The square quilt block shown is used in a larger quilt. The four small squares in the block are congruent, and the four small vertical rectangles in the block that are not squares are also congruent. The total area of the shaded regions is what fraction of the total area of the block? Express your answer as a common fraction.
Let each square be divided into 4 equal parts....so we have 4 squares * 4 parts each = 16 total parts
In the top left square, using symmetry, 1 of the 4 parts is shaded
And the same for the bottom right square
And for the top right square, 2 of the 4 parts are shaded
And the same for the bottom left square
So...the shaded portion is
[ 1 + 1 + 2 + 2] / 16 =
6 /16 =
3 / 8