Quilt Instructions for the Beginner

Transcription

1 Quilt Instructions for the Beginner By Terry White Part 2 Editor Robyn Rex Reed

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Let s Make Some Patchwork.Pg Layout & Setting of Your Quilt....Pg Lattice Strips & Sewing Sequence. Pg A Nine Patch Variation....Pg. 17 2

3 CHAPTER 1: LET S MAKE SOME PATCHWORK! Patchwork refers to the technique of cutting pieces of fabric and then stitching them together to make a quilt top. The cut pieces of fabric are called patches. When the pieces are stitched together into a single unit, the unit is called a quilt block. When quilt blocks are stitched together, this is called the quilt top. When the quilt top is layered with the batting and the backing and quilted together, this is called a quilt. Today s quilter uses strip piecing to cut and stitch patchwork together. The strip piecing technique can be described as cutting strips of fabric, stitching them together, cutting them again and stitching them back together. Many complex designs can be created in this manner. The wonderful thing is that one only needs to know how to sew a straight line on the sewing machine. So, I will start with the simplest block and that is called a Nine-Patch because it has nine patches in it. 3

4 I start with laying out fabrics, and here is the Japanese design group shown in the first e- book. I laid them out making sets of two with contrasting colors. There are six sets of two. Be sure to cut the selvedge before cutting the strips Before cutting my strips, I cut off the woven edge of the fabric, this is called the selvedge. It is more tightly woven than the rest of the fabric. You see little holes in it; this is where the fabric is held by machines as it is processed. 4

5 In a previous post, I show how to use a rotary cutter. We also have a video tutorial on the Havel s Sewing website. Starting with one set, I cut three 3 ½ wide strips with my rotary cutter of each fabric. I arrange the fabrics into two sets. The strips will be sewn together with a ¼ seam. Quilters have proven that this is the best seam allowance for patchwork. The key here is to stitch very carefully so that the seam is ¼ exactly all the length of each strip. This may take practice to always have a good seam. 5

6 Press the seams together with a hot iron. Don t use steam, it may distort the blocks. Press the seams together to the darker fabric side. Cut the strip sets 3 ½ wide to create a strip of three patches. 6

7 Arrange the sets into two nine-patch blocks. The blocks are reversed! You will have extra patch sets and pieces; we will use those, too. Sew the patch sets together with a ¼ inch seam. Now, you can see that by pressing the seams the way we did, the seams snug into each other making it easy to have matching points at the corners. Press the seams to match up the corners. 7

8 CHAPTER 2: LAYOUT & SETTING OF YOUR QUILT The layout of a quilt is when you decide where the blocks are going to go and how you will sew them together. Setting the quilt is when you set them in the arrangement of your layout. So, here are two sets of nine-patches. As I make them, two at a time, I m laying them out to see how they look. I could sew them together as they are laid out in image 3, but I want to add lattice strips. Lattice strips are strips of fabric sewn between quilt blocks. This will separate the blocks like frames and make the quilt bigger. 8

9 Here, I ve separated the blocks and I like the amount of white space between them. There is about 1 ½ inches of white space between the blocks. So, I ll make my lattice strips the same width. This is the layout I ve decided upon. The next thing I do is to try out different fabrics to see what would work as lattice strips. Green is a good choice because it is the color of grass and leaves it is a natural neutral. I lay my different blocks against this color of green to see how they look. I like this green with the blocks. It doesn t overpower the fabrics in the blocks and some of the blocks have this soft green in the fabric prints. I tried a few other colors before this one. I tried a blue and several brighter greens, this one was the best choice for me. 9

10 I cut strips and laid them out to better see what they would look. I like it! I cut the strips 2 inches wide, so after they are sewn the strips will finish at 1 ½ inches wide. Be sure to square up the blocks. Make sure that your nine-patch blocks are all the same size. You may have to measure and cut some to make them the same size. This is called, Squaring up the blocks. I prefer to always sew every block perfectly the same size every time. Yes, we all want that to happen. However, because we are not all perfect machines, the term squaring up was invented! 10

11 Here is a detail shot of the corner of the quilt top to show the fabric I chose for a border. This fabric is softer than the fabric prints in the blocks and it picks up a lot of the colors in the quilt. 11

12 CHAPTER 3: LATTICE STRIPS & SEWING SEQUENCE I have chosen to cut my lattice strips 2 inches wide. When they are sewn in, the size will finish at 1 ½ inches wide. I cut my first lattice strips the length of a block which is 9 inches long. Cut eight of these strips. This is the Sewing Sequence in photos. I find that showing the sequence in photos will teach a lot better than words alone. Sew a lattice strip to two sides of a block. Then, sew a block on each side of the block. This is the first row; it is a three block strip. 12

13 Press each seam with a hot iron. I don t use steam because it can distort straight seams. Repeat this for all your rows. Now you have four three block strips. Measure the length of the three block strip to determine how long to cut your next lattice strips. Cut five lattice strips approximately 28 inches long. However, Measure to be sure. Sew the three block strips together to the next three block strip with a lattice strip in between. 13

14 Pin the lattice strip to the edge of the block strip before stitching. Anytime I work with long strips like this, I think that pinning is so helpful. Here is the continuing sequence of stitching the quilt top together. 14

15 Then, sew the lattice strips around the edge to create the effect of the blocks floating in the green fabric. Think outside the block! Use colors from each block for your border. The final outside border is a strong floral. I used a floral print that had all the colors of the other fabrics. 15

16 I cut the border the same width as one of the nine-patch blocks-3inches wide. Sew the top and the bottom borders on. Then, sew the two side borders on to finish the quilt top. 16

17 CHAPTER 4: A NINE-PATCH VARIATION - THE SCRAP QUILT Using the same easy nine-patch block, you can make an entirely different quilt. In this quilt, there are no lattice strips, so the blocks make an allover design. I used blue and yellow. Instead of using just one yellow, I pulled as many light yellows as I could from my stash of fabrics.and the same with the blue. Using blue and yellow is an easy choice for this type of scrap quilt because the two colors contrast so nicely. I can use a range of blues from lights to darks, and also different hues of blue. Bright blues and turquoise, grey blue, all work. The yellows range from lemon yellow to orange and I still have my strong color distinction. I used fabrics leftover from other projects, so this a true scrap quilt. I believe that this mix makes a lively quilt.and, did I mention that these really are all scraps...so this quilt top cost me $0 yay! I used fabrics leftover from other projects, so this a true scrap quilt. 17

18 As a quilter, I have what is known to quilters as a stash of fabrics. This is the fabric that I have color coordinated in bookshelves this is the fabric I buy when I see it, like it and can afford it. Having this stash makes it easy to start a new project at any time. I said start, not necessarily finish! Having a stash makes it easy to start a new project at any time. Here are strip sets just like the ones in the first quilt. The difference is that the width of each strip is cut 2 inches wide. So, each square finishes at 1 ½ inch square. So, that means that each nine-patch block will finish in the quilt at 4 ½ inch square. 18

19 Next, I cut yellow squares the same size as the nine-patches (this is a 5 inch square which will finish as a 4 ½ inch block). I am making a larger nine-patch with the small ninepatches and solid fabric squares. The next nine-patch is stitched with blue squares of fabric. As you can see, I used deep blues in each strip set. Then, I used medium to light blues for the 5 inch fabric squares. Here you can see the whole sequence of assembly. The blue and yellow solid fabric squares are alternated. So, you have a nine-patch in a nine-patch in a nine-patch. 19

20 Making nine-patch blocks is a very good way to learn to piece and get good practice for matching seams. The more you do, the more you can do. Here is the final assembly of the quilt top. The dark blue squares create an allover design known as Irish Chain. The quilt top is 54 inches wide x 40 ½ inches long. This is a great size for a child or lap quilt. I like the strong graphics and mix of colors in this quilt. It has an optical illusion of the little squares floating over the background. This quilt is made in my sister s colors but it is not ready to quilt, yet I have further designs for this quilt. 20

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