Welcome to Blockheads 6 – Week 16: “Cloud Nine” by Debbie Maddy!

Welcome back to Blockheads 6! This week we’re stitching up Block 16, Cloud Nine, designed by Debbie Maddy of Tiori Designs. Our friend Sarah Huechteman joins us in the tutorial video to walk you through this block step by step.

You can find this week’s pattern here: BH6 – Block 16 – Cloud Nine by Debbie Maddy

Follow along with Debbie!

Instagram: @debbie_maddy
https://www.debbiemaddy.com/blog

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.)

At first glance, Cloud Nine looks like it has a lot of moving parts—and it does! But don’t let that intimidate you. With flying geese leading the way, it comes together in a fun, rhythmic way that really gives the block its name.

Flying Geese Four at a Time

The main building block here is the four-at-a-time flying geese unit. Sarah gives a refresher on the technique and points you to the deeper dive back in Block 12 (Flight Path) if you’d like a more detailed walk-through.

For Cloud Nine, you’ll be making 16 flying geese in total. Once sewn and pressed, they’re trimmed to 2" x 3½" unfinished. Sarah demonstrates how to square up each unit accurately so your points stay crisp and the block comes together smoothly.

Piecing the Layout

With your flying geese ready, it’s time to sew them into four matching units. Sarah shares her tip of stacking everything before heading to the sewing machine—perfect for chain piecing and avoiding layout mix-ups.

Pro Tip: Save time and avoid mix-ups by chain piecing! Stack all four sections of your Cloud Nine block in order before heading to the machine. That way, you can sew continuously without stopping — and you’ll know everything stays facing the right direction, even if you get distracted mid-project.

From there, the block is assembled just like a classic four-patch: sew the top row, sew the bottom row, press seams in opposite directions, then join the rows. Press the center seam open for a nice, flat finish.

The Finished Block

The result? A playful nine-inch finished block where the geese seem to chase each other in a continuous circle. It’s lively, charming, and flexible—use lots of colors for a scrappy look, or keep it simple with just two tones. Either way, you’ll love how it turns out.

Ready to make your own Cloud Nine block? Grab the pattern and your fabrics and watch this week’s video with Sarah!

Thank you to Debbie Maddy for sharing this design, and to Sarah for walking us through it! Be sure to share your Cloud Nine block in the Blockheads Facebook group or on Instagram with the hashtag #modablockheads6.

— The Moda Team