Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Meandering Path Quilt Tutorial


 
 I am so excited to be sharing my first quilt tutorial! I fell in love with Moda's Botany fabric by Lauren and Jessi Jung and knew I wanted to make a simple, modern quilt with it.
Here's what you're going to need:
 
 One Botany Layer Cake
One Botany Charm Pack
1/2 yard coordinating fabric for binding
4 yards coordinating fabric for backing
Batting
Finished quilt size is approx. 60" x 72"

Step 1:
Cutting
Take the entire Layer Cake and cut each square in half.
 
You will have two 5" x 10" rectangles.
 Cut 1/2" off one side of each rectangle. Your rectangles will now be 5" x 9 1/2".
That's it! Now the fun begins.

Step 2: 
Layout
There are seven rows where the rectangles are laid out vertically, and two groupings where the rectangles are laid out horizontally with an alternating Charm Square. Some of the vertical rows have Charm Squares at the top and bottom so that the rows can be variegated.
I made this illustration so you could see the layout. From left to right the quilt has two vertical rows, a horizontal grouping row, three vertical rows, a horizontal grouping row, and then two vertical rows.  

 Step 3:
Sew the Rows
 The first row has a Charm Square, 7 vertical rectangles and then a Charm Square. 
The second row has 8 vertical rectangles.
 
Next is the horizontal grouping row. Each row has one Charm Square and one Layer Cake rectangle. Alternate between having the Charm Square on the left and on the right. There are 16 rows.

Don't forget to press your seams! I like to press mine open.

Step 4: 
Sew the Rows Together
When you sew the rows together be sure to match the corners. 
On the outside rows and center row you can match the corners when you pin the row on like this: (Blogger won't turn this picture the right way, sorry!)
Voila! Your quilt top is complete! 
 Now it's time to Baste....
Quilt...
(I quilted the vertical rows with a vertical stripe and quilted the horizontal grouping rows in a stipple. I love the contrast and how it allows the different rows to stand out.)
and Bind.
 You're done, yay! Let me know if you make it, I'd love to see it!
 

13 comments:

Kelli said...

This looks so great! I LOVE your quilt!!!
I have a Hunky Dory layer cake sitting in my cupboard, I am thinking I might have to buy a charm pack and get sewing!!!

Shelly G. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rachaeldaisy said...

Gorgeous!! What a fun, clever pattern. I especially love the way you've done the quilting!

Elizabeth Dackson said...

I love this pattern! I am definitely bookmarking this :)

SewHappyGeek said...

Just wanted to leave a quick comment to let you know how beautiful the quilt is - i'm making one for my daughter using your tutorial. Thank you so much for publishing it!

Agy said...

I've never done quilting before, but you make it look sooooo easy with your tutorial. Btw, what's basting?

Agy

Natty said...

Hi Ellie,

Just cut and layed everything out last night and it's time to get pressing and piecing. This is my first quilt and am just curious what order should I piece this in. My instinct is to piece each row separately and then piece the vertical rows together and then the three sections of vertical rows to the horizontal groupings. Sorry, just want to make sure before I get into it and realize I did something wrong! Thanks!

Autumn Hathaway said...

Ok I am definitely trying this one. It looks relatively easy.

lhungler said...

I am going to try this with scraps...thanks!

Toby said...

I followed the instructions and took 1/2" off each 5" edge of the Layer Cake halves. It said my pieces should then be 5 x 9 1/2" in which case they should all line up. However, now that I have already cut my pieces they do not line up. I measured it and 1/2" off each side equals one inch which means the piece is now 5 x 9, not 9 1/2 .. my whole plan of doing the quilt is now ruined .. I could have made a different one but not being a quilter I need to follow something and now that they are all cut up it's going to be hard.I wonder if anyone else had this problem?

Ellie Roberts said...

Hello Toby,
You are a no comment blogger, so this is the only way I can respond to you. Hope you see it! :)
Sorry that you had some problems with the way the instructions were written. The layer cake is 10” square and the directions say to cut it in half so you have two 5” x 10” rectangles. Then take ½” off one edge of each of the two triangles and it becomes 5” x 9 ½”. I guess it was read as take 1/2” off each side of the rectangle. Again I’m sorry for the confusion, I have not had anybody else mention this problem.
I wish I could be of more help!
~Ellie

Unknown said...

Love your tutorial!! If there is a way for me to print it out, could you contact me?? I tried to copy & print but I get the whole page instead of just the tutorial.
Linda King
lindaking4070@Gmail.com

Unknown said...

Please remove above comment!

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