King David's Crown Quilt Block Tutorial: 5", 7½", 10", 12½" and 15" finished

Let's dive right into a majestic pattern that'll have you feeling like royalty in no time. We're about to take on the King David's Crown quilt block, a design that might look tricky but is surprisingly simple.

Don't let the name fool you, this design doesn't require a crown on your head or even an ounce of royal blood. With our step-by-step guide, you'll be the ruler of your sewing machine in no time.

Those pointy pinnacles of patchwork perfection are as easy as sewing on a line. I promise.

Let's tackle those triangles of textile triumph together!

Your personal throne room—or rather—quilting studio awaits.

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Download and print paper piecing pattern

To hold the Beam patch in place, I like to use the tiniest bit of Elmer's Washable Glue stick. Stick it to the back side of the pattern using those dashed lines for quick, precise placement.

Yes, your fabric will extend past the outside edge of the pattern in the lower right by roughly 1/4". We want something to trim instead of just squeaking by.

Since our Beam fabric is darker in this sample, I want to make sure the wilder True Colors fabric doesn't show through the light white of my back ground. 

The simple way to insure this is to nudge the Corner patch a couple of threads past the long edge of the Beam. (red arrow) The background is a bit brighter at the edge where there's no Corner fabric underneath it.

With the wide edges of the patches are on the same side when properly positioned.

If you're new to making Corner Beams, hold the patches in place with your fingers and flip the Corner back to make sure it's right. Quick and simple. An easy way to avoid having to rip out a misplaced patch.

Gotta love this unit! Since the seam runs from edge to edge, you can chain piece all four to save a bit of time. 

You do want to start and stop your stitches past the outside dashed lines on both sides. That's a good paper piecing habit to get into.

Press.

Position the Corner.R just like we did the first one. It's nudged again to prevent shadowing.

Sew as before

Here's our Corner Beam in all its untrimmed glory, nice and flat after pressing.

To trim to size, lay the 1/4" line on your ruler directly over one of the outside solid lines.

Trim away the excess.

Turn your block 1/4" turn and repeat until all sides are trimmed.

Remove the paper now. Your edges are stable with straight of grain on the outside—just like a traditionally pieced block is.

Is there a time when I wouldn't remove the paper just yet?

Only, perhaps, if I knew I wasn't going to be putting King David's Crown together anytime soon. There'd be less chance I'd crumple the blocks and need to repress them.

Since I rip paper while watching TV, it pretty much gets done within a day of piecing.

Sew the units in each row together. 

I admit. I'm a through-and-through pinner. Even this simple a block I'm going to pin. I really like it when all the edges are nice and even.

But.

You get to choose to pin or not to pin. Choose what works best for you.

After stitching, press the SA AWAY from the Corner Beams.

All that's left is to sew the rows together and give your King David's Cross quilt block a final press.

Those last SAs are pressed AWAY from the Corner Beams again to avoid bulk.

And from the backside, all neat and even.