Square in a Square Quilt Tutorial: Jenny Doan's Three-Precut Framed Block Quilt

Jenny shows off the beautiful layered blocks of the Square in a Square quilt.

🟧 1 Charm Pack (42 squares, 5" × 5") — these are your center blocks. Shop charm packs.

🟦 1 Jelly Roll (2½" strips) — for the outer border on each block. Shop jelly rolls.

🤍 1 Honey Bun (1½" strips) — for the inner frame and sashing. Use a neutral/white for maximum contrast.

✂️ Rotary cutter, ruler & cutting mat — for precise trimming. Shop rotary cutters.

🧵 Thread — coordinating color for piecing. Shop thread.

🔥 Iron & ironing board — for setting seams and pressing borders open.

Step 1: Sew the Honey Bun Frame (Sides First)

Start with your charm pack squares and a white honey bun strip. Place a charm square right sides together on the honey bun strip, aligning the edges, and sew with a ¼" seam. Without cutting the thread, place another charm square right next to it on the same strip — leave about ⅛" gap — and keep sewing.

This is chain piecing, and it makes the process incredibly fast. Once the strip is full, cut the squares apart, press the honey bun border open, and repeat for the opposite side of each charm square.

Step 2: Complete the Honey Bun Frame (Top & Bottom)

Now that both sides are framed, it's time to add the honey bun strips to the top and bottom of each charm square. Use the same chain-piecing method: lay the partially-framed block on a new honey bun strip, sew, place the next block, and keep going.

Cut apart, trim the excess strip, and press open. You should now have a charm square completely surrounded by a narrow white border — like a little framed picture.

The key here is to do sides first, then top and bottom (or vice versa, just be consistent). This ensures your borders are even and your block stays square.

Jenny chain-pieces blocks to speed through the framing process.

Step 3: Add the Jelly Roll Border

Now we add the second, wider frame using jelly roll strips (2½" wide). The method is exactly the same as the honey bun frame, but you'll do one block at a time since the jelly roll strips are wider and the blocks are bigger now.

Sew the jelly roll strip to opposite sides first, trim, press open, then add the top and bottom strips. Each finished block should be a beautiful layered square — colorful center, narrow white frame, wider print border.

Step 4: Create 42 Blocks

Repeat the framing process for all 42 charm squares in your pack. It sounds like a lot, but chain piecing makes it fly by! Batch each step: sew all the honey bun sides first, then all the honey bun tops/bottoms, then all the jelly roll sides, then all the jelly roll tops/bottoms.

Once all 42 blocks are complete, give them a final press and square them up if needed. Consistency is key — if your blocks are all the same size, your quilt will go together beautifully.

Step 5: Add Sashing and Assemble Rows

For the sashing between blocks, use the remaining white honey bun strips (1½" wide). Sew a sashing strip to the side of your first block, then attach the next block directly to the other side of the sashing. Continue until you have a full row of 6 blocks with sashing in between.

Make 7 rows of 6 blocks each. Then sew horizontal honey bun sashing strips between each row, making sure to line up the vertical sashing seams across rows for a clean grid effect.

Step 6: Quilt and Bind

Layer your completed quilt top with batting and backing, then quilt as desired. A simple stitch-in-the-ditch along the sashing lines is a beautiful, classic choice that emphasizes the framed block design. You can also try straight-line quilting inside each border for added texture.

Finish with binding using coordinating fabric. The structured grid design of this quilt means straight-grain binding works perfectly — cut 2½" strips across the width of the fabric, join on the diagonal, and bind as usual.

The layered borders create a stunning gallery effect across the entire quilt.

🧵 Press toward the border. Always press your seams toward the most recently added border strip. This reduces bulk and helps the borders lie flat against the center square.

📏 Keep edges straight. When chain piecing, make sure the charm square edge aligns perfectly with the honey bun strip. Even a small shift can make your block go off-square.

🎨 Play with color placement. Try sorting your charm squares from light to dark and arranging them in a gradient across the quilt. Or alternate warm and cool tones for a checkerboard vibe.

🤍 The white frame is key. The narrow white honey bun frame is what makes this quilt special — it separates the charm print from the jelly roll border and lets every fabric shine. Don't skip it!

✂️ Batch your work. Do all 42 blocks at each stage before moving on. It's like an assembly line — much faster than finishing one block at a time.