WARM UP WITH WINTER PASTELS
Sew fast, fun bunting blocks!
TO GET THE SCRAPPY LOOK, USE UP LOTS OF DIFFERENT PRINTS FROM YOUR STASH. MAKE SURE EACH ROUND OF STRIPS HAS PLENTY OF CONTRAST.
NOTES
Seam allowances are ¼in unless otherwise noted. Press all fabrics well before cutting. WOF = width of fabric. Press seams open unless otherwise instructed.
FABRICS USED
Cotton+Steel, Blueberry Park by Karen Lewis Textiles, and screen-printed Kona by Karen, supplied by Plush Addict.
CUTTING OUT
1
From each of the sixteen print fabrics, cut four (4) 2in x WOF strips.
2
Cut the background fabric into fifty-four (54) 3in x WOF strips.
3
Cut seven (7) 2½in x WOF strips from your binding fabric.
MAKING THE BLOCKS
4
Starting with a 9in square, add three rounds of matching 2in strips around the centre square. To add a round, sew a strip, trim and press. Turn the block 90 degrees and repeat until all four sides are sewn (Fig 1). Make twelve (12) of these units.
5
Press the twelve (12) units and then cut each one into quarters. Don’t worry about making them exact because this is a wonky design so there’s no need to be precise. You will have forty-eight (48) units.
6
Using the background fabric, add a strip around each of the units. Press each one.
7
Turn each unit on a slight slant and trim to 10½in square (Fig 2).
ASSEMBLING THE QUILT
8
Piece together each set of four (4) matching units. You should now have twelve (12) blocks.
9
Lay out these twelve (12) blocks in four rows of three, moving them around until you are happy with the layout.
10
Sew together each row and press the seams open. Sew the rows together and again press the seams when you are done.
QUILTING AND FINISHING
11
Make a quilt sandwich by placing the backing fabric right side down, then the batting and then the quilt top right side up. Smooth the layers and then pin or spray baste them together. Quilt as desired. The quilt shown was quilted with a wide wonky cross-hatch pattern.
12
Trim off the excess batting and backing fabric and square up the quilt, ready for binding. Join the binding strips together into one long length and use this as a double-fold binding for your quilt.