction.

Quilt (mine was quilted by my wonderful friend, Meridee) and bind. You can read how to finish a quilt here.

And there you go! One lovely, quickly assembled 63″ x 84″ quilt! (If you add the border, the finished quilt will be 71″ x 92″.)

The Bricks quilt only requires 42 10″ squares, so technically only 1 Layer Cake, but I used 2 layer cakes for this project because I wanted to only use the prints that would really contrast nicely against the white solid. So what to do with 42 beautiful leftover squares? Make a second quilt!  This one is still a work in progress, but I have the top pieced. I just need to add the borders now. I used the Hour Glass Pattern available in my Pattern Shop.  (The only modification to that pattern is that I used 42 10″ squares instead of 48 – thereby taking off one row of 6 blocks.)

You can see the finished Hour Glass Quilt here. 

These two quilts are perfect way to use up a favorite set of 10″ x 10″ Layer Cake squares that you’ve been saving for “just the right project.” Now’s the time use that fabric!

Looking for other free quilt tutorials – check out over 90 free quilt tutorials here.