Crosswise quilt

Crosswise quilt

The Churn Dash block is a perfect quilt block for using nickel squares of fabric.  It's a nine patch block and a 5" square can be used in the middle of the block without being cut down.  Many patterns have you cut your 5" charms to 4 1/2".  To me, this defeats the purpose a little but is necessary if you are using squares with half square triangles made from 5" squares, for example. 

With the Churn Dash block, the center stays at 5", the half square triangles are 4 1/2" and the remaining two patch block is 4 1/2" X 5"!!  This means that you can make two half square triangles blocks from two 5" squares and two of the two patch blocks from two 5" squares.

Why am I talking about Churn Dash blocks?  My Crosswise quilt is made from them.  However, I used a different color placement than the traditional block and actually created a Greek Cross block unbeknownst to me at the time that I was messing around with the pieces of the block.  Whatever you call the block, I'll be doing more variations of it because the nickel squares are perfect for it!