Welcome to Blockheads 6 – Week 22: “Lucky Charm” by Stacy Iest Hsu!

This week’s Blockheads 6 design is Lucky Charm by Stacy Iest Hsu, and Moda’s own Lissa Alexander is here to walk us through it. This versatile block blends bias piecing, half-square triangles, and a tidy nine patch—all wrapped up in a design that’s as fun to make as it is to look at.

You can find this week’s pattern here: BH6 – Block 22 – Lucky Charm by Stacy Iest Hsu

Follow along with Stacy!

Instagram: @stacyiesthsu
designer.com

If you’re new to Blockheads, here are a couple of quick things to know:

• This is a free quilt-along. No sign-ups are required. Just download the pattern and you’re ready to sew!
• The PDF patterns will be posted on the Moda blog and in the official Facebook group every Wednesday by 8:00 AM CDT.
• You can also bookmark this page: Blockheads 6 main page to find a convenient list of all the patterns as they are released.
• If you’d like to sign up for our blog newsletter to get blog posts delivered to your inbox, you can sign up here: Blog Newsletter Sign-Up 
• If you want to sew along with a virtual Blockheads community, head over to Facebook and join our official Moda Blockheads Facebook group. Our group is an active and vibrant community of 82,000 quilters and counting! It’s a great place to be inspired and share pictures of your Blockheads progress.
• If Instagram is where you prefer to hang out, be sure to follow us (@modafabrics) and the hashtags #modablockheads and #modablockheads6 to see the latest blocks from our designers and other Blockheads.

(Looking for a little more information about Blockheads? You can check out the Blockheads 6 archive HERE.)

Bias Piecing: Take Your Time

The block starts with four identical corner units, each created by adding triangles to a square. Lissa highlights the importance of handling bias edges with care—pinning, letting the feed dogs do their work, and avoiding stretching will help keep your units square.

Once sewn, trim the dog ears and repeat to make a total of four outer units. These frame the block beautifully and give it its signature shape.

Pro Tip: Bias edges love to stretch—so let the feed dogs guide the fabric through, and resist the urge to tug. Pin carefully at the seam points for crisp, accurate corners.

Half-Square Triangles and Nine Patches

The next step is creating four HST units using marked squares and the standard stitch-and-cut method. After sewing a ¼″ seam on each side of the marked line, cutting, and pressing, you’ll have crisp HSTs ready to add to your layout.

For the center of the block, Lissa shares her favorite time-saving tip for nine patches: strip piecing. By sewing strips together before cutting segments, she’s able to press seams in the right direction and speed through the assembly. A single nine patch anchors the middle of the block.

Happy Accidents and Alternate Layouts

Lissa reminds us that even seasoned quilters make mistakes—and sometimes, those mistakes lead to something wonderful. When she accidentally rotated her center square, it created a completely different block reminiscent of a card trick pattern.

This playful experimentation is part of the joy of quilting. As she points out, a simple change in fabric placement or block orientation can open up endless design possibilities.

A Tip for Staying Organized

Lissa also shared how she keeps her Blockheads project tidy: a binder system for storing swatches, extra pieces, and finished blocks. It’s a simple, effective way to keep everything together as the quilt progresses.

Ready to make your own Lucky Charm block? Download the pattern and check out Lissa’s video tutorial for this fun block!

A big thank you to Stacy Iest Hsu for another beautiful addition to the Blockheads series! Be sure to share your Lucky Charm blocks in the Moda Blockheads Facebook group or on Instagram using #modablockheads6.

— The Moda Team