Hello everyone,
Time for November's Gift Sewalong!
This time around I felt like sewing up a little quilt that you can either use as a wall-hanging or as a table-topper! I made mine very Christmassy but you can of course choose different colors and fabrics to give yours a completely different look.
I started with a fat Quarter bundle that had some fun retro prints and colors and ended up using about the equivalent of 8 FQ's ( not counting the backing), just to give you an idea of how much fabric you need.
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I used 3 different dies to make the body of this quilt and one extra for the border ( as well as the binding, which is obviously not done yet). You don't need the 4th one I used, as you can choose to use a regular 2 1/2" strip die ( or rotary cutter), but I will link to it just in case.
The 5" square die ( click here!), which cuts a 4 1/2" square.
The Orange Peel die ( click here!)
The Churn Dash die ( click here!), for the 4 center blocks. Please note that you can also make this block with the 6" Qube's shape 1, 3, and 8! ( If you don't care for the Churn Dash, look for my options below in the instructions ;) )
The Scrappy Binding die ( click here!)
You will also need fusible web and some baking paper or other form of stabilizer.
Backing and batting, approximately 35" square.
I used the Bolt for all my cutting needs. It is a great, compact, portable, and more affordable cutter, in case you need/want the convenience of an ELECTRIC fabric cutter ( click here to learn more about it).
These are your steps:
1) Grab your background fabric ( whites in my sample) and use your 5" Square die to cut 20 4 1/2" squares. Make sure to lay your selvage on your die correctly ( facing the stickered side) and feed it through your machine correctly ( Stickered side always goes through sideways).
2) From your fusible web, cut 5" strips and adhere them to the back of your chosen Orange Peel fabrics, following manufacturer's directions. Cut 20 Orange Peel shapes.
One hint: If you are not trying to fussy-cut any images, you can cut and shift your fabric so that you have very little waste, like this:
You should now have 20 background squares measuring 4 1/2", and 20 orange peels:
3) Now it is time to fuse your peels to the squares. The easiest way to do this is by folding your square diagonally so you have a guideline. Just try your best to place the peel so its center lines up with your fold mark and you leave a 1/4" edge at both ends.
Also, please make sure that you pay attention if you have used directional fabric! This might require a little planning on your part because the peels will face left and right in the quilt ( see my example):
( place the center of your peel on the fold line)
( plan the direction of your peels if using directional fabric)
( leave a 1/4" seam allowance at both ends)
4) Once fused, you need to stitch down your peels. I used a blanket stitch on mine, but you could use a zig zag as well ( it is easier!).
( this is the setting I used on my machine. Always try out the stitch on a scrap and see if you like the size)
I matched my thread to my peels, but that was my preference.
WARNING: You might find that because the peel comes so close to the edge of your square that your machine pulls your fabric down into the throat plate. These are two things that I did to avoid that from happening: I started stitching in the middle of the peel, not at the tip:
AND, I grabbed some stabilizer ( in my case baking paper) and placed a little piece under the pointy part of the peel on both ends, like this:
You don't need to use stabilizer under the entire peel, just at the ends. Then just go ahead and peel it away when you are done stitching everything down. Don't worry about the little bits that stay behind. I am confident they will just disintegrate in the wash.
When you are done, you should have a nice little stack of stitched down Orange Peel, like this one. Just set them aside for now while you work on the center of the quilt.
5) To make the center of the quilt, you will need 4 9" finished quilt blocks. If you don't like the Churn Dash, you could choose to make any other 9" block. These are some other options:
And many more! Click HERE to see all your options...chances are you already have some of these in your collection!
For my center blocks I chose the Churn Dash because it is one of my favorite blocks and I chose to fussy-cut my fabric so I could feature that in the center square. To do that easily, I cut some paper with the needed shape and was able to use that as a little "window" to place over my fabric. I then added some pencil guidelines so I knew where to place the fabric on my die ( still keeping the selvage edge in mind!)
( I am not going to go into detail about the construction of these blocks because you can find instructions on the Accuquilt website and in your die packaging. This is a very straightforward block to sew and there really is no way to mess it up).
6) After you make your 4 blocks for the center, go ahead and sew them together into a square.
And then go ahead and sew 4 Orange Peel blocks together TWICE, paying attention to their orientation!
Sew these to the top and bottom of your center blocks.
Sew the remaining Orange Peels together into 2 lines of 6, again, making sure you alternate their direction!
And then sew these to the two sides.
PAY ATTENTION: You might have to sew with a scant 1/4" seam so as not to cut off your Orange Peel "points".
7) Because the Orange Peel points are so close to the edge I was afraid to add a binding that would quite possibly cover my points so I decided to add a border using my Scrappy Binding die. This was a great option for me because I was using Fat Quarters and needed to conserve fabric. If you are using yardage you could just use a 2 1/2" Strip die. Although you should measure YOUR quilt top at this point to know your correct measurements, I needed to cut two 27 1/2" strips, and two 31 1/2" strips, which I then sewed to the top, bottom, and sides.
8) Obviously my quilt is not done, but I wanted to share the instructions sooner rather than later, but in order to finish it up I will add a backing and batting piece slightly larger than the quilt top, quilt it, and then bind it, again using my Scrappy Binding die and my leftover FQs.
And there you have it, your Gift Sewalong idea for November! Guess I better get started on December's because time starts to fly around these months, doesn't it?
If you are just joining in the Gift Sewalong now, I started these posts in January so there are now 11 ideas for decor and gifts to choose from. Simply look back through the posts to see if there are any others that catch your eye. I have shared everything from hand towels to lined tote bags to ornaments and I'm sure you can find something fun to sew up for family and friends for gift-giving season.
As always, if you have any questions or something is not clear, please ask!
Happy creating!
~ Monique
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