Easy Quilt Tutorial

When we did our quilt giveaway a month or so ago, I had several questions asked about how I put that quilt together.  So, today I thought I would do a short easy quilt tutorial that you can make in an afternoon.  This quilt-top is also a great scrap buster because you can use your big and small strips of 45 inch fabric to make up tons of tops for not a lot of money.

Strip quilts were one of the very first quilt tops I started making, but I found that while 45 inches wide is a great size for smaller quilts, it’s a big small width-wise for a bigger, cuddling quilt.  So, I first make my strip quilt and then add a couple of vertical stripes to add more width as well as dimension to the quilt.

Here was our attempt at a full shot of the quilt top….but sadly they wind wasn’t with us that day.  And secondly, I forgot what a pain it is to photograph polka dots sometimes 😉  But hopefully it’s enough to see the strips going horizontally for most of the quilt top and then the added vertical stripes to add width to the quilt.

Here’s how I make my quilt tops:

Using strips of fabric (I used 6.5 inches and 3.5 inch strips) sew all of your fabrics together until you have the length of quilt that you want for your finished top.  Most of these fabrics are from Riley Blake Designs with a few pieces of my stash mixed in here and there.

Once you have all your strips sewn together, press your quilt seams on the back (I press toward the darker side, but some quilter press their seams open) and then turn the quilt top over and press the front REALLLY well.

After your quilt top is pressed really well, take it to your cutting table and cut off your seam allowances so that your quilt top is square on both sides.

Then decide what you want for your vertical stripes.  I used four 3.5” strips of the white (2 for each stripe) and two 10.5” strips of the blue polka dot for the vertical stripes.

Sew your vertical strip pieces together.

Then go back to your quilt top that is on the cutting table.  Measure 2/3 of your quilt top and cut it straight down so you have two pieces.  One piece should be 2/3 of your quilt and the second piece should be 1/3 of your quilt.

Now sew your vertical strips into the horizontal quilt top that you have already done.  It should look like this when you are done.   Then you are ready to baste it, quilt it or send it out to someone to quilt it for you!!!

There you have it, your quilt-top in an afternoon 😉

~Elizabeth