Maple Leaf Quilt Block — Cutting Chart for Any Size

2 fabrics · Difficulty 2 of 5

Maple Leaf is a 3×3 block of 12 pieces. Cut sizes for 6″, 9″, 12″, 15″, 18″ are below; for any other size it divides into cleanly, type the size and the chart recomputes.

At a glance

Grid

3×3

Pieces you cut

10 — subcutting turns them into the 12 in the sewn block

Difficulty

2 of 5 — easy · How this is scored

Which sizes divide cleanly

Scroll sideways to see every column.

• A 5-patch block at 12″ would need 2.4″ units, which is not a mark on any ruler. Try 10″ or 12½″ instead — Sister's Choice is the 5-patch block on this site.
• A 7-patch block at 12″ would need 1.714…″ units, which is not a mark on any ruler. Try 10½″ or 14″ instead — Bear's Paw is the 7-patch block on this site.

More about the sizes that do not divide cleanly

The sizes in between

A 10″ Maple Leaf cannot be cut accurately on its 3×3 grid. Use 9″ or 10½″ instead; both cutting charts are on this page, computed by Quilt Block Atlas.

Both columns are FINISHED block sizes — the size a block will be once it is sewn, never a size to cut. Look the clean size up in the charts on this page for its cutting numbers.

Scroll sideways if the table is wider than your screen.

These sizes divide cleanly but sit between the main chart's columns — the same computed cuts, published here so they exist on paper too. Any other clean size still computes in the size input above.

Column headings are the FINISHED block size — the size it will be once it is sewn. Every number in the table is the size to CUT, which includes ¼″ of seam allowance on each edge. Rows that are subcut on a diagonal are cut larger still, so the allowance survives the extra cuts.

Scroll sideways to see every size.

About this block

Pieces in the finished block

12

Unit types

half-square-triangle unit, rectangle, square

Divides cleanly at

1½″, 3″, 4½″, 6″, 7½″, 9″, 10½″, 12″, 13½″, 15″, 16½″, 18″, 19½″ and 21″ finished.

Also known as

Apple Leaf, Tea Leaves

Attribution

Practical Needlework, c. 1910

Fabric for one 12″ block

¾ yd total, rounded up to the nearest ⅛ yard, assuming 40″ of usable width.

A plain background patch sits where the stem belongs. The straight grid this site draws on cannot model a diagonal stem, so the diagram shows an empty corner and the chart lists only the piece you start from — the true stem is an added step worked across that corner. The rest of the leaf is triangle units at the tips over solid squares.

Piecing order

1. Make the 3 half-square-triangle units.

2. Lay out row 1 of 3 and sew its pieces together, left to right.

3. Lay out row 2 of 3 and sew its pieces together, left to right.

4. Lay out row 3 of 3 and sew its pieces together, left to right.

5. Join the 3 rows, matching the seams.

How this site models this block

• The stem is not modelled. A traditional Maple Leaf runs its stem diagonally across one corner square, which this site's straight grid cannot draw — so the diagram shows a plain corner and the chart gives only the square you start from. The real stem adds one construction step that is not listed here.

Cutting oversize

The chart gives the standard cut sizes, nothing padded. Some quilters cut this block's triangle units a little oversize and trim back — published allowances genuinely disagree on how much, so the range with its sources is on how to square up a quilt block.

History

The standard references place its first publication in Practical Needlework, around 1910, and Apple Leaf and Tea Leaves name the same design in other colourings. A 1934 issue of Quilting magazine showed Maple Leaf blocks set with sashing strips and posts. The stem is the tell: pieced leaf blocks stand or fall on how they handle that one diagonal, which is why this page states its own stem simplification openly.

Sources: Scissortail Quilting — Maple Leaf.

Common questions

Published 2026-07-26 · Last updated 2026-08-15