FLOWER PATCH
Dive into your fabric stash to make Lynne Goldsworthy’s quilt top, strip pieced for a super-fast finish.
Dive into your stash for Lynne Goldsworthy's quilt top, strip pieced for a surprisingly fast finish.
NOTES
Q Seam allowances are ¼in throughout, unless otherwise noted. Q Press seams open, unless otherwise instructed. Q WOF = width of fabric. Q Wash and press all fabrics well before cutting.
FABRICS USED
Q We used a Fat Quarter bundle of the Gardenvale collection by super-star quilter Jen Kingwell for Moda Fabrics.
QUILT
CUTTING OUT
1 Cut each fat quarter into seven (7) 2½in x 22in strips. You will need seventy- two (72) dark strips and seventy-two (72) light strips. 2 Cut the background (black) fabric into thirty-six (36) 2½in x WOF strips. Subcut each of these into two (2) 2½in x 22in, so you have seventy-two (72) strips in total.
3 Cut the binding fabric into eight (8) 2½in x WOF strips.
PREPARING THE STRIP SETS
4 Divide the fabrics into four piles as follows: Q A: twelve (12) dark, twenty-four (24) background and thirty-six (36) light strips. Q B: twelve (12) light, twenty-four (24) background and thirty-six (36) dark strips. Q C: twenty-four (24) dark and twelve (12) background strips. Q D: twenty-four (24) light and twelve (12) background strips.
5 Sew the A strips into four groups, each with eighteen (18) strips, as shown ( Fig 1). Press seams in one direction.
Note: we have used a light and dark blue throughout the diagrams to distinguish the light and dark fabrics.
6 Sew the B strips into four groups, each with eighteen (18) strips, as shown ( Fig 2). Press seams in one direction.
7 Sew the C strips into four groups, each with nine (9) strips, as shown ( Fig 3). Press seams in one direction.
8 Sew the D strips into four groups, each with nine (9) strips, as shown ( Fig 4). Press seams in one direction.
9 Cutting perpendicular to the seam lines, cut each set of strips into eight (8) 2½in strips as shown ( Fig 5). Make sure to keep all the A strips in one pile, all the B strips in one pile etc. 10 Taking each pile in turn, sew the strips into one long strip – you will have one A strip, one B strip etc. Make sure as you sew the strips together so the pattern continues in the same way ( Fig 6). Your A and B strips will be twice as long as your C and D strips.
PIECING THE QUILT TOP
11 You can now start to assemble the quilt top ( Fig 7). We recommend you download a copy of the layout diagram (available from our blog) so that you can mark off each line of the quilt with a felt-tip pen as you make it. You will need to make two of each row, except row 1.
"12 Make Row 1 using your D strip, as shown on the diagram. Starting at one end, where the pattern matches the diagram, count off the correct number of squares for the row. For Row 1 you will need fifty-seven (57) squares.
Using a seam ripper, unpick the seam after the last square of the row. Save the remainder of the D strip to use later.
13 Use your A strip to create Row 2. This time you will need to unpick squares at both the beginning and end to match the pattern shown in the diagram. Create two (2) of Row 2.
14 Continue in this way, creating two (2) of each remaining row. Save any unpicked squares from your strips. These can be added on to rows as needed to complete the patterns. 15 Continue the process with the remaining rows. You can either choose to join these strips to each other as you go along, assembling the quilt top as you create each strip, or you can mark each strip and set aside to assemble the whole top in one go.
16 As a final step to finish the quilt top, add two light squares at row 29 at the top and bottom of the quilt.
17 Trim the edges of the quilt top to make it square, taking care to allow for a seam allowance by trimming ¼in away from the edge of the quilt design as shown (Fig 8), where the black line is the edge of the quilt design and the red dashed line is the cutting line.
QUILTING AND FINISHING
18 Cut your backing fabric in half and sew the two pieces of backing fabric together along the long sides using a ½in seam. Press the seam open. 19 Make a quilt sandwich by laying the backing fabric right side down, the batting and the quilt top right side up. (If you want to make a pieced backing, see the instructions on page 28). Baste with pins or spray adhesive. Quilt as desired. The quilt shown was machine quilted in a cross-hatch pattern of lines about 4in apart using a black thread.
20 Trim off excess batting and backing fabric and square up the quilt. Tidy any thread ends. Sew the binding strips together with 45-degree seams and press the seams open. Fold the binding in half along the length, wrong sides together, and press. Use this double-fold strip to bind the quilt, taking care to mitre the corners neatly.
FABRICS USED
Q We used a variety of fat quarters sashed together with Floral Asphalt from the Jungle Ave collection by Sara Lawson for Art Gallery Fabrics.
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