Quilt Tutorial, Block "A"

As promised, here are the steps to make the quilt square I started working on.  We'll just be making the top part of the quilt in this tutorial. 

We'll just skip an introduction and get right to it:

1)  The first step is to pick your fabric colors.  I chose 2 contrasting colors and a neutral color (white, beige, etc. works great.)  Mess around with colors by using crayons or markers on some graph paper.  Or go to a fabric store and have fun!  I used the 45" fabric, but you could use the 60" and have extra that way.

If you want to make a twin size quilt, buy:  (otherwise, use any fabric you have on hand)

                                           -1  1/4yd (+ extra just to be safe) of neutral color
                                           -2/3 yd EACH (+ extra just to be safe) of the contrasting colors

2)  Next, cut 4" strips of each fabric, cutting a total of 12 strips for the neutral color and 6 EACH of the contrasting colors.  If just doing one square, use just one strip each contrasting colors and 2 strips of the neutral.  I left my fabric folded in the middle.  You can iron it before you cut if there are wrinkles since that could keep you from having a straight cut. 



3)  Now, UNFOLD your strips and put RIGHT sides together (the nice side of the fabric faces each other, so the outside part is facing out) of a neutral color and a contrasting color.  Match them up as evenly as you can. 

4)  Using a self-healing mat, quilting ruler, and rotary cutter, cut 4" squares from each combined strip.  Each 45" strip will give you 10 squares. 

5)  Next, you need to cut each square into triangles.  You can cut each square individually, or not move any of the squares you just cut and cut those diagonally (see photos below.)

THIS way ... (red side just happens to be up)

or THIS way (white side just happens to be up.)

6)  Once I have my diagonals cut, I stack them alternately (see photo.)  This makes it easier for me to chain piece them together.

You can see the contrasting colors peaking out from under the white.



7)  Sew a ¼ “ seam on the long side of the diagonal for all the triangles.  I used red thread for the red fabric and blue thread for the blue fabric.  So I would sew all of one color first, then the other color.  But, you could just use the neutral color for your thread and not worry about changing it out.

Once sewn, iron the seam towards the dark fabric.

Next, just follow the sequence of photos below to see how to make the Quilt block.

Top row

Middle row

Top, middle, and bottom row.

Stitch all rows together and voila, you have Quilt block "A".

The trick is to not sew over the points, but match the points up.  This gives a nice sharp line.

Make a total of 8 "A" Quilt blocks if you want to make a twin bed size quilt.  Otherwise, you could make pillows with just one quilt block by adding a border and backing.

Stay tuned for how to make Quilt block "B" (and finish the quilt) for the next tutorial.

Enjoy!

Staying Busy

If you read the previous post, you know we are in a holding pattern on going to Florida.  And it may turn out that we won't go to Florida if we wait too much longer due to other events that will be happening in the months to come. 

Staying in an RV is tricky that way.  In order to get the best deal at an RV park, you need to stay 1 month at a time (the rate than becomes anywhere from $13-19/day verses $22-30/day.)  So it doesn't make sense to pay more per day if you aren't going to stay for a whole month.  And since we have to be back here for JOTI (Jamboree On The Internet - a scout thing) in October, our time is running out.

BUT, speaking of time, we have plenty of it lately!  So I've been keeping myself busy.

I pulled out my unfinished quilt and started making it's matching quilt.  It's only been 2 years since I put together the first one!!  So I am determined to finish the matching quilt before we leave (if we leave.)  I'm trying to make 2-3 (or more blocks per day). 

Here's a photo of the almost finished quilt:

(Joshua is holding it up for me.)  It needs some borders, but then I can add batting and backing and quilt it.  

Here's a photo of one of the blocks of what will be the matching quilt:

So all you have to do is envision that block where the tan/red block is and that's what it's matching quilt will look like.  Voila!  Seems easy enough.  I just have to commit myself to making it. 

So, now you know what I'm doing this weekend.  Oh, and Bill is unpacking boxes from the garage and continuing to clean it up.  Robert is bush-hogging (mowing but with a tractor) our field (which hadn't been done in months...), and Josh has been making 3-D guns out of cardboard.  Quite creative, actually.  He left them at his friend's or I would have taken a photo of them.  And Andrew is jumping around between family members just trying to get in on whatever action looks the funnest at the time.

Maybe we've inspired you to something creative too!  Happy weekending!