I've picked out a pretty simple pattern to start. It's easy cutting, easy piecing, and easy quilting. But it will give you all the basics of quiltmaking to build on if you decide you like it and want to do more. You can make one of two sizes - a 36"x36" playmat or snuggle quilt, or a 36"x54" crib quilt that pretty much covers a standard crib mattress. The only difference between the two, really, is the number of rows you'll put together, so you can change your mind at any time, or make one that's 36"x45" really easily. You can also expand this pattern as much as you'd like, just by adding additional 4-patch pieces.
The finished quilt looks something like this:
It's made up of a 4-patch of two colored and two background squares, like this:
See? That doesn't look so hard, now does it?
The look of the whole quilt can be changed by color choices and layout options. You could do all solids, if you wanted, or just use one single print and a solid, or even go scrappy and use a different print for each of the colored spots. Think this part over carefully - the solids (white in the one above) will form a cross-hatch pattern through the top, and the prints (colors above) will form a separate cross-hatch. You can make 'chains' with the colors, or mix them all up, or... the possibilities really are endless. Use some graph paper and colored pencils to goof around with mock-ups before you start so you can get an idea of what you'll end up with.
The first post (Introduction) gave you the list of of the items/supplies you'll need to make a quilt, and some information on all of them. For this pattern, the fabric requirements are:
SMALL (36"x36") - this is a small playmat, snuggle quilt, or toddler nap quilt size.
- 5/8 yard of background fabric (mine's grey), or thirty-two (32) 5" precut squares
- a total of 5/8 yard of prints (any combination of yardage to get enough squares is fine), or thirty-two (32) 5" precut squares
- 3/8 yard for binding, or five (5) 2.5" precut strips in a complimentary OR contrasting color
- 1.25 - 1.5 yard backing (may be hard to determine for sure until your piecing is done, so if you think you can find a use for the extra, get the 1.5 yard. If you want to, you can use leftover pieces from your quilt top to jazz up the backing and 1.25 yard should be plenty.)
- batting at least 40"x40"
LARGE (36"x54") - this will completely cover the TOP of a standard crib mattress with very little overhang.
- 7/8 yard of background fabric (mine's grey), or forty-eight (48) 5" precut squares
- a total of 7/8 yard of prints (any combination of yardage to get enough squares is fine), or forty-eight (48) 5" precut squares
- 3/8 yard for binding, or six (6) 2.5" precut strips in a complimentary OR contrasting color
- 1.75 - 2 yards backing (may be hard to determine for sure until your piecing is done, so if you think you can find a use for the extra, get the 2 yards. If you want to, you can use leftover pieces from your quilt top to jazz up the backing and 1.75 yard should be plenty.)
- batting at least 40"x58"
That's it! Collect all that stuff and we'll move on to cutting. If you've gotten charm squares and jelly rolls, there's not a lot of cutting for you to do right now (as in, NONE), so either read this part for future information or skip it altogether...
If you're using fat quarters, please remember that they are 18" x 21" pieces. So you will need double the number of strips to equal a cut from straight yardage.
From your background fabric, cut thirty-two (32) or forty-eight (48) 5" squares. How does one go about this, you might ask? I shall show you!
Step one: press your fabric well. Avoid steam if you can since it can stretch and warp things a bit. Use spray starch if you'd like; it will only make things easier.
Step two: hold up your fabric with the selvedges together. Ignore your cut ends completely and don't attempt to line them up.
Step three: wiggle or slide the selvedge closest to you from left to right until the fabric is hanging perfectly smoothly with no waves or bubbles. There's a pretty good tutorial here: http://www.livingwithpunks.com/2011/10/tutorial-how-to-square-up-fabric-for.html
Step four: lay this down on your cutting surface and smooth the fold down a bit.
Step five: carefully lift the folded edge toward the selvedges, creating another fold, and line up the first fold and the selvedges.
Step six: smooth the new fold down a bit.
You should now have a 4-ply stack with a single folded edge closest to you, and a folded edge and two selvedges away from you. It will measure about 11" top to bottom.
Step seven: Using two rulers as pictured, straighten the left-hand side of your fabric to begin cutting. Lay one ruler down on the folded edge, making sure the ruler is straight for some distance, then butt a second ruler against it, being careful not to shift the first. Remove the horizontal ruler carefully.
Step eight: Stabilize the remaining ruler, and make your first cut with your rotary cutter. Mind your fingers and do NOT allow the ruler to shift. You should now have a very clean, straight edge to work with. You can take off as little as 1/4", depending on how your edges lined up - I just took off a large hunk here so you could see.
Step nine: using your ruler, measure your next cut (5"), stabilize your ruler, and cut. Lift the ruler, remove the cut piece and check for straightness toward the middle, and repeat until you have the proper number of cuts made (see below). Re-square your edge as in steps 7-8 every two to three cuts.
SMALL: cut four (4) 5" strips from the background fabric, and a total of four (4) 5" strips from your prints.
LARGE: cut six (6) 5" strips from the background fabric, and a total of six (6) 5" strips from your prints.
****If you wish to use more than four prints, then go ahead and cut a 5" strip from each one - you'll just have extra pieces to play with, use for your backing, or make another quilt with!****
If you're using fat quarters for prints, you can simply turn your cutting mat to cut without folding (don't mind the unpressed fabric here - I was in a hurry and just needed to demonstrate). Be extra careful that your ruler doesn't shift toward the top!
Now you have 5"xWOF (width of fabric) strips. And you need 5" squares. We'll subcut the strips to squares:
Line up two or three of your strips, exactly on top of one another. Using your ruler to line up the top and bottom of the strips, square up the left edge, then continue using your ruler to cut every 5" over the length of your strip. You should get 8 squares per strip.
SMALL: cut thirty-two (32) 5" squares from strips for background, and thirty-two (32) for prints
LARGE: cut forty-eight (48) 5" squares from strips for background, and forty-eight (48) for prints
Wasn't that easy? I told you it would be! You should have believed me!
Since you've got the cutting mat, rulers, and rotary blade out already, we may as well go ahead and cut our binding strips. We're going to set them aside for later though. The strips for binding need to be 2.5"; follow the procedures above and make this many:
SMALL: cut at least four (4) strips; if you can, cut five (5)
LARGE: cut at least five (5) strips; if you can, cut six (6)
We won't do anything with our backing fabric for a while yet, so set that aside with your binding strips.
That's it for this week! Next week we'll start piecing the quilt top - you'll need to have your thread, your sewing machine complete with a new needle, and your iron at the ready.
Happy Cutting!
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