HST HOUSES
Free afternoon for sewing? Look no further than this adorable mini quilt with rainbow rows of little homes
YOU WILL NEED
■ Fabric A (red) one (1) fat sixteenth
■ Fabric B (orange) one (1) fat sixteenth
■ Fabric C (yellow) one (1) fat sixteenth
■ Fabric D (green) one (1) fat sixteenth
■ Fabric E (blue) one (1) fat sixteenth
■ Fabric F (pink) one (1) fat sixteenth
■ Fabric G (purple) one (1) fat sixteenth
■ Fabric H (grey) one (1) fat sixteenth
■ Background fabric: one (1) fat quarter
■ Binding fabric (yellow) one (1) fat quarter
■ Backing fabric: one (1) fat quarter
■ Batting: 18in x 22in
FINISHED SIZE
■ 16in x 19in
NOTES
■ Seam allowances are in, unless otherwise noted.
■ Press seams to one side, unless otherwise instructed.
■ Press fabrics well before cutting.
■ RST = right sides together.
■ HST = Half-square Triangles.
■ Bleached white batting supplied by Hobbs Bonded Fibres (hobbsbatting.com)
■ Project by Sarah Ashford.
FABRICS USED
Fabrics are all Kona Cotton Solids by Robert Kaufman as follows:
■ Fabric A: Red
■ Fabric B: Kumquat
■ Fabric C: Corn Yellow
■ Fabric D: Sour Apple
■ Fabric E: Water
■ Fabric F: Dahlia
■ Fabric G: Azalea
■ Fabric H: Medium grey
■ Background fabric: White
USE THE STRAIGHT SEAMS AS A GUIDE TO QUILT A GRID OF LINES IN A SUITABLY LIGHT COLOURED THREAD
CUTTING
1 From each of Fabrics A– G cut:
■ One (1) 3in square.
■ One (1) 1 in x 4 in strip.
■ Two (2) 2in x 2 in pieces.
2 From Fabric H cut:
■ Seven (7) 1 in x 2 in pieces.
3 From the background fabric cut:
■ Seven (7) 3in squares.
■ Two (2) 5 in squares.
■ Four (4) 5 in x 1 in strips.
■ Four (4) 14 in x 1 in strips.
■ Two (2) 19 in x 1 in strips.
4 From the binding fabric cut:
■ Five (5) 2 in x 22in strips.
PIECING THE HOUSE BLOCKS
5 Sew a Fabric A 2½in x 2in piece either side of a Fabric H 1½in x 2½in rectangle. Press (Fig A). Join a Fabric A
4½in x 1½in strip to the top (Fig B).
6 To make the roof, place a Fabric A and background fabric 3in square RST. Draw a line from corner to corner on the reverse of the background square and stitch ¼in either side of the drawn line (Fig C). Cut along the line and open out to yield two HST units. Press the seam toward Fabric A (Fig D). Trim the HSTs to 2½in square, centring the diagonal seam.
7 Sew the two HST units together to create the roof. Press seams open (Fig E). Sew the roof unit to the top of the pieced unit from step 5 and press to complete one house block (Fig F).
8 Repeat steps 5–7 with the remaining coloured fabrics to piece a total of seven house blocks.
ASSEMBLING THE QUILT TOP
9 Lay out the house blocks in two rows of three, and one row of one. Join the background 5½in squares to either side of the single house. Sew the other two rows together, inserting a background 5½in x
1½in strip in between each house (Fig G).
10 Join the three rows together, inserting a background 14½in x 1½in strip in between each row, as well as at the top and bottom (Fig H).
11 Join the background 19½in x 1½in strips to the sides to complete the mini quilt top.
QUILTING AND FINISHING
12 Press the quilt top and backing well. Make a quilt sandwich by placing the backing fabric on your work top right side down, the batting on top, then place the quilt top centrally and right side up. Baste the three layers together using your preferred method.
13 Quilt as desired. Sarah quilted in a grid formation using a white cotton thread, first quilting vertical lines and then completing with horizontal lines. Trim off the excess batting and backing fabric and square up the quilt.
14 Sew the binding strips together end-to-end using diagonal seams. Press the seams open and trim any dog ears. Fold in half lengthways, wrong sides together, and press.
15 Sew the binding to the right side of the quilt, creating a neat mitre at each corner. Fold the binding over to the back of the quilt and hand stitch in place around the edges to finish.