SAY IT LOUD
No templates needed! Make a statement with simple strips and sew a mini quilt with real feel-good factor
No templates needed here! Make a statement with simple strips and sew this mini quilt with real feel-good factor
YOU WILL NEED
■ Floral fabric: ½yd
■ Background fabric: 1½yd
■ Binding fabric: ½yd
■ Backing fabric: 1½yd
■ Batting: 36in x 48in
FINISHED SIZE
■ 30in x 42in
NOTES
■ Seam allowances are ¼in throughout,
unless otherwise noted.
■ Press seams to one side, unless
otherwise instructed.
■ WOF = width of fabric.
■ Debbie used 279 80/20 Cotton Mix
Batting by Vlieseline (vlieseline.com).
■ Refer to the layout diagram throughout.
■ Debbie used a diagonal stripe fabric for her binding. When cut on the bias this will produce the straight stripes for the binding.
FABRICS USED
All fabrics are by Art Gallery Fabrics, as follows:
■ Floral fabric is Summer Daze from the Hello Sunshine collection by Katie Skoog.
■ Background fabric is Snow from
the Pure Solids collection.
■ Binding fabric is Slanted Lines from
the Take Shape Capsule Collection.
■ Backing fabric is Tropic Like It’s Hot from the Hello Sunshine collection by Katie Skoog.
CUTTING OUT
1
For this improv style quilt, you can either cut your floral and background fabric into strips (as given in steps 2–3), or cut pieces from your fabric as you work. Cutting fabrics as you go works particularly well if you are using scraps.
2
From the floral letter fabric cut:
■ One (1) 1½in x WOF.
■ One (1) 1¾in x WOF.
■ Two (2) 2in x WOF.
■ Three (3) 2½in x WOF.
■ One (1) 3in x WOF.
3
From the background fabric cut:
■ Three (3) 1¼in x WOF.
■ Two (2) 1¾in x WOF.
■ Three (3) 2in x WOF.
■ Three (3) 2½in x WOF.
■ One (1) 3in x WOF.
■ One (1) 3¼in x WOF.
■ One (1) 3½in x WOF.
■ One (1) 3¾in x WOF.
■ Two (2) 5½in x WOF.
■ One (1) 6½in x WOF.
4
From the binding fabric cut 1½in wide strips on the bias, using the 45-degree line on your quilt ruler. You will need approx eight strips.
PIECING THE WORD ‘TAKE’
5
Join a 3in x 9½in background strip to either side of a 2½in x 9½in floral strip. Add a 2½in wide floral strip to the top, trimming evenly with the sides to form the capital ‘T’.
6
Join a 2½in square of floral fabric to the top and the bottom of a background 2½in square. Then join a 2½in wide floral strip to either side, trimming even with the top and bottom.
7
Cut four 1¾in squares of background fabric. Use these to add one CST to each corner of the unit from step 6,
referring to the boxout (below left) for CST piecing instructions. Join a 2in wide floral strip to the right of the unit. Then join a 5½in wide background strip to the top to form the letter ‘a’.
8
Take a 5½in background square and measure approx 3½in along the top and left-hand side edges of the fabric. Line your quilt ruler up with these two marks and cut across the square.
9
Sew a floral 1¾in wide strip to the top background triangle, making sure the strip extends approx ½in beyond either end of the triangle.
10
Take the bottom piece of the background square from step 8. Cut a diagonal line from the bottom corner. Sew a floral 1¾in wide strip between the two pieces. Trim the strip even with the edges of the background pieces.
11
Sew the two units from steps 9–10 together along the diagonal edges.
Trim the unit to 6in wide, then sew a background 5½in x 6in strip to the top. Add a 2in wide floral strip to the left hand side to complete the letter ‘k’.
12 Join a 1½in x 3½in floral strip to either side of a 1¼in x 3½in background strip. Then sew a background 1½in x 3¼in strip to the right side. Join a background 1¾in x 4½in strip and then a floral 2in x 4½in strip to the bottom of the pieced unit.
13 Join a 2in wide floral strip to the left of the unit from step 12.
Cut three background 1¾in squares and add a CST to the top left and both bottom corners. Join a 5½in wide background strip to the top of the unit to complete the letter ‘e’.
14 Trim the completed letters to the following sizes:
■ T: 7½in x 11in
■ a: 7¾in x 11in
■ k: 7½in x 11in
■ e: 5¾in x 11in
15 Join a 1¼in background strip to the right of the ‘T’, pressing the seam towards the background strip. Trim the ends of the strip even with the top and bottom of the letter. 16
Repeat to add a strip to the right edge of the ‘a’ and ‘k’. Then join the letters into one row (Fig 1).
PIECING THE WORD ‘IT’
17 Join a background 2in x 2½in piece to either side of a 2½in x 3in floral strip. Then join a floral 2½in square to the top to complete the letter ‘i’.
18 Join a 1¼in x 2in background piece to the top of a 2½in x 2in floral piece. Then join a 2in x 5¼in background piece to the bottom of the piece. Repeat to make a second identical unit.
19 Join the two units from step 18 to either side of a 2in wide floral strip to form the ‘t’. Add a 1¼in background strip to the top of the letter ‘t’.
20 Trim the ‘i’ to 2½in x 7¾in and trim the ‘t’ to 5in x 7¾in. Join the two letters with a 1¼in wide background strip. Join a 3¾in wide strip to the top (Fig 2).
PIECING THE WORD ‘EASY’
21 Join a 2½in square of background and floral fabric. Then join a 3in background strip to the top and bottom, trimming the ends even. Then join a 3in floral strip to the top and bottom.
22 Join a 2½in floral strip to the left of the above unit, forming the main part of the ‘E’. Trim the unit to 6½in x 11in. Then add CSTs to the top left and bottom left corners using 1¾in background squares to finish the capital letter ‘E’.
23 Make the letter ‘a’ following steps 6–7 on p84.
24 Join a 2in x 5in floral strip to a 1¾in x 5in background strip along the long edges. With the floral strip at the top, join
a floral 3¼in square to the left hand side. Repeat to make a second unit.
25 Join the two units from step 24 with a 2in floral strip between the two white strips. Trim to 7¼in wide, then add 1¾in background CSTs to the top left and bottom right corners. Join a 5½in wide background strip to the top of the unit to complete the letter ‘s’.
26 Join a 2½in wide floral strip to either side of a background 5½in square, then add a floral 2in strip to the bottom. Add a 5½in background strip to the top to complete the top ‘y’ section.
27 Join white and floral 2in x 13¼in strips along the long edges. With the background strip at the top, join a floral 2½in wide strip to the right edge. Then join a 3½in x 17in background strip to the left edge. Add a 1¾in background CST to the bottom right corner to complete the bottom ‘y’ section.
28 Trim the letter units as follows:
■ E: 6½in x 11in
■ a: 7¾in x 11in.
■ s: 7¼in x 11in.
■ top y section: 8½in x 11in.
29 Join the letter units together in one row with 1¼in x 11in background strips in between to form ‘Easy’, with the top section of the ‘y’. Then join the bottom ‘y’ unit, aligning the units at the right edge. Trim the background fabric even with the capital ‘E’ at the left edge (Fig 3).
JOINING THE SECTIONS
30 Join the ‘Take’ and ‘it’ blocks with a 3in wide background strip in between. Then join a background 2in wide strip to either side. Trim the edges even with the top and bottom of the row.
31 Join a 2in wide background strip to the top and bottom of the ‘Take it’ row, trimming the strips so that they are even with the ends of the row.
32 Join a 6½in wide background strip to either end of the ‘Easy’ strip. Centre below “Take it” and sew in place. Join a 2½in wide background strip to the bottom and trim the edges even with the top.
QUILTING AND FINISHING
33 Press the quilt top and backing well. Make a quilt sandwich by placing the backing right side down, the batting on top, then the quilt top centrally and right side up. The backing and batting are larger than the quilt top. Baste the layers together using your preferred method.
34 Quilt as desired. Debbie quilted a random diagonal wave pattern. Trim the excess batting and backing and square up the quilt. Round the corners of the quilt, using a ruler or a round object like a tea cup or small plate.
35 Join your binding strips into one long length along the diagonal edges, pressing seams open. Use a bias tape maker to fold and press your binding strip. If you don’t have a bias tape maker, press the long raw edges of the binding strip to the centre, wrong sides together.
36 Unfold one edge of the bias binding and carefully pin RST around the quilt edge, aligning raw edges and lapping the ends. Sew just inside the crease.
37 Fold the binding over to the back of the quilt and pin in place, making sure the folded edge of the binding covers the line of stitching. Stitch in place by hand or machine to finish.