Mississippi Quilt Block

Not a single bias edge in sight!

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Skill Level: Beginner

The Mississippi quilt block is a simple variation on a nine patch that uses the connector corners technique.

Unlike the Friendship Star block, a close look-a-like, there are no triangles to cut, no bias edges to contend with, which makes this is a terrific little block for a beginning quilter.

So grab two fabrics and let's get started!

📋 General Instructions

If you need help printing this tutorial, you'll find it here.

All seam allowances (SA) are 1/4".

When pressing, first press the pieced unit flat to set the seam. Then open the patches, pressing from the front.

Take a minute to review our favorite 'secret' technique to getting the flattest quilt blocks you'll ever see.

For stitching on the drawn lines, I like to use an open toe applique foot because it's easier to see where the needle should to go. Switch back to a standard quarter inch foot to sew the seams.

The newest quilt fabrics to tickle your fancy...

Click the images below to see the full collection. We share any commercial and/or free patterns that showcase them, too. (For inspiration, of course!)

Elliot fabric collection by Julie Hendricksen for Windham

Elliot
Julie Hendricksen
Windham

The Flower Fields fabric collection by Maureen Cracknell for Art Gallery Fabrics

The Flower Fields
Maureen Cracknell
Art Gallery Fabrics

Love Birds fabric collection by Debbie Monson for P&B Textiles

Love Birds
Debbie Monson
P&B Textiles

Step 1: Cutting patches for a Mississippi block

Mississippi design

Type: 9-patch

Grid: 3x3

Design Type: Even 9-patch, Star, Connector or Folded Corners

Attributed to: Hearth & Home

The connector corners technique uses squares to create the 'half-square-triangle' look without messing with bias edges.

The tradeoff is it takes a bit of extra material.

The same sized patch is used for the units with the connector corners and the solid corner squares.

Choose fabrics with a high enough contrast so that the points of the star don't get 'lost'.

Choose a finished block size from the chart below and cut your patches.

			Cutting Chart for a Mississippi Quilt Block ~ Traditional Piecing ~
Patch	Fabric	Qty	Finished Block Size
Patch	Fabric	Qty	4½"	6”	9”	12”
1	A	1	2”x2”	2½" x 2½"	3½" x 3½"	4½" x 4½"
2	B	8	2”x2”	2½" x 2½"	3½" x 3½"	4½" x 4½"
3	A	8	1-1/4”x1-1/4”	1½" x 1½"	2”x2”	2½" x 2½"
Unfinished Block Size			5”	6½"	9½"	12½"
Center			1”	1¼"	1¾"	2¼"
Grid Size			1½"	2”	3”	4”

Step 2: Assemble your Mississippi quilt block

To create this block, you'll need to make four connector-corners units.

On the back of the eight small squares, draw a diagonal line from corner to corner. Mark just dark enough so that you can see the line to sew on. I like to use a mechanical pencil because the mark stays so fine.

Each unit takes one #2 and two #3 patches (shown below).

Red arrows point to sewing lines drawn just dark enough to see

With right sides together (RST), align a #3 square with a #2 square. The drawn line touches two adjacent corners.

Stitch on the line.

In the photo below, you can see that I like to start stitching on a scrap of fabric (red arrow); then feed in the patches to sew. There's less chance for my machine to 'eat' the edges.

It's easy to see where to stitch with an open toe applique foot.

Repeat for the opposite corner.

With a scissor, trim away the excess fabric of the smaller square between your stitching and the corner, leaving a quarter inch seam allowance.

Press.

Ideally all the cut edges line up after pressing. But quilters are human and it's not always the case.

If the edges of the smaller #3s extend a smidge past the large #2 patch, trim them with a scissor. If there's a big overlap, check to see that you're drawing a fine line exactly down the diagonal center of the square.

NOTE: The Mississippi quilt block design is entirely forgiving—you don't need to worry about the star points matching up to anything later on. As long as there's enough of the small #3 patch in the seam allowance, just keep going. That's what makes this a great block for practicing the connector corners technique.

The finished connector corner unit - make 4 of these

Repeat for a total of four units that look like the one above.

Lay out your patches paying careful attention to the orientation of the stitched patches.

Yep, I flipped them as I made this sample and needed to rip out a couple of rows. Wish I would have snapped a picture...we all make these kind of mistakes...comes with the territory! :)

Lay out the patches for the Mississippi quilt block into rows

Stitch into rows. Press the seam allowances toward the solid squares to minimize the bulk.

Stitch the rows together. (Yes, I admit to being perpetual pinner!)

Stitch the rows together, pinning if needed

For sewing patches together, I switch to my standard ¼" presser foot.

Press.

Your finished Mississippi quilt block looks like this.

Your finished Mississippi quilt block!

Jazz up your Mississippi block with this simple trick

Now you don't think that red diamond appeared magically in the center of our Mississippi quilt block, right?!

If you're willing to make Swiss Cheese out of your fabrics, consider fussy cutting the center square #1 to add a little interest to this otherwise simple patchwork design.

First you'll need the 'Center' number. In the cutting chart, locate the row, 'Midpoint' and the column, 9" (because our sample block is a 9" finished block).

Click here to see it. For this block the Center is 1-3/4".

Simply center this point on your ruler (white +) over the center of the design you want to capture from your fabric.

Find the center of the patch you intend to fussy cut

If you're short on fabric, I suggest drawing around the intended #1 square with chalk—the old measure twice, cut once trick! That way you can make adjustments before actually cutting into your precious fabric.

Draw a chalk outline of the patch to check that it's centered just so.

Now cut the first two sides of the patch.

Match the 'patch size' lines of your ruler (red arrows) with these two cut edges and finish cutting your #1 patch. For this 9" finished Mississippi block, The #1 is a 3-1/2" square.

Easy Peasey!

For more information on this technique, click here to go to Fussy Cut for Effect.

The mighty Mississippi just keeps on rollin'...

...and so can you.

There's more blocks for you to try in our Free Quilt Block Patterns Library. Click here go there now!

What about a different quilt block?

For a list of all the 220+ quilt block patterns on this site, start here.

If you know the name of the block, shorten your search by using these links:

A-D

E-M

N-Z

Click here if you're looking for blocks with at least some paper piecing.

Click here if you're looking for the basic building blocks of quilting, i.e., Flying Geese, half square triangles, quarter square triangles, etc., along with several techniques to make each.

And finally, use these links to find blocks in these finished sizes: