I posted a tutorial a long while back on a quilt I was making called MixMash. (You can find it HERE.)
Over the last couple years, I’ve been slowly chipping away at making hundreds of these blocks, and I finally got them finished and set into a quilt!
So I thought I’d make an appearance here today to give you a few more details about the quilt, and how I set mine together. This isn’t a formal tutorial, because you may or may not want to make your quilt as large as mine, so I’m leaving a little bit of the figuring work up to you, but hopefully this takes the hardest part out of it for you.
Here’s my finished quilt (pay no nevermind to the fact that I don’t have my binding on yet):
My quilt finishes at 85″ x 97″, a good queen-sized quilt. I began wondering at the wisdom of this about halfway through, but I was so in love with all the scrappy goodness, I kept going. (And I have lots of scraps to use up, and friends were donating their trash to me as I went, too!)
I made 419 four-inch (finished) blocks using the block tutorial HERE. You will need to adjust this number based on the size you want your finished quilt, and whether you will be setting them in straight rows or on point.
I set my blocks on point, but the quilt would be just as striking with a straight set, and then you don’t have to mess with setting triangles (and it is easier to set together in a straight set — no diagonal rows).
However, I was in love with the idea of the on-point setting, and I forged ahead, so if that’s how you want to do yours, too, you’ll need to cut squares that are 7 1/4″ for your setting triangles. You’ll have to figure up how many you need based on the size of quilt you’re making, then cut each square in half TWICE on the diagonal to make the setting triangles.
You’ll also need TWO squares 4″ x 4″ for the corners. Cut these in half ONCE on the diagonal and set them aside for the corners.
I used polka dot grunge for my setting triangles, and I really really love it — it makes the perfect frame for my wild scraps!
Once you have your blocks made and your setting triangles cut (if you need them), it’s time to arrange your blocks into rows as you want them (or diagonal rows with triangles on the ends, if on point), and sew them together in rows, then join the rows together.
NOTE: Make sure that you turn your blocks so that a side with no seams always matches up to a side with seams on the block next to it. (See the block tutorial.)
If you do the diagonal setting, you will find that your setting triangles are a bit oversized (this is for ease of piecing). Once you have the entire center portion set together, simply trim the edge of the quilt top 1/4″ outside the points of the blocks. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of this step.)
I then added a 2″ border all the way around my quilt. If you want to add borders, measure your quilt through the middle from top to bottom to get the measurements for your side border strips. I cut 2 1/2″ strips, then sewed them together to make one long strip, then cut my border lengths from that.
Sew the side borders on first, then measure the quilt from side to side including the borders you just added to get the measurements for your top and bottom border strips.
I found this fabulous backing fabric for mine at Missouri Star Quilt Company!
Since the quilt is so scrappy busy, it did not need custom or fancy quilting, so I just did an all-over medium meander to quilt it — very fast and easy (you can see it in the photo above). I thought about doing all-over loops, but when I do those, I don’t like them as much, so I went with the meander.
I plan to bind it with the same polka dot grunge.
Finished quilt details:
Size: 85″ x 97″
Block size: 4″
Number of blocks: 419, set on point
Border fabric (and setting triangles and binding): Grunge Hits the Spot in Turquoise
Backing fabric: Bee Backings and Borders by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet for Riley Blake Designs
Batting: Quilter’s Dream Poly Select white
Thread (for quilting): Superior OMNI #3096 Treasure Isle
Quilting: all-over freehand medium meander
As always, if you need clarification on any of this (since it’s pretty basic), or if you have any other questions, just give me a holler. And have fun using up all your tiniest of scraps!
I love this quilt! I think I will make me one.