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DESIGN CENTER
CONTENTS
Four-Patch Mini Quilt
Member
BBB Online
FOUR-PATCH MINI QUILT
by Myrna Giesbrecht
Courtesy of Press for Success
Skill Rating: Beginner
This little quilt, which finishes at 20 by 28 inches, is a simple project that looks great. It's also terrific for testing the benefits of a pressing plan. Each seam throughout the quilt features butting seam allowances, for well matched design lines.
Tools & Supplies
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1/4 yard red print
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1/4 yard blue print
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1/3 yard beige print for background
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1/3 yard green print for borders
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Backing fabric, 24 by 32 inches
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Batting, 24 by 32 inches
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1/3 yard red print for binding
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Rotary cutter
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Cutting mat
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Rotary ruler
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June Tailor's Shape Cut or Quarter Cut (optional—please see "Editor's Note" under "Instructions")
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Straight pins
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Iron
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Pressing surface
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Cotton thread (for piecing)
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Rayon thread (for quilting)
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Sewing machine
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Small scissors
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Basting spray
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Machine needles (for piecing)
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Machine quilting needles (for quilting)
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Hand needles
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Thimble
Instructions
Editor's Note: To cut accurate strips, you can use a large acrylic ruler such as Omnigrid's six- by 24-inch ruler, or take advantage of the convenience and incredible accuracy offered by the June Tailor Shape Cut and Quarter Cut acrylic templates. The Shape Cut has long slots spaced half an inch apart, just wide enough for a rotary blade, allowing you to cut perfect strips in increments of half an inch in width. The Quarter Cut has slots spaced a quarter of an inch apart, allowing you to cut strips in quarter-inch increments.
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Fold the red, blue, beige, and green fabric pieces in half lengthwise, aligning the selvages and ensuring that the grain is straight. Fold in half lengthwise again. Use a rotary ruler (or a Shape Cut or Quarter Cut—Ed.) to cut close to one end of each fabric piece, at a perfect 90-degree angle from the fold. Now you can begin cutting strips.
Cut two strips of red fabric, 2.5 inches wide and 45 inches long. Cut two strips of blue fabric, 2.5 inches wide and 45 inches long. Cut four strips of beige fabric, 2.5 inches wide and 45 inches long. Cut four strips of green fabric, 2.5 inches wide and 45 inches long. -
Stitch each red strip to a biege strip. Stitch each blue strip to a beige strip. Press each seam allowance away from the beige print. Cut across the pressed strips at 2.5-inch intervals.
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Stitch one red/beige set to one blue/beige set, as shown, to form a four-patch block. Make 24 of these.
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Press
the center seam allowances on 12 of the blocks toward the tops of
the blocks. Press the center seam allowances on the remaining 12 blocks
toward the bottoms of the blocks, as illustrated. These form blocks
A and B.
From the right side the blocks look the same. On the wrong side, you can see that the center seam allowances are pressed in opposite directions. Remember, when you flip a square over, the image will be reversed.
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Alternate two A blocks with two B blocks, as illustrated below, and stitch together to form a row. Make six rows.
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Press the seam allowances in rows one, three, and five toward the left.
Press the seam allowances in rows two, four, and six toward the right.
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Stitch together rows one and two, rows three and four, and rows five and six. Press each seam allowance toward the top of the quilt.
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Stitch the three sections together to form the quilt top. Press the seam allowances toward the top of the quilt
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To form the end borders, stitch a green strip to the top and bottom of the quilt, using your rotary ruler to carefully trim to fit. Press the seam allowances toward the outer edges. To form the side borders, stitch a green strip to each side of the quilt, again carefully trimming to fit. Press the seam allowances toward the outer edges of the quilt top.
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Smooth out the backing fabric on a table, wrong side up. Tape the backing to the table so the fabric is taut but not distorted. Spray lightly with 505 or another quilt-basting spray. Smooth out the batting on the backing fabric, working from the center out. Now lightly spray the batting. Smooth out the quilt top on the batting, right side up, again working from the center out. Your quilt sandwich will hold together securely for several weeks, and the spray will not damage the fabrics or gum up your needles.
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Quilt by machine, stippling all over with a free motion (use a darning foot and lower or tape off the machine's feed dogs) or quilting as desired.
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From the red binding fabric, cut three strips that are 2.5 inches wide and 45 inches long. Sew the strips together to form one continuous piece. Press seam allowances open. Press one short end up at a 45-degree angle, creating an ending pocket for the binding when it's stitched in place.
Fold and press the binding strip together lengthwise, wrong sides together. -
Pin the binding along the edge of the quilt front, with right sides together and aligning the raw edges. Be sure the end of the binding is in the center of one side of the quilt, not near a corner. Using a 1/4-inch seam allowance, begin stitching two inches from the folded end of the binding.
Stop stitching 3/8 inch from the first corner. Backstitch. Clip the threads and remove the project from the machine. -
Fold the binding up and back at a 45-degree angle to the corner.
Now fold the binding forward and straight along the next edge. Begin stitching at the edge, continuing down that side of the quilt. Repeat steps 13 and 14 at each corner.
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When you reach your starting point, clip off the excess binding and tuck the end into the pocket. Stitch over the joint.
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Turn the binding to the wrong side of the quilt, pressing it into place. Miter the corners as you turn them. Hand-stitch the binding invisibly to the quilt back.
I hope you've enjoyed making this little quilt. As you can see, it's much
easier and far more accurate to stitch a quilt top together with a pressing
plan. The plan doesn't have to be complicated. It's a new learning curve
at first, but the more you use pressing plans, the more natural they'll
become. Myrna Giesbrecht
Add tools and supplies to complete this project to your shopping basket!
SewAndQuilt.com offers virtually everything you need to make this project! Check out these products in our online store.
Omnigrid 6- by 24-Inch Rotary Ruler
Fiskar's 45-Millimeter Ergonomic Rotary Cutter
June Tailor Quilter's Cut 'n Press
Metrosene #50/3 Mercerized Cotton Thread (547 yards/500 meters)
Gingher Featherweight Thread Clips
Schmetz Universal Needles, Size 12
John James Hand Needles, Sharps
SewAndQuilt.com also offers a wide selection of products to help you mark your quilts. Please proceed to the Marking Tools department of the Shopping Center.