Watch how to make the perfect snowball quilt block

Ever wonder how quilters make a circular shape in the middle of their quilt blocks? Then this tutorial is for you! Making a snowball quilt block is much easier than you might think – and it makes your quilt look fun and playful!
Here’s how to get started.
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Step 1: Gathering Fabric
The surprising secret to making a snowball quilt block is that there is actually no “ball” at all. So don’t worry about trying to cut a perfect circular shape out of fabric (which is difficult for even the best of fabric cutters!), because this quilt block is based entirely on squares.
Amy of Stitchery Dickery Dock says that “the great thing about snowball blocks is that you can easily make them in any size, and without a pattern.” You can make your quilt blocks as big or as small as you’d like using the same basic process.
No matter what size quilt block you are making, you will need five squares of material per block: one big one (whose center will become the snowball), and four smaller squares to go in the corners.
Step 2: Squaring Things Up
Once you have your four small squares ready, draw a diagonal line across the center of each of them with a pencil. This will be the line that you sew later on.
Next, pin the four small squares to the back of the larger square, matching up the corners, as shown above.
Step 3: Sewing and Cutting
When your small squares are pinned in place, use your sewing machine (or hand-stitch, if you prefer) to sew directly on top of the lines you drew with your pencil. Angela Mitchell from Craftsy.com recommends backstitching a few stitches at the beginning and end of every seam.
Once that is done, trim off the corners, leaving a ¼ inch seam.
Step 4: Pressing the Seams
Unfold the corner squares (or triangles, now), and press them open. This creates one big square again, with the pattern of your original big square in the middle as the “snowball.” Amy from Stitchery Dickery Dock notes that you shouldn’t be disappointed if your snowball looks a bit “diamondy” – the shape will look more circular once you add the quilt block to the rest of your quilt.
Once you’ve pressed the corners, your quilt block is finished, and you can start making the next snowball for your snowball fight – er, I mean, quilt!
For a quick, step-by-step visual guide to the snowball quilt block process, you can check out the video tutorial below by Amanda Rolfe:
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