The Square Fishbone quilting pattern is one of the stencils included in our Pantograph Basics Quilting Stencil sets. If you like the design and haven’t grabbed it yet, head over to Etsy and grab the stencils before getting started!

Step 1

Set the stencil on the quilt to line one of the points of a square with a horizontal seam of the quilt top. Mark the quilt using your preferred method, pounce pad or water/air soluble marker.

Step 2

Shift the stencil to the left or right lining up the same point with the seam or quilt top edge to keep the design running straight across the quilt. The previous end to the design should continue to the start of the shifted location although they may not touch. If necessary the stencil can be tilted to keep the design straight. Mark the design. Continue this process until the design has been marked across the full width of the quilt top. 

Step 3

To start the next line down, center the top square of the template within the open area created between two bottom squares of the previous line that was already marked. Mark the template.

Step 4

Shift the template to either side and recenter the top square within the next open area, matching up the end of the previously marked line with the start of the template. Continue repeating the process for a few lines. Note: If using an air soluble pen, only mark out as many lines as you can reasonably stitch in that same day, otherwise the pen is likely to disappear before you have a chance to stitch it. 

Step 5

Stitch the lines according to the red pathway in the photo below.