Squares and Strips Bed Quilt

 

This is a great quilt for a beginner who wants to tackle something big…and a good way to use a fat quarter bundle that’s collecting dust (wouldn’t we all love that problem?!).

You can now find a printable version of this free quilt tutorial at the link below.  Enjoy!!

Strips and Squares Bed Quilt Tutorial

 

* The blocks are all 8″ finished (8 1/2″ unfinished).

* Each fat quarter will make 4 + 1/3 blocks.   Each 1/4 yard will make 4 + 1/4 blocks.  So if you know the number of blocks you want…divide that by 4.3 or 4.25, and that’s how many fat quarters or 1/4 yards you’ll need.

* The table below is a guideline…measure your mattress to make sure what size you’ll need.  Remember that a large quilt can shrink as much as 4″ in each direction depending on the batting.

 

	Size	# of Blocks	# of Fat Quarters	OR   # of 1/4 yards
Throw	56″ x 64″	56	13	14
Twin	64″ x 88″	88	20	21
Queen	88″ x 96″	132	30	32
King	104″ x 96″	156	36	37

 

1. If you’re using fat quarters… download and print the cutting diagrams HERE.

 

If you’re using 1/4 yards…download and print the cutting diagrams HERE.

 

 

Be aware there is VERY little waste if you use fat quarters.  This is ALL of my scraps from 3 fat quarters:

 

 

 

No wasting fabric here!  Once your comfortable cutting, stack 2 fat quarters or 1/4 yards and cut at the same time.  If your FQ’s are wonky and you’re short a strip or 2…just substitute it for something else…no one will know. ;)

 

2.  Choose a 4 1/2″ square and sew a 2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ strip from a different fabric onto each side of the square.  Press out.  Repeat with a 2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ strip on the top and bottom.  Press out.   Repeat until all of these pieces are gone.  You’ll have 1 of these blocks for each fat quarter or 1/4 yard you cut.

 

 

 

3.  Sew the remaining 2 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ strips into sets of 4 until they are gone.  I like to press my seams open.

 

 

 

4.  Sew the 2 1/2″ squares together into 16 patch blocks.  Sew the squares into rows of 4 first and press, alternating the pressing direction for each row (or press seams open).  Sew the rows together to make a block and repeat until the squares are gone.

 

 

 

There aren’t many of these blocks…but if you want more variety in your quilt you can always make some more with scrap squares!

5.  The rest of your blocks will be your plain 8 1/2″ squares.

6.  Layout the blocks randomly:

	# of Blocks per Row	# of Rows
Throw	7	8
Twin	8	11
Queen	11	12
King	13	12

 

 

6.  Sew the blocks into rows and press, alternating pressing directions with each row.  Sew the rows together and press.

 

* When sewing together a large quilt like this, I sew the blocks together into sections.  I layout and sew one quadrant at a time, then sew the 4 quadrants together to make the large quilt top.  It’s like making 4 mini quilts and sewing them together to make the large quilt…and its much easier to handle under my sewing machine.

 

 

 

* My fabric is Seaside by Riley Blake Designs, and Vintage Modern (the red, green, and grey rectangles) by Moda.   Which is why I called it my Seaside quilt for those of you that asked…no one said I was good at naming quilts!

 

 

 

Happy Quilting!