N E W
THE
BOOK The essential guide to creating beautiful quilts Over
Digital Edition
projects inside
Contents 1 Getting Ready to Quilt Prepare Your Sewing Machine
10
Hand Piecing Supplies
14
Machine Piecing Supplies
15
Hand Quilting Supplies
16
Machine Quilting Supplies
17
Common Quilting Measurements
18
How to Adjust a Quilt Pattern
22
Prepare Fabric
24
Rotary Cutter Safety
25
Rotary Cut Block Pieces
26
Rotary Cut Bias Strips
31
Create and Use Templates
32
Fussy Cut a Block Piece
33
2 Piecing Quilt Blocks Useful Hand Stitches
36
Hand Piecing
38
Machine Piecing
40
Piece Strip Sets
46
Press Blocks
48
Fix Block Problems
50
3 Piecing Techniques
6
Piece Four-Patch Units
54
Piece Two-Bar and Three-Bar Units
56
Piece Flying Geese Units
58
Piece Half-Square Triangles
62
Piece Square-in-Square Units
64
Piece Hourglass Units
66
Piece Y-Seams
70
Piece Partial Seams
72
Curved Piecing
73
Foundation Paper Piecing
74
English Paper Piecing
78
contents
Yardage measurements in the book have been given in US Common Measurements
4 Assembling a Quilt Top Choose a Block Setting
82
Sew Quilt Blocks Together
84
Add Setting Triangles
86
Add Sashing
88
Add Straight Borders
90
Add Mitered Borders
92
Add Special Borders
94
5 Preparing a Quilt for Quilting Piece a Quilt Back
98
Select and Prepare Batting
100
Mark the Quilting Pattern
102
Baste Quilt Layers
104
Prepare a Quilt for Longarm Quilting
108
6 Quilting a Quilt Hand Quilting
112
Tie a Quilt
116
Machine Quilting
118
Square Up Your Quilt
122
Bind a Quilt
124
7 Gallery of Projects Create a Design Wall
130
Pieced Pillowcase
134
Mug Rug
136
“Stargazer” Wall Hanging
138
“Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Stars” Baby Quilt
144
“Peppermint Twist” Twin Quilt
150
contents
7
How to Adjust a Quilt Pattern The fun of quilting comes from making a quilt your own. Whether that means choosing fabric that’s different in color and style than what’s shown in the pattern, adding pieced or appliqué borders, or making the quilt in a different size, I encourage you to explore your inner artist by choosing your own quilting path. Adjusting the size of a quilt pattern requires some careful calculation, but greatly expands your options.
1
2
Using the finished block size in the pattern, calculate the number of blocks you need for the new quilt size. For example, you have a pattern for a red and yellow wall hanging with four 10-inch (25.4 cm) blocks. You’d like to adjust this pattern to make a crib quilt. A crib quilt is usually about 271⁄2×52 inches (70×132 cm). If you make your quilt three blocks wide and four blocks long, it will measure 30x40 inches (76.2×101.6 cm). You can add borders to make it a little larger.
22
getting ready to quilt
Divide the number of blocks you want by the number of blocks in the original pattern. In this case, you want twelve blocks and the original pattern called for four: 12 ÷ 4 = 3. You’ll use this ratio, 3, to help you adjust the fabric requirements in the pattern to meet your new needs.
If the same fabric is used for blocks and borders, subtract the amount needed for the borders before calculating how much you need for the blocks. Wall Hanging Fabric Color Yellow Red
Wall Hanging Requirement
Crib Quilt Fabric Color
⁄4 yard (23 cm)
Blue
⁄4 yard (23 cm)
1
1
White with 3⁄8 yard (35 cm) dots
3
Multiply the original fabric requirements by the ratio to calculate the new amount of each fabric needed. The wall hanging pattern calls for 14⁄ yard (23 cm) of yellow fabric. You want to use blue fabric in place of yellow for the crib quilt. To find the amount of blue fabric you need, multiply the fabric requirement by 3. 14⁄ ×3 = 3 ⁄ , so you need 34⁄ yard (69 cm) of blue fabric. 4 Repeat this step for each fabric used.
5
Adjust backing and batting requirements. Calculate your new quilt size, plus borders, and add 6–8 inches (15.2 to 20.3 cm) to the width and length to allow for shrinkage that occurs during quilting. If this measurement is greater than 42 inches (106.7 cm) in either direction, you will need to piece the backing. To estimate the backing yardage, calculate the number of 42-inch (106.7 cm) strips required to form a rectangle large enough for the back.
4
Crib Quilt Requirement 3
⁄4 yard (69 cm)
Purple
3
⁄4 yard (69 cm)
White with dots
11⁄8 yard (103 cm)
Adjust the border fabric requirements. For straight borders, recalculate the border length to fit the new size of the quilt. For pieced borders, follow the instructions in Steps 2–3 to calculate the yardage needed. To add a second border, use the size of the quilt center plus the inner border to calculate the yardage.
If the pattern does not include the finished block size, subtract twice the width of the borders from the width of the finished quilt size to calculate the width of the quilt center. Divide this by the number of blocks across and round up.
getting ready to quilt
23
8
7
Press the seam in each set to one side. Cut the last set from the ender, press the connected sets, and then clip them apart. Normally, you press toward the darker fabric to hide the seams. More importantly, you want to press so that adjoining seams go in opposite directions.
9
Sew the rows together and press. Pin seam intersections diagonally, so you can sew onto the seam allowance to hold it in place before removing the pin. Alternate how you press row seams in neighboring blocks so the seams nestle when blocks are joined.
42
Piecing Quilt blocks
Sew additional pieces to the first sets to complete each row. Lay the pressed sets back on the mat. Flip the next piece in each row onto the last sewn piece in the row, maintaining arrangement of the pieces. Pin each set and sew as before. Press, and then continue adding pieces until each row is complete.
Piece a Block with Units
1
2
Two-bar unit
HSTs
If a block has units, sew them first.
Press units, making adjustments as needed.
If a block contains common quilt units such as half-square triangles (HSTs) and two-bar units, sew those units together first. Lay completed units on your mat, arranging them as they should look in the completed block.
Press seams toward the dark, unless it makes more sense to press differently because of the particular layout of your block. For example, pressing away from HST units helps maintain the points.
Piecing Quilt blocks
43
Piece Flying Geese Units Flying geese units are pieced rectangles that feature a “goose” and the “sky.” The “goose” is a large triangle in the center of the rectangle, surrounded by two smaller “sky” triangles. When the goose is dark and the sky triangles are light, a directional arrow shape is dominant. There are many ways in which you can piece flying geese units; Method 1 creates one flying geese unit, while Method 2 creates several similar ones.
58
Piecing Techniques
If you decide to make flying geese using a different method than prescribed in your quilt pattern, adjust the fabric yardage and cutting requirements.
Method 1: Makes One Flying Geese Unit
2
1 Sky square
Trim just the sky fabric.
Goose rectangle Sewn diagonal
Cut pieces and sew one sky square to the goose rectangle. Cut two squares the same width as the goose rectangle to create the sky. To make a 2×4-inch (5.1×10.2 cm) finished flying geese unit, start with a 21⁄2×41⁄2-inch (6.4×11.5 cm) rectangle and two 21⁄2inch (6.4 cm) squares. Place one of those squares on top of one end of the goose rectangle, right sides together. Draw a diagonal on the wrong side of the sky square, pin, and sew on the line.
Press the square, creating a sky triangle. This is called the stitch-and-flip method because after you stitch the square, you flip part of it back. Press the square back toward the corner of the rectangle, forming a sky triangle. Trim the excess fabric under the sky triangle, leaving a 1⁄4-inch (.6 cm) seam allowance.
3
Trimmed excess fabric
Sawtooth Star blocks use flying geese units. Second sky square
Sew the second sky square onto the goose rectangle. Place the second sky square on top of the other end of the goose rectangle, right sides together. This square will slightly overlap the first sky triangle at the center point. Repeat the stitch-and-flip method from Step 2.
Piecing Techniques
59
7
8
Fold the corner up at a 45-degree angle.
Fold the binding back down straight.
Rotate the quilt, placing the sewn binding horizontally. Fold the binding up at a 45-degree diagonal.
Hold the diagonal fold in place, and then fold the binding back down, making sure to align the raw edges again. The top of the folded binding should align with the top edge of the quilt. Pin the binding in place.
9
10 Width of binding
Sew, beginning the same distance from the edge as your seam allowance. Backstitch, and then continue sewing the binding to the quilt, repeating Steps 6–9 at each corner. Stop sewing about 10 inches (15.2 cm) from where you started. Backstitch and remove the quilt from the machine.
126
Quilting a Quilt
Trim the binding ends where the strips meet. Lay down the binding on the left, and put a pin in the quilt to mark where it ends. Lay the right binding on top. Measure the width of the binding from the pin, and mark the top binding at this spot. Trim the top binding at the mark.
11
Position the quilt with the binding edge closest to you. Open up the binding on the left, right side up. Open up the binding on the right, right side down. Place the right binding on top and perpendicular to the left binding, matching edges. Pin the ends together. Mark the sewing line. On the right (top) binding, mark a sewing line diagonally, from the upper left down to the lower right.
13
12
Sew the binding ends together. Sew on the marked line. Check to make sure the binding fits the edge of the quilt, and resew if needed. Trim the seam allowance, pressing it open. Lay the binding on the quilt and sew the remaining seam. Backstitch at the beginning and end of the seam.
14
Hand sew the binding down.
Miter the corners of the binding.
Roll the binding to the back of the quilt, and then hand sew it down with matching thread using a blind stitch. Binding clips will help to hold the binding in place as you sew.
When you reach a corner, fold the corner into a miter and stitch it down. Sew the mitered corner closed, up to the point. Sneak the needle out of the corner, and then continue sewing the binding.
Quilting a Quilt
127
“Peppermint Twist” Twin Quilt Once your quilt blocks are pieced, you can arrange them in a variety of settings. This quilt uses an on-point (diagonal) setting, which requires setting triangles to make the sides of the quilt straight. The quilt is quick to make because you construct the blocks using strip sets. If you use the red and white fabrics as shown, prewash to prevent the colors from bleeding.
Finished size 671⁄2×87 1⁄4 inches (171.5×221.6 cm) finished BLOCK size 14 inches (35.5 cm) MATERIALS LIST Cherry red batik: 11⁄4 yards (1.14 m) (blocks) Dark red batik: 31⁄2 yards (3.2 m) (blocks, setting triangles, Border #2) White: 12⁄3 yards (2 m) (blocks) Red-and-white diagonal stripe: 15⁄8 yards (1.49 m) (blocks, Border #1, straight binding) Backing: 47⁄8 yards (4.5 m) Batting: Twin or Full size, at least 74×94 inches (188×238.8 cm)
150
Practice projects
CUTTING DIRECTIONS Cherry red batik:
12 strips 31⁄2×42 inches (8.9×106.7 cm) (strip sets)
12 squares (A) 21⁄2×21⁄2 inches (6.3×6.3 cm) (blocks) Dark red batik: (See “Cutting the Fabric”)
6 strips 31⁄2×42 inches (8.9×106.7 cm) (strip sets)
4 strips 31⁄2×105 inches (8.9×266.7 cm) (Border #2)
3 squares 211⁄8 inches (53.7 cm) (side setting triangles) 2 squares 107⁄8 inches (27.6 cm) (corner setting triangles) 6 squares (A) 21⁄2×21⁄2 inches (6.3×6.3 cm) (blocks) White: 18 strips 11⁄4×42 inches (3.1×106.7 cm) (strip sets) 18 strips 2×42 inches (5.1×106.7 cm) (strip sets)
Cutting the Fabric
Red-and-white diagonal stripe: 18 strips 11⁄4×42 inches (3.1×106.7 cm) (strip sets) 8 strips 1×42 inches (2.5×106.7 cm) (Border #1)
In order to get the required pieces from your dark red batik fabric, follow these instructions.
1. Cut six 31⁄2×42-inch (8.9×106.7 cm) strips.
8 strips, 2×42 or 21⁄2×42 inches (5.1×106.7 or 6.4×106.7 cm) as you prefer (binding) Note: If you can’t find a diagonal striped fabric, cut bias binding from a 30-inch (76.2 cm) square of regular striped fabric to create the same look.
Backing: 2 strips 74×42 inches (188×106.7 cm) 1 strip 12×42 inches (30.5×106.7 cm) 1 rectangle 12×3 inches (30.5×81.3 cm) Note: Cut border strips before cutting anything else. Trim the border strips to the right size after the quilt center is sewn.
Practice projects
151
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