Easy Patchwork Strip Quilt - tutorial by Zing

[ZingNinjaRoll]

I will show you the simplest way to make a pretty paychwork strip quilt - don't worry, no nudity is required!

you will need:

• sewing machine & threads
• fabric scissors
• 100% dressweight cotton fabrics (I use shirting fabric and pillowcases as well, saving the good bits)
• ruler

I recommend using:

• a 1/4" foot on the machine that saves pinning fabrics together and will give a consistent seam allowance.

you can make do without it (I'll show you how) but I wouldn't be without mine.

• cutting mat
• long cutting ruler
• rotary cutter

you can cut out patches by hand, but it's boring and those 3 will save a massive amount of time! (if you don't have them and no desire to invest, see if you can borrow them. if you think you want to make more blankets in the future they are worth every penny!)

I'll show you how to make a 24" square quilted patchwork blanket that fits the criteria of a Billie Blanket for Woolly Hugs.

but the beauty of this method is that you can make any blankets of any size or shape, whatever your heart desires!

first

Hi zing it's eviledna here, great tutorial. I have just made a patchwork cushion and was ridiculously excited by it.

hay edna nice to see you here!

Never tríed but I'm marking my place in case I get inspired.

(I haven't really done the tutorial itself but if you have done patchwork before can figure out where this is going )

woohoo, hey Adora

Quickly before I go to bed I want to tell you about seam allowance.
it should be consistent so you get nice results.
stick to either 5mm or 1/4" (6mm), don't swap between the two.

If you don't have a 1/4" foot for sewing machine I'll show you in next few photos how to create a guide

So ordinary foot attached find the measurements on the bobbin top (I can only refer to what mine is like, sorry) and using a masking tape make a parallel, straight line like this:

Then using a permanent marker draw a line against the tape and after a few minutes peel off the tape:

Now you have a guide to line up the edges of your fabric pieces or later the edge of the sides of the quilt.

Here are 2 photos of a 1/4" foot, on the 2nd pic you can see a thin, vertical "blade" which is used as the guide:

Ah, last post shows no photos.sorry. Will try again. can't do more than 6 /day so done for now with that!

Anyway, as I showed on the previous photos you'll need bunches of fabrics cut into different widths.
Has anyone done that yet?

Photos or it never happened!

Because they will vary in length (although don't have to!) it's hard to say how many fabric pieces you will need. Just cut some up, if not enough cut up some more later. No forward planning of pattern is required - yay!

You also need to cut your piece of fleece to size, this will be the backing for the quilt.

if you are making a Billie Blanket (you don't have to!) it should be at least 24" Ã? 24".
They appreciate bigger sizes, can be rectangular - again, it doesn't matter.

what matters is that you cut the backing just a little bit bigger than finished size (so minimum 25" x 25") - this helps at the end when you need to cut the sides nice and neat.

next time I will explain all about strip piecing - the basic technique you need to do. but don't worry, it's dead simple. and fun. i like this bit a lot

Thank you for this thread Zing! This looks like a quilt I have nearly finished (just trimming & binding to go) - my very first one. I have learnt that I can't cut straight even with a ruler so any hints would be greatly appreciated.

droit

If you want to trim edges of a large quilt (that is already quilted!) can you find a big enough space where there's a tiled floor? you can follow lines of straight lines of tiles, or even wooden floorboards.
that's what I do. I do it by eye and not with a ruler. as long as the result is square -ish or rectangle-ish enough it doesn't matter if the sides are not dead straight.

does that help?

Thanks zing I don't have any hard floors but I do have a couple of large rugs which might help in that way.

Definitely, didn't think of rugs!

Starting this is going to be my weekend project, will head out to buy fabric Saturday morning. Any advice on what's best to buy?

medium weight dressmaking cotton is the proper term (I think!) but if you say you need 100 percent cotton for making a patchwork quilt they will know it in the shop what you are after.

some shops will offer you small patches or strips that are already cut to certain width/sizes, sometimes you can find coordinating fabric squares (20 or 40 or other quantity per pack)

ask if you what the smallest cut is you can have, some shops are happy with 10cms cut off the bolt, some will say 25 or 50 minimum

fat quarters (FQs) are gained when you cut a metre of fabric, then cut it in 4 quarters. typically they are 50 x 55 cms in size
(some places do fat yards, so slightly smaller)
I buy a lot of FQs on Ebay and in shops, shows, anywhere I can put my paws on them

Fat Eights are also available some places (fat 8 is half of a FQ)

a long quarter is 25 cms strip cut off the bolt.

just explaining this all so you know you are not restricted to buying metres of fabric! (not just yet )

I cut up good quality shirts and use the good bits (back panel and parts of the shoulder are normally in good nick)
some other clothing is ok to recycle as well, just check that it is 100%

fleece - but polar fleece, again really good but cheap stuff can be found on Ebay, search for "fleece fabric"

That is so helpfuL, thank you! I'm so excited about this!

Here's photo of the 1/4 inch foot that I use. The vertical "blade on the side is what I push the fabric against to get an even seam.

Anyone still here?

Here are photos of how to pieces the fabrics together (strio or flag piecing). No pinning needed, just align the edges of two pieces and sew. Like this

do a few reverse stitches at the begining and end of sewing together each pair to secure them properly.

When the first pair is sewn together lift the foot, move the pieces a little bit (away from you) but without ripping or cutting the threads. then sew the next pair together.
when this is done you will have about an inch or so thread between the pairs. Keep repeating this, you will end up with what looks like a bunting. You can cut the thread betwen the pairs.
This method saves time and wastes no thread.

Ok, marking my place, cos the quilt top bit I can do but I am running scared of actually quilting it....

Very, very tempted.....

Keep going until you have lots of sewn pairs. Then, with the same method sew together two pairs (right sides facing, always) until all the pieces form a long strip.

You need to do this with all the batches of different widths, so you'll end up with patch stripss of different widths.
(There's a photo earlier on)

When you have done a length of say a metre or 2 (whatever feels comfortable) you need to press the seems with an iron for a neat finish

Then you can roll up the fabric strips ready for the next step

stealth

don't be scared. it's dead easy. it will be sewing straight lines through 2 layers of fabric - which is essential you do while piecing and you would have practised a bit by the time you get to the quilting phase!

here's to calm your nerves