Bow Tie Quilt Block
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Here is the classic men’s accessory – a bow tie! As it turns out, there are LOTS of different ways to make this block, and even more ways to use it in quilts, table runners, and other bags. Of course, I had to make my sample using men’s ties!
The pattern is available for free to subscribers at the bottom of the page. If you’d rather just print, click the green Print Friendly button under the designer list. If that doesn’t work, try Ctrl + P (or Flower + P) to bring up the printer dialog box.
Just as an FYI – if you have a bunch of men’s ties and need some inspiration, check out my article here: https://scrapdash.com/using-mens-ties-in-quilts/. There are some inspiring pictures at the bottom of this page, too.
A Bow-Tie quilt block is a four-patch block with a square in the center.
The Traditional Method of making a Bow Tie block is to make four blocks with a clipped corner. Sew these together in a four-patch, using partial-seam piecing to insert a square in the center. This is a good hand-piecing method, especially if you want to feature something fussy-cut in the square.
An easier method is to use four squares, two dark and two light. The lighter squares would have a corner of the darker color fabric. To create that corner, you would draw a diagonal line on the back of a small dark square and place it right sides together on the corner of a larger light square. Sew on this line and flip the square over. Trim the underside if you like.
The size of that corner is optional. In the graphic above, I have sized the unfinished small square to be exactly half the size of the unfinished large square. (If I had colored all four corners, it would have looked like a square-in-a-square block.) That would give you a Bow Tie block that looked like the one below.
You could use a smaller small square, too.
For example, you could size the unfinished small square in the Bow Tie block to be about a third of the unfinished large square. (If you color all four corners, it would look like a snowball block.)
If you are making a scrappy quilt, you can color the corner of all four blocks. Why not reverse two of them? You could even use different sizes for the corner. This is YOUR quilt, make it the way you like it.
Here is one that I made for Connecting Threads. It uses a set of 5″ charm squares.
Yes, you can cheat! For example, you could make a four-patch, alternating dark and light patches, and sew a button in the center. Instructions to make a dimensional Bow Tie block are here.
What can you do with Bow-Tie Quilt Blocks?
Here are some layout ideas. I did them in grayscale so the fabric did not distract you. There are only a few ideas here – I am sure you can think of a lot more!
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Pictures of quilts made with men’s ties
Here are pictures that a few generous quilters shared with me.
 Pattern is From Sweet Pea Designs |  Dresden Plates from Pam R |  Pam R made this from her dads ties. |
 Apron made from Men’s Ties Shown at the Davisburg Country Fair In Michigan |  Steve’s Ties made these pillows |  and his shirts made these! |
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Great tutorial for the bow tie block. I enjoyed seeing all the different possibilities!
My husbands great grandmother used ties to make a crazy block for pillows. Unfortunately my guys do not wear ties.
I have an antique bow tie quilt and it’s my absolute favorite!! Well done on your block!
Great bow tie tutorial and that bow tied boy is adorable. I’ve never made that block, but you made it look so easy…thanks! As always, I’m glad you hopped along with us.
The bowtie quilt can look so different with the various settings. I made my grandson a bowtie to wear when he was young because he was so into wearing bowties, lol! I even tried making the 3-D bowtie quilt block once, where the center is sewn kind of like the 3-D flying geese block.
Thanks for sharing the variety of ways to use a bowtie block. The tie projects are all unique and some I have never seen before.
Bow tie blocks are so much fun to make. I have a big bag of men’s silk ties, I think I will check out your ideas on what to do with them!
That is the perfect block for a guy. Thanks, too, for the idea links for using men’s ties.
Bow Tie blocks are the best Kris. A friend made skirts with some of her collection of men’s silk ties. Then she had to made a vest, jacket and an even longer skirt with the rest of her collection. I love ties but have not yet made anything with them or my gramma’s hankies. 😉
Yes, the perfect “guy” block, bow tie. Thank you for showing us so many versatile ways to arrange the blocks.
Thank you Carol! That’s my grandson, but the picture was taken years and years ago. Rotten kid grew up:-))
Wow that is an amazing collection of bow tie ideas. I guess I never gave that basic little block any credit before. Thank you.
Thanks for the bow tie block tutorial! I really like that block and it’s many possibilities in a quilt!
The bow tie block is perfect for the hop for sure. Thanks for all the possibilities!
So many ideas for the simple bow tie block! Thank you for sharing. :o)
Such great ideas! I’ve never made a bow tie block or quilt… after reading your post, I am inspired! xx