Meadow Flowers Quilt TUTORIAL
I love Fall! The pretty leaves and the crisp weather are the best. Not to mention the apple cider! But then Winter sets in. It's cold and the trees are bare. And I start dreaming of Spring!
Sometimes my quest for the fresh colors of Spring invades my sewing studio. So when Chrissy over at Sew Lux Fabric asked me to choose another Curated Collection, I knew I wanted happy colors! So...I bring you Waiting for Spring! It's eight half yards of Spring colors!! You can see it here!
Naturally I had to make a new pattern with this yumminess! AccuQuilt had sent me their new Fall collection and I've been playing with clams and hexies. But there's also a great wedge die in the line up. It will make a 38" circle with a 19" center and forty pieces. So I've decided to offer this as a FREE online tutorial!
Let's get started!Supplies: You'll need seven half yard prints for the flower petals and one more for the printed flower centers. (The bundle is just the right amount:) You'll have enough left from these for the binding. You'll also need 2 1/2 yards of white (I used this tone on tone.) and 1 yard of green. (I used Bella Green Tea.) The quilt finishes 61 1/2" square, so you need 4 yards for backing. You'll also need appliqué glue, freezer paper, tape, a mechanical pencil and basic sewing supplies.Cutting the Squares: Cut the white into eight 21" squares. Cut one green 21" square.Cutting the Wedges: I used the AccuQuilt with the new 9" wedge die. You'll need ten white wedges and eighty print wedges. (I cut twelve of each color and had four extras.) I cut a 10" x width of fabric of each of the seven prints, as well as the white. This was enough to cut all the wedges.NOTE: If you don't have this die, you can use a dresden ruler. You might need to adjust the amount of wedges to form 1/4 of a ring. But you should just get an AccuQuilt because I cut all these wedges in about twenty minutes!
Sewing the Wedges: You'll fold the top (wider) edge of each wedge in half right sides together and sew across with a 1/4" seam.
Turn the wedge right side out and push out the point. I used a chop stick.
You should have this. (Plus ten white wedges that I left out of the picture.)
Pressing the Wedges: Press each point flat. Take care to center the seam so that your point is even. (The two folded edges should have the same measurement.)
Now you should have this. (Again, plus ten white wedges that I left out of the picture.)
Piecing the Wedge Sets: You will now piece them together into eight sets of ten. You will make one all white set; the rest will be made of a mix of prints. Align the top folded edge and do not worry if the raw edge at the bottom does not align perfectly.
Press in one direction.
Appliqué the Petals Down: Lay one petal set on the corner of a white square. If the edge of your piece does not align exactly, you need to align the shorter piece with the edge and let the longer piece hang over as shown. Don't put all the excess on one edge; you'll want to split the excess so that a small amount hangs over both edges of the background square.
Use appliqué glue to hold the petals in place.
Appliqué along the folded edge.
Making the Flower Centers: I use the freezer paper technique for appliqué. Using a piece of freezer paper, mark a center point (under the tape in this picture) and measure out 11" from this point. Using a string taped to a mechanical pencil and measuring 11", connect these dots.
It is more important that you have a nice clean arch than that it is exactly the right measurement.
Cut out the arch. Don't cut the bottom corner, but do draw lines showing the 90° corner. Gently press the wax side of the freezer paper to the right side of your center flower print.
Trim a 1/4" seam.
Peel the freezer paper off the front.
Lay the freezer paper on the wrong side of the fabric with the wax paper side up.
Press the 1/4" seam of fabric down.
Make sure you have a clean smooth edge.
Appliqué the Flower Centers: Lay the center on your background square (with the petals already appliquéd down). Lift the fabric and use the drawn corner to align with the white background square.
Glue baste and appliqué down this edge. Lift up your fabric; you do not want to appliqué it to the background square.
This is what you should have.
Trimming: Trim the seam of the petals to be 1/4" matching the flower center circle.
Using the background square as a guide, trim off the excess of the flower centers and the petals. It should measure 21" square.
You should have this.
Trim the background square 1/4" from the appliqué seam of the petals. This will reduce bulk.
You can use the same freezer paper template for all nine flower centers. You'll make three with the print and six in green. Repeat the steps to make nine blocks. Use the finished quilt image for placement.Finishing the Quilt Top: Piece the nine squares as you would a nine patch. Press the top and bottom rows out and the center row in towards the center square.
The quilt finishes 61 1/2" square. Happy Spring!!
I quilted this one on the Bernina quilting frame. More on that tomorrow!!