100-Patch Quilt Tutorial by Wedding Dress Blue

I came across this tutorial earlier and just fell in love with it.  I have been collecting a lot of scraps and think this is a beautiful way to use up those pieces you don’t want to and shouldn’t throw out.  I will add this to my growing list of projects.

 100-Patch Quilt Tutorial

http://weddingdressblue.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/100-patch-quilt-tutorial/

I would not consider recommending that you try to do this quilt in a single go, but, by cutting your scrap a little at a time and sewing a small amount on a regular basis, you get beautiful results!

Also, it is very economical.  The squares contain just over 5 yards of fabric. Five yards!  What a good reason to take up scrap quilting!

100-Patch Quilt

Finished Size:  99″ x 82″

MATERIALS

Approximately 2000 2″ squares (Don’t laugh.  You know you have that much scrap!)  This is roughly 5 yards of fabric.  I stuffed a small box with squares and it was enough.

3 1/4 yards sashing fabric

3/4 yard binding fabric

6 yards backing fabric

quilt batting

DIRECTIONS

1. Using your scrap squares, piece 12 100-patch squares.  This means it is 10 squares wide and 10 squares high.  Take your time and enjoy the process. Iron the seam allowances in opposite directions so they nest together nicely when you sew them to one another.  I made each 100 patch a charm set, meaning that there are 100 different fabrics in each one.  But, you don’t have to use that many, just try to keep the colors and prints distributed fairly evenly.

2. Add the first row of sashing around each block.  Cut 24 strips 2″x 15″ and 24 pieces 2″ x 18″  Sew them to each block attaching first the 15-inch strips and then the 18-inch strips to opposite sides.

2. Attach pieced border around each block.  Piece 24 strips 12 squares long and 24 strips 14 squares long.  Again, attach to each block, putting on the short sides and then the long sides.

3. Cut wide sashing.  You need 31 pieces 3 1/2″ x 21″  long and 20 pieces 3 1/2″ x  3 1/2″ square.

4. Arrange your blocks in a pleasing layout three blocks wide and four blocks high.

5. Sew each row together, using one of your 21-inch strips between each block.

6. Make your sashing rows by sewing  three 21-inch strips and two 3 1/2-inch squares together.  The squares are absolutely necessary to insure your quilt remains lined up and square.

7. Create the outer border by making two more sets of three strips and two squares for the top and bottom.  Make two sets of five squares and three strips for the sides.  Attach.

8. Using batting and backing, quilt and then attach border as desired.

9. Ta-dah!  A finished quilt.

I know this is a short set of directions, but I did not take pictures for each step as I went along.  Please ask any questions that come to mind, and I will improve the directions with your suggestions.  Also, please let me know if you use this tutorial.  I love to see what you create!

Rail Fence Tutorial

A Rail Fence quilt is a fairly easy quilt to make albeit a very time-consuming one, or at least for me it was.  This particular quilt took me 7 weeks to make however, I do have a full-time day job and most of the sewing was done between 8-10 at night and on Friday nights when the Mr. went out with the boys and every Saturday night a sporting event was on TV that he wanted to watch.  I am sure if I had more time during the day, it would have been a faster process.

This is my first tutorial so I hope it reads well and is easily understandable to the beginners out there.

After washing and pressing the fabric, I cut out 2.5″ stripes the width (42-44″) of the fabric.  For one complete 12″ square, you need 26″ of each colour you are using. Sew each colour together using a 1/4″ seam and press the seams towards the darker colours.  At this point, I ended up with a 6.5″ x 44″ strip of fabric.

Next, cut your strip every 6.5″.  You can do this in layers of 3 to cut back on the time it takes to cut out. 

You will end up with blocks like these.  I had 192 of them to cut out.  My rotary cutter would have gone on strike with all the cutting if it could. 

After all your strips of fabric are cut into the 6.5″ blocks, you can begin sewing the blocks together.  remember to maintain your 1/4″ seams as accurately as possible so you get a proper 12″ square.  I sewed half of my 192 blocks together as below:  And then I sewed the other half like this.

 Then, I lined up and pinned the 2 halves together to make my first completed 12″ block.  Your dimensions at this point should be 12.5 x 12.5

Once you have all your finished blocks, you can begin to sew them together.  As the quilt I made was 6 x 8, I sewed them in sections of 3 across and then joined each strip of 3 to another until they were 3 x 4 or 1/4 of the finished quit top.  Once all 4 quarters were complete, I matched the seams, pinned and sewed them all into one piece.

Next, I made the backing which I forgot to take a picture of, taped it to the floor with green painters tape to keep it taut.  I layed down the batting Warm & White), put the quilt top on and then basted it every 4 inches using large safety pins.  The recipient of this quilt had 2 requests for me.  #1 – Simple stitching, nothing too fancy.  I ended up ditch stitching on each 4″ block.  Turned out quite well.  I took the time to make sure all my blocks were lined up and I think I only had a couple that were off by a millimeter or to.  I was quite obsessive about this!  Request # 2, no label.  So, I signed my name and quilt details on the edge of the quilt where the binding would cover it up.  Once this was all complete, I sewed on the binding.  I used a zigzag stitch just to be different and I loved the look so much that I zigzagged the binding on another quilt as well.  When everything was all said and done, I washed and dried it, rolled it up, tied it with a ribbon and delivered to the happy recipient.

Here is the finished product.  Generally, a typical rail fence has a border of each colour around it.  I obviously did not do this due to the vast size of this puppy and I think it looks pretty darn good as is.