If you've ever thought of sewing a quilt this is a great one to get started with. It's made from squares and half-square triangles which are quite easy to put together. Plus I've also got plenty of helpful links to guide you through the whole process.
Before we start - here's where I took my inspiration. A manhole cover. Romantic, oui? Just be thankful I photoshopped out the cigarette butt.
This pattern will produce a crib sized quilt (45 x 60 inches) for your baby-wrapping pleasure. You'll need to decide on two contrasting colours (I've gone tangerine and a beige/taupe) and then assemble some fabrics.
I chose 4 different neutrals (a half yard of each) and 7 different tangerines (fat quarters of each). A neat trick is to find a fabric with a repeating pattern in regular rows, like this one:
By just altering the spacing of my cutting, I ended up with three different looking blocks from the one fabric:
Once you've had fun pulling your fabrics together, you can start cutting:
From your tangerine colours you will need a total of 180 x 3 in squares.
From your neutrals you will also need a total of 180 x 3 inch squares.
Then we need to make the 72 half-square triangles (HSTs). What follows is an explanation of how I like to make them, but there are other methods. Get your google on or see this tutorial over at Jennifer's That girl...that quilt.
So, back to the HSTs - you'll need:
36 x 3.5 inch tangerine squares, and
36 x 3.5 inch neutral squares.
Take a neutral 3.5 inch square and draw a line diagonally corner to corner on the wrong side. I use a Hera marker, but a water soluble fabric marker works too. Match this neutral square with one of your 3.5 inch tangerine squares, right sides together.
Then using your marked line as your guide, sew a seam a quarter inch either side of that line.
Chain piecing really speeds the process up here. Feed your units in one after the other to sew one seam, then clip them apart, flip them around and feed them all back in again to sew the other seam. Then you'll have all your squares sewn up lickety-split.
You might notice I've evenly mixed my tangerine squares while my neutrals are still in their individual colour stacks (just lumped on top of each other). This way my tangerine fabrics will be evenly distributed among the neutrals in my HST units. (I didn't want all of one orange fabric ending up sewn to the one neutral.) Then I could just grab from the top of each stack without thinking about it.
Once you've cut apart all your two square units it's time to cut along the marker line to give yourself two HST units.
Press your seams either open or to one side, as you prefer. Remember to press and not 'iron'. Ironing involves running the iron back and forward like you'd iron a shirt, pressing is putting the iron down, shot of steam, lift the iron up and repeat. No moving the iron across the fabric as this stretches and distorts your triangles.
Now I have made these triangles a wee bit larger than the 3 inch finished product required. This is so there is some fat to trim so your HSTs are accurate and make pointy looking points. Yes, it adds another step, but it makes for a good-lookin' product.
Right, so trim/square up your HSTs to 3 inchs either with a square template or, like me, using the 45 degree angle line on your cutting mat:
Now you will have all your units cut and ready to lay out in your chevron pattern. Just follow the grid below, alternating your colours within each chevron in a way that's pleasing to your eye.
All laid out? Good. Break open a block of chocolate and then sew the whole thing together - first join your squares to make rows, then sew the rows together.
Whee! We're on the home stretch now. Now to make a backing. I used the tangerine left overs in mine, between two pieces of IKEA flat sheet. If you're getting jack of it all (or have run out of chocolate) and just want to finish, go with a single large piece of fabric.
What quilting pattern are you going to use? It can be as simple as a large grid, using the seams as a guide or some fancy free motion quilting to highlight your chevrons. I went for a straight-line pattern echoing the chevron shapes.
Make your quilt sandwich with backing, wadding/batting and then your quilt top. You can pin them together (great tutorial on this at Red Pepper Quilts) or you can spray baste them together. I chose to spray baste as my quilting pattern had lots of pivots and I wanted the extra hold as I hauled the quilt through my machine.
Choose the thread colour for quilting - I went with thread to match each fabric colour but you could easily use tangerine on your neutral chevrons and neutral on your tangerine fabric for a different look. Don't forget to consider the back as well. In retrospect I wish I'd only used tangerine thread on the back (bobbin thread) so the quilting stood out even more on my neutral backing. We live and learn, huh?
Once you've quilted it's time to bind. My favourite binding making/attaching tutorials are here: at Crazy Mom Quilts and Red Pepper Quilts.
Once your binding is attached you have to trim excess batting and backing, fold the binding over to enclose the raw edges of the quilt and then secure by sewing. You can machine sew it with precision (Red Pepper Quilts tutorial) or go for a quicker machine sew by using a zigzag stitch (like Rachel in her Stiched in Color tutorial). I chose to hand sew this one.
I choose a thread to match the backing (rather than the binding) and use a long length of it doubled up. I thread the two cut ends through the needle and the uncut loop hangs at the other end. I put my needle through this loop when making the first stitch to secure the thread without having to use a knot. I sew an uneven ladder stitch - about a quarter inch in the binding (I just zip along inside the fold) and then a smaller stitch into the quilt back and batting before heading back up into the binding. And I love using binding clips to hold it all in place; much more friendly than pins.
After it's all done, throw it in the wash to get rid of your water soluble marker, dry and then find a baby to snuggle with. Mmmm, babies.
Even though I'm late I'm going to link this up to the Tangerine Tango Challenge pool, which I first saw over at Ali's blog a.squared.w.
And there you have it. Not hard when the internet is here to guide you! If anyone is still reading, I wish you many chevrons and babies and plenty of time to enjoy them all.
P.S. If you see any boo-boos please let me know.
Gorgeous! Beautiful colour work as always. thanks for sharing your method, love the inspiration-it's everywhere!
ReplyDeleteThis is one amazing quilt Kirsty! I love this pattern and am SO going to make it...soon!
ReplyDeleteWow! Love this pattern and the fabrics you've chosen. Might have to get off my lazy butt and make this one, probably in aqua or pink. Thanks for the tutorial.
ReplyDeleteVery nicely done tutorial, and the layout is fabulous. It's on my to-do list. Thanks for doing it.
ReplyDeleteI love this. Fantastic quilt! Thanks for sharing it with us : )
ReplyDeleteNot a flocking chevron in sight! love it, clever mademoiselle.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, it is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI like the part about your inspiration.
Have you seen the posters about the new show in the caves in les Baux de Provence?
Wow, fabulous tutorial and gorgeous quilt! Manhole covers have never looked prettier. I read every word and will be back to follow all your tips often I am sure.
ReplyDeletethat's gorgeous! thanks for the fab tutorial :-D
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I subscribed to your blog - how do you find all the time to do all this amazingly gorgeous stuff??
ReplyDeleteI just do it veeeeerry slowly :) A little bit each day and I get there eventually.
DeleteFabulous Kirsty. Love the pattern and thanks for the info on how you quilted it too. This is definitely going very close to the top of my list of what I must make! Thank you very much for the tutorial.xxxxx
ReplyDeleteLovethe quilt!
ReplyDeleteGreat tutorial!
Love that grid too! Sometimes you areinspired by themost crazy things. You havemade a most striking quilt out of it.
I love it.
I'd already seen itin that Tangerine Flickr pool and wondered what had become of it.
You've done areally GR
(my iPad's a bit funny sometimes and refuses to type anything; what I wanted to say is this:)
ReplyDeleteYou did a REALLY GREAT job!
I'm not into quilting at all, but your blog makes me think I could be! Love it.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy-peasy Liza, you should try it!
DeleteGreat quilt and superb use of color Kirsty! But most of all I am impressed and touched by the inspiration. Now you see the name of the foundry: Pont-a-Mousson? I grew up in that region of steel mills and iron mines, so it really hit home when I saw what beautiful thing came out from the picture of such a lowly telephone man-cover.
ReplyDeleteThank Kirsty,
Annick
annick5424 at gmail.com
What a great post! Thank you! The quilt is so gorgeous and I really want to try it as well now! I love to see your inspiration and how you highlight the way cutting affects patterned fabric! Very inspiring! So, now I have to think about what would be some cool contrasting colour pairs! :-)
ReplyDeleteAmazing pattern and striking colours! Love it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the wonderful tutorial! Your blog is amazing!
ReplyDeleteThank you Sharon, and thanks for dropping by!
DeleteThis is such a treat for us all this morning!! Thanks for sharing...I LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteTa Jenny!
DeleteGreat Tutorial...no baby's in my future, though I would welcome another great grandchild if my only married granddaughter would decide to be a mother. Sigh!!
ReplyDeleteLove the colors, not so traditional. Love it.
The design is so clever and I love the colors. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThat is so clever! One day...
ReplyDeletejust beautiful. It's on my list for sure!
ReplyDeleteWow Kirsty, this is FANTASTIC! It has wonderful movement. And a fresh & happy feel so typical of you! Excellent tutorial too. You are going to see these popping up all over the world I'm sure! Pure genius :) Ros x
ReplyDeleteI have read the complete thing - you know!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great tue - and a wonderful pattern!! Thanky for this - and I will definitly do it one day!!
Thank you for the tutorial! I truly appreciate your links to the other sites - I had not seen your spray basting post. And the binding post you directed us to helps a lot. I must make this soon!! Thanks, Kirsty.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great quilt, and a great tutorial! Thanks for posting. I'll be following your blog from now on!
ReplyDeleteI really love this quilt. Thank you so much for the awesome and humorous tutorial.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing! I love your design and will use it for my next baby quilt. The arrangement of HSTs as well as the quilting you did are most pleasing!
ReplyDeleteWow! Amazing pattern. I am going for pink and cream :) and maybe a bit bigger size, do you have a website? your imagination is crazy unique and organic love it.
ReplyDeleteSaw this over at Pink Chalk Fabrics and just had to come see! I don't know why but this quilt has captured my imagination more than just about any other I've seen lately; just lovely & so creative! Great tutorial too; I have several baby quilts planned as gifts this year and may have to do one of them like this! Thanks for the inspiration & instruction ;>)
ReplyDeleteGreat pattern, thanks for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited by the thought of other babies snuggling up in this design. Pink and cream sounds dreamy cmicha1460; I don't have a website (.com), only this blog. I'm sure you can increase the size of the quilt by continuing the pattern off the quilt, if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteKirsty, Great design!! I didn't see it mentioned, but you could include that this is a 'tesselation' quilt as well. I love it!
ReplyDeletelove the orange colors. Thanks for the tutorial too.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful! Love the colors. Love the pattern. Great job and thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI saw this over at Pink Chalk too and just had to see the whole process - I love the colors and the inventive pattern as well. You should make a block of this and send it for the QuiltCon challenge!
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful and you gave great directions.
ReplyDeleteSaw this quilt on the Pink Chalk newletter & it absolutely took my breath away.....sooo beautiful, you did a great job on the turtorial (I'm new to quilting) & the pictures you gave on the stitching were so informative! Have to ask what is name (maker) of that great material that you showed in rows? Would love to find something like that.
ReplyDeleteThanks again, signed up for your email too.....I can't wait to see what else you come up with.
Nancy
Hi Nancy, that material was an Anthology fabric by Khristian Howell, the line was called High Society and the fabric is Orbs in Orange. It was also printed in green and purple. It's about 2 years old now so a bit trickier to find - you could try etsy and see what you come up with. Otherwise, look for a large scale print that you could use to the same effect.
DeleteWhat a sweetheart you are for giving such detailed information. I did check etsy & found the orbs in green, which was also my favorite in a color choice for this pattern.
DeleteThank you, thank you again....I am such a fan of your work. I am so glad pink chalk highlighted your wonderful quilt & design.
xo, Nancy
I saw this posted through the Pink Chalk newsletter and clicked through because it is so unique - and orange! Learned a new trick too - the double thread no knot for binding!
ReplyDeleteWhat gorgeous, gorgeous colours! I'm in love. Thanks for the how-to!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love this quilt. Thanks for the great tutorial. No new babies expected at the moment..but three of my nieces have yet to have any...so there could be. Also, this would make a great full size, so maybe I will get one made sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteCathyC in Alberta
I love that orange withe tans. Your quilting is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteNever thought to use a Hera pen for HSTS! Love that orange with the tan!
ReplyDeleteAwesome design, great colors, beautiful quilt! I have a little stack of orange fabrics waiting for me... I was inspired by that Tangerine Tango Challenge, but just need to make the time to whip something up. Thanks for your tutorial, and inspiration.
ReplyDeleteLove the quilt, I think you should name it "swimming goldfish". Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteit is absolutely Fabulous Kirsty! And the tutorial is very welcome and great. Love love love this post! You are such a great person for quilting, the end result looks so perfectly shaped and the corners all match sooo well, you are a master at this. I hope we can meet one day and I can see you doing it, I can learn big time from you.
ReplyDeletexx
Maaike
I'm so glad I've gone backwards in blog reading to find this gem!!! What a fabulous quilt. The design is just gorgeous and I happen to have a whole lotta tangerine fat quarters waiting for something fabulous. Congratulations on a really, really excellent quilt Kirsty! Hey, you may have been to late for the Tangerine Tango, but I think there is a 1/2 square challenge going on somewhere at the mo...Canoe Ridge Creations maybe? I hope you enter.
ReplyDeleteTHanks so much for this post! My nephew wanted a quilt and found this one - he wanted it to look "camo" so with my fabric choices and this layout - I think it worked. In teh camo colors - ya kinda also get the digital camo look / feel to it. I don't have a blog but if YOu'd like to see a photo - comment me back and I'll email it to you! Thanks again...I think it took like 12 hours of sewing to get the top together.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tutorial Kirsty. I made the pattern yesterday. Easy to follow instructions and the layout graph was great. I used leftover fabrics from another quilt top. Shades of tangerine, some grey and a neutral background. It came up really well and has certainly improved my cutting skills. Thank you once again
ReplyDeleteThank you alioop - it makes me so happy to know people are making this!
DeleteThis is a lovely quilt and very nice tutorial!
ReplyDeleteI am just finishing the piecing for this quilt - 4 more rows to go! I actually asked Pink Castle Fabrics on Etsy to pick out the fabrics for me which I purchased in one bundle. Like a couple other commenters - I have no plans for the finished quilt I just couldn't get it out of my mind! I'm now starting to think what other color combinations might work. Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I love the tangerine instead of the usual baby colors, and I'll bet the baby will love it, too. I haven't run across your blog before, but I'll be back. You had me at "You Had Me at Bonjour"!
ReplyDeleteWow! This is the most innovative quilt I have seen in a long time. I love it!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of oranges and had no inspriation but now I am really inspired. Thanks for the beautiful work you placed before me GB
ReplyDeleteThat's so cute!!! I love it!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the tutorial! I just finished my own version as a gift for a friend who is due with her first baby in June. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cararoe/sets/72157629709226930/
ReplyDeleteLove it !!! The colours are gorgeous too !!! I just have to make one now !
ReplyDeleteSo clever - never overlook any thing - design inspiration comes from everywhere. I am going to copy this pattern for my little girls sewing class. I think I will cut it and give each one of them a different row to piece. We can use it for a benefit. Thanks so much. nlwessel@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteLove the quilt-- it's been sitting in an open tab for a week while I study and decide what I want to do. Question: I'm a bit confused about the piece sizes. Your directions say 180 3" pieces, then you mention making the half squares w/ 72 3.5". Did I miss something? Just don't want to errantly cut a bunch of fabric! Thank you for clarifying.
ReplyDeleteHi Gayle, the 180 pieces are plain squares for the pattern. The 72 pieces (slightly larger) are what you sew together and then cut apart again to form the Half Square Triangle blocks. Those pieces are cut at 3.5" so that in the end, when you cut them open and trim, they will measure 3" to match the 180 squares. Hope that helps?
DeleteYep, think I've got it. Now all I have to do is find really cool tangerines. I love the color and your quilt just shows it off. In my town finding these kinds of fabrics are limited. I'm web surfing, but have only found a couple that I really like. Sigh.
DeleteI got the majority of mine at Pink Chalk Fabrics, if that's any help. Not sure if they'll still have them in stock? Good luck!
DeleteMissouri Star Quilt Co. has some beautiful tangerine and orange fabrics. You might want to look there.
DeleteWhat a beautiful quilt! I love baby quilts anyway, but yours is fantastic. Thanks for the tutorial!
ReplyDeleteHi, Kirsty!
ReplyDeleteWe love this quilt so much, we pinned it here: http://ow.ly/b9QV3 :)
Have a lovely day!
- Hobby Lobby
Love this quilt and thanks so much for the tutorial!
ReplyDeleteYou had me at the photo of the chevron baby quilt. OMG. The pattern is beautiful, and the tutorial is great. I've just started to hem the binding of the second quilt I ever made. CBQ will definitely will definitely be quilt 3 for me. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWell done on making it to the home stretch of your second quilt - sounds like you've caught the bug now, you poor thing! Hope the CBQ comes together nicely for you.
DeleteI love this quilt...thanks for sharing your tutorial. I have linked/posted about it on Freebies for Crafters...thanks again, Khris
ReplyDeleteQUE IDEA ,ME ENCANTA TE HA QUEDADO SUPER ORIGINAL Y LOS COLORES PRECIOSOS ENHORABUENA BESITOS MARIA JESUS
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute quilt. I love your talent. Thanks
ReplyDeletefor sharing. I reproduced it in EQ7 and plan
to make soon for a Project Linus.
Happy days! Good luck with it, hope it comes together nicely for you.
DeleteKirsty,
ReplyDeleteThis is an absolutely beautiful quilt and easy top follow tutorial. I love that you got your inspiration from a man-hole cover. I have a feeling I'll be making myself one of these quilts.
this is beautiful!!! i really need to make this!! i am dying over the colors :)
ReplyDeleteThis is fabulous! I must make one!!!
ReplyDeleteWow, this is fantastic. I swore to myself I would never make another quilt after sewing my one and only. This is the only one I've come across that could make me second-guess my decision. A baby quilt is different from a quilt quilt, right?
ReplyDelete¡¡Fantástico!!.Gracias por el Tutorial!
ReplyDeleteUn Abrazo.
Very nice! I might try making a quilt now.
ReplyDeleteaah, looks like a bit of patience & effort, but boy! how cute is the outcome!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! And maybe even easy enough for me, someone who has never made a quilt, to make! How would I go about making this into a full size quilt? Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteHi Shane, you can make this quilt bigger in a few ways - the easiest would be to just put a big border around it 'til it gets to the size you want. Another way would be to break out your calculator and increase the size of all the squares until the completed quilt is the size you want (the design will be the same, just scaled larger). Thirdly, you could keep the squares the same size and continue the pattern on around all four edges to get the size you want (the design will remain small, there will be more of it). It all depends on your own taste and how much math you're willing to do!
DeleteThanks so much for the quick reply, Kristy! Again, great design, and thank you for your help!
DeleteYou have a lovely quilt here and a fantastic tutorial. Thank you so much. I'm inspired to try it myself. Merci!
ReplyDeleteWow, this is just beautiful. I found it via How about Orange. Congratulations on such an amazing project!
ReplyDeleteJust stunning! So happy I found you.
ReplyDeleteThis quilt is awesome! Now if only I didn't have so many other projects that I'm currently working on!
ReplyDeleteI'm hearing you Barbara, it's hard to find the time. Thanks for dropping by!
DeleteJust stumbled on this c/o Pinterest - I love it!!!
ReplyDeleteThat is insanely fab and I love it! Beautiful, I'll give this one a go, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis quilt has that magical x-factor. It is lovely, interesting, and unique!
ReplyDeleteThis is WONDERFUL!! Thank you for all the little tips and tidbits throughout the post, it's very (VERY) helpful for a new quilter like me!
ReplyDeleteKristy this is a wonderful quilt I just love it. Thanks for all you do for us...
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for doing this tutorial for us all....I am not a very "modern" quilter but love this Idea for baby quilts can see it with animal prints :) I have just saved your line drawing for future reference ...thanks again
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful!!! -Allison
ReplyDeleteSo when buying the fabric for this quilt, about how many yards per fabric pattern?
ReplyDeleteOh my! I have admired this quilt from afar for awhile. Nice to meet the maker. You do beautiful work and look forward to following you.
ReplyDeleteHillary
First time visitor here. Beautiful quilt; I love the tangerine and neutral colors together. I'm new to quilting but I'm sure I can sew squares together! This is my next project!
ReplyDeleteThanks - =^..^=
You can definitely do this! And tangerine is all the rage at the moment so there are tons of beautiful fabrics to choose from. Enjoy!
Delete