Stash Buster Quilts. Lynne Edwards

Blue-and-White Delight

      Sue Fitzgerald made this beautifully fresh looking single-bed sized quilt in her favourite blue and white colour scheme using Spinning Pinwheel blocks but increasing the number of blocks to thirty-five – see the panel, left, for instructions on making a larger quilt.

       “I collect blue and white china and love using calico, so these colours really appealed to me. The rust-red accents, I felt, brought it to life. (Sue Fitzgerald)”

Crazy Nine-Patch

      You'll have fun using up some of your fabric stash on this quilt. Nine different squares of fabric are piled up and cut into pieces through all the layers at the same time. The pieces are then reassembled following a mathematical formula (which I've worked out for you) to make nine blocks, each with a different arrangement of all nine fabrics. The pieces of fabric in each block are joined with narrow contrasting sashing strips, while different coloured strips separate the finished blocks. Much time is saved by cutting all the blocks at the same time. Each block looks different from the others because the pieces are rearranged, although the stages of construction are the same each time.

      Crazy in Amsterdam

       THE QUILT STORY

      The fabric collection I used for this quilt was bought in Amsterdam at vast expense and then hoarded for some years. There were only eight in the original group, so I had to search my stash to find an extra one that would join the team, plus a good background fabric and another for the sashing. I first made nine blocks using this layer-cake technique (blocks marked A in Fig 1). Then I found I hadn't enough of those nine fabrics to repeat the blocks, so I reversed the design, using my sashing fabric for the nine-patch blocks and an assortment of the nine original fabrics for the sashing strips (blocks B in Fig 1). Finally, I added eight plain squares of fabric, which were arranged between the others and quilted in the same nine-patch design (blocks C in Fig 1).

Fig 1

      Finished size of block 10½in × 10½in (26.7cm × 26.7cm)

      Finished size of quilt 61in × 61in (155cm × 155cm)

       FABRIC REQUIREMENTS

      • One fat quarter (either a ¼yd or ¼m) each of nine fabrics that will look good together in the first set of blocks (A). These will make the cut squares that are layered to make the design and are also used for sashing strips on the second set of nine-patch blocks (B).

      • 1¾yd (1.6m) of a contrast fabric for narrow sashing in the first set of blocks (A) and the main fabric in the second set of blocks (B).

      • 1½yd (1.37m) of a third fabric to make the C blocks (not pieced but quilted) and also for the final border.

      • Wadding and backing fabric: at least 2in (5cm) larger than finished quilt size.

      This quilt grows satisfyingly quickly as the nine A blocks are worked on at the same time. They all grow at the same rate and are finished simultaneously.

       “This crazy nine-patch quilt has a versatile design that will make good use of fabrics you already have, or give you an excuse to rush out and buy new stock…”

      Construction

      MAKING SET A BLOCKS

      1 From each of the chosen nine fabrics cut a square measuring 11½in × 11½in (29.2cm × 29.2cm). For the sashing strips for this first set of blocks cut thirty-six strips each 1in × 12¼in (2.5cm × 31.1cm) from the chosen sashing fabric.

      2 Cut nine squares of freezer paper about 1in (2.5cm) square. Number these 1–9. Place one roughly in the centre of each fabric square on the right side and fix it to the fabric by pressing with an iron on cool. Alternatively, fix with a safety pin.

      Do not use masking tape to fix the numbered labels on your fabric as it will leave a sticky deposit if the iron touches it when the block is being pressed during construction.

      3 Pile up the marked fabric squares in order, with square 1 at the top and 9 at the bottom, matching up the edges of the squares carefully.

      Making the wedge template

      4 On a piece of graph paper draw a horizontal line 11½in (29.2cm) long. At the left end draw a vertical line downwards 4in (10.2cm) long. At the right end draw a vertical line downwards 2½in (6.4cm) long. Join these two lines from a to b to complete the wedge shape (Fig 2).

       Fig 2

      5 Cut out the wedge template carefully. Use masking tape to stick the template to the underside of a rotary ruler with right side upwards and the sloping edge a–b level with one long edge of the ruler (Fig 3).

       Fig 3

      Cutting the squares

      6 1^st cut: place the ruler on the pile of fabric squares with the edges of the wedge template matching the edges of the fabric squares. Cut through all layers (Fig 4).

       Fig 4

      I used a large 60mm rotary cutter to cut through all nine layers in one go. If you find nine layers too many to cut accurately, separate the piles into 1–4 and 5–9. Cut each pile and reassemble the cut squares with square 1 at the top and 9 at the bottom. There are no prizes for cutting all the layers at once – accuracy and comfort of cutting with the rotary cutter are what matter.

      Adding the sashing strip

      7 Pin and stitch a 12¼in (31.1cm) length of 1in (2.5cm) wide sashing fabric to each of the smaller pieces of the cut squares (Fig 5). Press the seam towards the sashing, ironing from the front. Trim the ends of the sashing strips to match the edges of the fabric.

       Fig 5

      8 Place the smaller section of each block back with the larger sections in the correct order of layers to match the larger pieces as before.

      9 Take the marked larger pieces 1 and 2 and move them to the bottom of the pile of marked pieces, still in the same order. This will leave the piece marked 3 at the top and piece 2 at the bottom. Do not alter the smaller unmarked pieces (Fig 6).

       Fig 6

      10 Pin and stitch the two pieces of each block together, matching the cut ends of the sashing with the larger piece of fabric to make a square (Fig 7). Iron the seams towards the sashing, as before.

       Fig 7