Good news! My Classic Checkerboard Quilt is now available in a PDF pattern. Hop on over to the shop to check it out! Learn how to make a classic checkerboard quilt with an easy strip sewing method.
Thank you for all your requests for patterns to my quilts. Your support is appreciated!
Elaine
(Note: This quilt is now available in a PDF pattern! It includes instructions for two sizes: baby/crib 36″ x 48″ and throw 48″ x 60″. The pattern is available in my shop. )
I am a big fan of Moda’s V&Co Ombré gradient fabric. So when they came out with Ombré Confetti Metallic this year, I was very excited to use it. It’s Ombré with confetti sprinkled on it! The design possibilities are endless with these fabrics and so much fun. I know I’m going to be sewing with them for a while. The colors are amazing – there are twenty different ones in all! For this quilt, I kept it to just 5 colors, with the grey being the predominant color.
I had so many ideas for different quilts using this fun fabric. I wanted a block where I could pair the solid Ombré with the Confetti Ombré, so I designed a little herringbone child’s quilt.
I made 192 Half Square Triangles for this quilt. The quilt finished size is 36″ x 48″. I made all the HSTs by using my eight-at-a-time method, which is just so fast. The HSTs were 3.5″ trimmed and 3″ after being sewn in.
I used five colors and Kona White for the background. The graphite grey color was sort of my anchor color and I used twice as many HSTs in that color than the other four.
For the backing fabric, I knew I wanted something that was not as busy as the front of the quilt and I was hoping to find something in a grey that I liked. I found this fabric, by Moda, called “Shooting Stars” from the “Stellar Baby” line that I really liked and had some sweet words:
I used two layers of Warm and Natural cotton batting for this quilt. Do you feel sometimes that one layer of Warm and Natural is just too light? Sometimes I want a warmer quilt and so I tried it on this one. The basting process went great and it quilted up like a champ, with no puckers or problems. And it has double the warmth.
I debated how to quilt this herringbone pattern. I decided to go ahead and follow the zigzag pattern of the quilt, although this was going to require a lot of shifting of the quilt in the machine. However, I broke out my knee lifter and that helped a ton – I didn’t have to take my hands off the quilt to lift up the presser foot to shift the quilt. I don’t need this gadget often, but when I do, I’m so glad I have it.
For the binding, there was no question I was going to carry the grey dominant color to the binding – and that confetti fabric is perfect for a fun binding. I cut 2.5″ strips to make the binding. Here is a tutorial on how I did that.
I can’t wait to sew with some more Ombré Confetti! It’s so fun.
I’m listing the quilt in the Shop.
Thanks for stopping in!
Elaine
Yay! By popular request, my Child’s Pinwheel Quilt is now available in a PDF pattern. Hop on over to the shop to check it out!
Thank you for all your support and kind words about my quilt designs. It’s so appreciated!
Elaine
I had a vision for this quilt – something light, airy and fresh looking that had fabrics that reminded me of the ocean, sky and beach. I am so pleased with how it turned out and it has exactly the look I was going for. Of course, I had to make a rope bowl to go with it – my new fun thing to make.
I had so much fun picking out these fabrics. I got a lot of help from Hawthorne Threads, which has their own fabric designs that are printed digitally. This enables them to offer them in a very wide variety of colors. I selected water and sky colors: Skipping Stones in Sky, Doodle in Powder Blue, Watercolor in Robin’s Egg, Stardust in Sky, Multi Dot in Fair Isle Glacier, and for the binding Rogue Stripe in Cornflower.
The other fabrics in this quilt were Seaside Blue Waves Anchors, Reef Sky Dots by Robert Kaufman, Laura Gunn Painter’s Canvas, and Timeless Treasures Sand Dollar Beach, which I love and was so lucky to find – I love the delicate little sand dollars.
The backing fabric was a real find, too – Indigo Coastal Words in Blue from Studio e Fabrics. It’s a perfect beach/ocean fabric and gave some interesting punch to the backing.
I thought about the design of this quilt for a while – I wanted to use larger pieces of fabric. I really didn’t want to do a lot of cutting up fabric and making blocks – I really wanted these fabrics to be the star. So I decided to just sew strips of various widths together into sets and then subcut those sets into strips. I laid out the strips into a design I liked then sewed them into rows – since all the strips’ widths were different, there were no seams to match up!
Here you can see the completed strips that were sewn together:
I really loved the design of this quilt and since there are no blocks to assemble, it goes really fast! I am working on a pattern now and hope to have it available soon.
I used my new favorite thicker batting, Quilter’s Dream Supreme. It makes such a nice hefty quilt.
I love this binding because I love bias binding. And now you don’t have to cut diagonal strips to get bias binding – Hawthorne Threads has a wide selection of colors of stripes on the diagonal, called Rogue Stripe. This one is Cornflower. Makes it so simple when you can cut crossgrain strips and get bias binding!
When you use a Stripology ruler, cutting same size strips is even faster. Like really fast:
You don’t have to lift up the ruler to measure each strip. You make your cuts, lift up the ruler and they are all done.
I quilted this using Aurifil cotton thread, a natural white on the top and a light blue color in the bobbin. I used a 4.0 stitch length and a walking foot. The vertical quilting cut across the strips and the horizontal quilting was all in the ditch.
Thanks for coming by,
Elaine
I’ve made several checkerboard baby quilts in the past and have so many people ask me for patterns, that I finally made another quilt and spent some time making up a pattern. In the past, I have made these checkerboard quilts using a traditional 16-patch block but I’ve thought about it and feel that sewing width of fabric strips together and then subcutting them is faster. So this pattern utilizes a super easy and quick strip piecing method.
This little quilt is my “less is more” philosophy that using just a handful of prints can have more impact than many prints. In this instance, I’m using just four fabrics – my main fabric, which is a little lamb print, a dot, a solid and a subtle checked print. This is similar to the Little Owl Quilt that I did and which got such a great response and so many requests for a pattern. *
* The pattern to make this quilt is now available in my Shop.
The little lamb fabric is called Clover from Cotton + Steel. It’s so sweet! I selected my favorite dot fabric from Art Gallery Fabrics called Firefly in Whisper from the Hello Bear collection. I added a Moda Solid and a little bit of a check fabric from Camelot called Mixology Woven in Rainwater.
For the backing, I found a fabric I thought went so well with the top – it’s called Scattered Hashtags from Moda Mixology.
For the batting, I used a low loft Warm and Natural 100% cotton. I quilted it with Aurifil thread, using a 4.0 stitch length and a walking foot. I just used the seams on each square as my guide.
For the binding, I used Squared Elements in Turquoise. I machine stitched the binding using my usual method.
I have this pattern out to testers right now and when I have it available very soon, I will announce it here on the blog and it will be available for purchase. If you follow me on Instagram, you will see it there also. I will be very happy to finally be able to provide you with a pattern for this simple, fun quilt.
This quilt itself is now listed in the Shop.
** A pattern to make this kind of quilt is now available in my Shop.
Thanks for coming by!
Elaine
I found this really interesting line from Windham Fabrics called “Measure”. They have fabrics that show compasses and rulers and writing and I just loved it. I had been looking for a color palette of browns, creams and maybe a touch of black. This fabric line was perfect for the 16-patch quilt I had in mind.
I’m also going to show you how I made the 16-patch blocks and give you my measurements for cutting.
I added some Kona solids and another text print called “Bee Creative” by Deb Strain for Moda. For the background, I used Kona Ivory. The finished quilt size is 48″ x 60″, which I consider an ideal size for a throw quilt to curl up with on the sofa.
This quilt was composed of twenty 16-patch blocks. The squares in the finished quilt are 3″. The 16-patch blocks in the finished quilt are 12″. I prewash all my fabrics – if there are any surprises, I want them now and not when I wash the finished quilt.
If you are interested in some of the particulars, here’s what I did:
I cut (40) 3.5″ WOF strips total, 20 in the various prints and 20 in the background fabric. You need 2 yards of the background fabric and 2 yards of various prints.
I cut the WOF strips into 15″ strips. I sewed 2 prints and 2 background strips together, like this:
Press seams to dark sides. This strip set gets subcut into (4) 3.5″ sections:
Repeat with your other prints, varying which fabrics you have in the top and third positions, so you have a great variety.
Then lay these out into 16-patch blocks, starting with a dark fabric in the top left position.
Sew together into blocks. The seams should all nest.
Repeat until you have 20 16-patch blocks and then just lay all the blocks in a pleasing array – four blocks across, five blocks down, and sew together.
I used a fabric for the backing called “Henry Glass Principle Circle Play in Cream“. It is a 108″ wide quiltback which is terrific – no piecing of the back! There seems to be more 108″ wideback fabrics available now than there used to be.
I used my new favorite quilt batting, Quilter’s Dream in the Supreme loft. I love this batting – it’s more expensive, but it makes a heftier, cozier and softer quilt than Warm and Natural.
I quilted this using a 4.5″ stitch length and used Aurifil 40# cotton thread.
For the binding, I did go with a classic stripe. Hawthorne Threads actually digitally prints lots of really interesting fabrics themselves and they do a whole line of stripes called “Dress Stripes” that are perfect for bindings – if you can’t find the color you want for stripes, check them out – they have almost any color you need. I used “Ochre” for this binding.
I cut 2.5″ strips for the binding. I have a tutorial on how to machine bind a quilt, if you need to know how to do that. I do use a walking foot when I attach the binding.
And here is the quilt after I washed it. I definitely wanted that crinkle look for this one:
Can’t wait to send this off to its new owner!
Thanks for stopping by. Hope you’re making something!
Elaine
(Note: After many requests, I have now written a PDF pattern for this quilt! You can find it here.)
This is my last quilt for 2017 and I wanted to get it posted before the holidays! I photograph my quilts outside and so this was a real challenge because it was 17° and we were going to get 6 inches of snow that day. I sort of had one shot to get some pictures. The rest of the week would have too much snow to be able to shoot. I was freezing, but managed to get decent photos. I’ve had a few inquiries asking if there is a pattern – no, there isn’t but I’m going to give you my cutting instructions and hope that helps.
I can’t help myself with mustard and greys together – I just love that color combination. The big reason for making this quilt, though, was that I wanted to experiment with a new type of batting. I wanted a bigger, heavier quilt but still wanted to machine quilt. I have used two layers of Warm and Natural in the past, but found that too stiff. A woman in a quilt shop suggested Quilter’s Dream. They make several different lofts and I wanted to see if I could use the heaviest loft, Supreme, and still machine quilt successfully. The answer was yes, although it takes a little muscle to manipulate the quilt as you are quilting it! The quilt ended up having a very nice heft to it without being bulky and is perfect for curling up with on the sofa. Also, I believe the Quilter’s Dream is less stiff than Warm and Natural. It is more expensive, but worth it if a little more suppleness is important to you.
The fabrics were all from my stash. Some of the mustard fabrics were from one of my all time favorite lines, Magnolia, from Camelot Fabrics. Some of the greys were from Zen Chic for Moda, Robert Kaufman Basketweave and Light and Shade. Many of these fabrics are no longer available but you can find some from Etsy sellers.
My background color for this was Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton Solid in Snow.
The quilt ended up being 48″ x 60″, which I consider about the perfect throw size. I played around with the arrow blocks and how to lay them out – there were so many good patterns they could make. I made 80 arrow blocks total. I used 20 different print fabrics and made 4 arrow blocks for each fabric.
Each arrow block requires: (1) 3.5″ square print, (1) 3.5″ square background and (2) Half Square Triangles of the print and the background.
Here is how I did my cutting:
For each different print fabric, I cut (4) 3.5″ squares (80 print squares total)
I cut (80) 3.5″ squares of the background fabric
I made (8) HSTs of each print fabric (160 HSTs total)
This is all you need to make the top. I made the HSTs by doing the eight-at-a-time method, which is fast and perfect for this top, because each different print fabric took just that many HSTs. I cut (1) 8.25″ square of each print fabric and (1) 8.25″ square of the background fabric. Then follow the eight-at-a-time method.
For the binding, I used my favorite gingham – Robert Kaufman Carolina Gingham in silver. This gingham comes in many colors and I love keeping it in my binding stash drawer. It was also one of the prints in the quilt. I made 2.5″ binding and used this method to attach it. I keep my walking foot on when I attach the binding now.
For the backing fabric, I used an old favorite from the Maker Line by Art Gallery called “Make and Pin”. I love this fabric and it makes a great backing fabric because of the random pattern. I used this method to make the backing, avoiding the dreaded cutting and piecing of the backing, which I hate.
I machine quilted using Aurifil 40 wt thread in Muslin. It’s a little heavier than the 50 wt and I like the way it looks on the quilt. I used a 4.0″ stitch length with a walking foot.
I love the way this quilt turned out and I made it just for us, so I’m looking forward to curling up with it in the years to come.
I hope these cutting instructions are helpful to you. If you have any questions, just e-mail me.
Have a great holiday season and a wonderful New Year. See you in 2018!
Elaine
This is a custom order baby quilt and pillow that I just finished and wanted to share with you. I was excited to use this “Children at Play” balloon fabric and had quite a nice time deciding which colors to pull out from it for the quilt.
Many of you contact me with questions about specifics on making quilts, so although this isn’t a pattern, I’m going to try to give you some better cutting details for this quilt.
The finished quilt measures 36″ x 48″. It is made up of twelve 16-patch blocks. Each patch is 3″ finished. I have prewashed all fabrics.
Here are the fabrics I used:
Seven different fabrics for the top:
(See cutting instructions below)
Robert Kaufman Kona Solid Pansy – 3 strips
Robert Kaufman Kona Solid White – 2 strips
Robert Kaufman Kona Solid Carnation – 3 strips
Moda Essental Dots – 3 strips
Michael Miller Children at Play Balloon – 5 strips
Brother/Sister Design Studio Pink & White Dots – 3 strips
Pink and White Dots (unidentified) – 3 strips
Binding: Michael Miller “Little Stripe” in purple (no longer available)
Backing: Michael Miller Children at Play Balloon
To make the 16-patch blocks, I cut (22) 3.5″ strips of fabric from the WOF. (I cut more strips from the balloon fabric than the solids or dots because I wanted the balloon fabric to repeat more in the quilt.) Then I cut these strips down into 16″ lengths. I sewed together four 16″ lengths to get a strip set. I varied the position of the fabrics as much as I could to get different combinations of fabrics within each strip set for a total of 11 strip sets. Then I subcut these strip sets into 3.5″ strips. Four of these subcuts were sewn together randomly to make (11) 16-patch blocks. I used the leftover fabric from the initial cutting of strips to make the 12th block that I needed. I didn’t keep strict track, but I believe I used about 2.25 yards of fabric for the top. I had scraps left over with which to make a pillow top also.
After you have all your blocks sewn, lay the blocks out to see what kind of order you want them in. Sew them into rows, making sure to press the seams of the blocks all the same way in each row. Alternate the direction of this for each row so that when you sew the rows together, the seams will nest.
I used Warm and White for the batting.
The binding is a cute stripe from Michael Miller called “It’s a Girl Thing – Little Stripes” in purple. Sadly, it’s no longer available. I considered a bright pink bias stripe first, but decided the purple was the perfect color for the binding. I’m really glad I went with it. I cut 2.5″ strips and used this machine binding technique. To cut 2.5″ strips quickly, I used my trusty Stripology ruler. I do love that thing. Makes cutting lots of strips so fast.
For the backing, I used the Michael Miller balloon fabric and was so happy with it. It’s such a cute backing. The little whimsical girls and rabbits are so fun.
I machine stitched the quilt with Aurifil Natural White in 40 wt. It’s a little heavier than the 50 wt. and I like the way it stands out more for machine quilting. (I do use the 50 wt. for piecing.) I quilted this at a 4.0 stitch length with a walking foot.
There was also a Reading Pillow made to order to go along with the quilt.
This quilt is sold.
I do hope these instructions are helpful. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Hope you’re making something!
Elaine
Michael Miller came out with this cute Safari Friends fabric line and I couldn’t resist it for a quilt for a baby boy. I love blue and white together, and the grey in the fabric was the perfect third color. The line also had a really cute dotted fabric and then I pulled some great Kona solids to match the colors in the fabric.
I really wanted to highlight the safari fabric on the front of the quilt, but the characters on the fabric were so large that it would not have made sense to cut those into 2″ or 3″ squares – the animals would have been lost. So I ended up cutting 6.5″ squares of that fabric and then did 6.5″ nine-patch blocks out of the other fabrics.
I made the nine-patch blocks by cutting 2.5″ strips of fabric, sewing them into 3-strip sets and then subcutting those into 2.5″ segments. I then mixed them up and sewed three segments together to get the nine-patch blocks.
The quilt ended up being 36″ x 48″, with 48 blocks total.
I used a different batting with this quilt and I think maybe I have found the perfect batting. It was Quilter’s Dream Cotton batting and I really liked everything about it. I use Warm and Natural most of the time, but this batting can be a bit stiff (it does soften up the more you wash your quilt) and can cause creases in a quilt when the quilt is folded for a long time. I have used Hobbs 80/20, but that batting did not have enough weight for me – it was too light. The Quilter’s Dream was softer than the Warm and Natural but had more heft to it than the Hobbs. I can’t wait to try this batting on a larger quilt, where I will use two layers of it (which I’ve been doing lately with my larger quilts). I’ll keep you posted.
I used the Safari Friends animal fabric for the backing and I just think it’s so cute. I quilted the whole thing with Aurifil thread – Light Delft Blue – at 4.0 stitches per inch. I usually do a lot more quilting, but because the front of the quilt was a little busy, I felt I didn’t want to quilt every single line, so I outlined the larger blocks and left it at that.
The binding is a striped fabric from Hawthorne Threads. Have you ever ordered fabric from this online shop? Not only do they have a great selection of designer fabrics, but they digitally print their own line of fabrics and this stripe is one of those. If you like stripes, they have a great selection and so many colors.
I used my regular machine binding technique to do the mitered binding.
And because I think they are so cute, I went ahead and make a reading pillow to go with the quilt! The front has a pocket where you can slip a couple of books inside.
Thanks for dropping by – I hope you’re making something!
Elaine
Pink alert! Here is a quilt to wrap a baby girl in that is as cute as can be. I used fabrics from the “Hip Hooray” line from Lizzie Mackay for Blend Fabrics. This fabric is hard to find now and I’ve had it in my stash for a while, waiting to use it.
This line features a double border fabric with whimsical little animals on both of the borders. I cut the borders off and used them on either end of the quilt.
I also took some of the border and fussy cut some of the animals out and used them for the patchwork center. Each square ended up being 3.5″ after being sewn in.
I added a couple of more fabrics for the patchwork center, including a favorite Swiss Dot from Moda’s Essential Dot collection and a Robert Kaufman Carolina Gingham in Pink.
I used Warm and White for the batting and did the quilting with Aurifil thread in Pale Pink.
I almost never have to mark lines on my quilts. If I do, I usually use a Hera marker, which only makes creases. But for this quilt, I really did have to mark lines so I used a Clover water soluble felt pen, which required washing the quilt afterwards to remove all the markings. I have used a Clover Chaco marker in the past, but have found that these markers don’t work hardly at all after a while. Very disappointing! So I would recommend the felt pen instead. The lines washed right out nicely.
For the binding, I LOVE bias binding and a lot of fabric lines now are offering stripes on the bias, so you don’t have to actually make bias binding. This binding fabric is from Moda’s “Dot Dot Dash” line. I just love the look of this binding. I cut 2.5″ crossgrain strips and used my machine binding technique.
The finished quilt is 37″ x 46″. It’s a nice size to cuddle up with, use as a play mat, or just a decorative accent in a child’s room. I’m listing it in the Shop. (This quilt has sold)
Thanks for dropping by!
Elaine
Beech Tree Lane Handmade 