Church Lady Quilt

Church Lady Quilting Class

 

Collect your fabrics:

These fabrics are from the Anna Griffin Christmas Georgette Collection

1 yard each of 3 fabrics (light, dark, contrast)

¾ yard -  border

4 yards  - backing

Get Ready!  Cut!

 

From the light and dark fabric:  cut 3 @ 6 ½”  strips WOF(width of fabric)

                                              Cut 3  @ 3 ½”  strips WOF

From the contrast fabric cut:  6 @ 3 ½” strips WOF

                                             6 @ 2 ½” strips WOF (binding)

Border fabric:  cut 6 @ 3 ½” WOF

From the 6 ½” strips, using the ruler, cut away the selvage edge; then sub cut into  6 ½” squares.  (18 squares of each color)

 TIP:  Mark the stacks of strips with:  dark, light, binding, etc so you don’t accidentally confuse them (this is from experience speaking to you).

Get Ready! Sew!

Sew each light 3 ½” strip to a contrast 3 ½” strip with RST (right sides together).  Sew with a scant ¼” seam.  (total 3 sets)

Sew each dark 3 ½” strip to a contrast 3 ½” strip with RST (right sides together).  Sew with a scant ¼” seam.   (total 3 sets)

Press the seams towards the contrast fabric.

Sub-cut the strips:

 

Trim away the selvage then Sub cut the each sewn strip into 3 ½” pieces.  Each strip should make 12 sets.  Cut carefully, you may only have an inch left.

Making the 4-patch:

 

 

Take 1 section of each strip set and sew RST (right sides together) with the ‘contrast’ squares opposite each other.  When sewing the intersection of the 4 corners, be sure the 2 seams are folded in the opposite direction.  This reduces bulk in the seam.

TIP:  (When sewing all 36 4-patch sections, continuously feed them through your feed dog to avoid start and stopping the tie off threads.  It will result in a long string of sections that you will only need to snip the threads in between. )

PRESS each of the 4-patch sections.  Check each 4-patch for ‘squareness’.  Each 4-patch should measure 6 ½” square.  If it is over – trim it down. 

Lay It Out and Admire:

Begin laying out just the 6 ½” squares of your quilt to make your design. 

 

TIP:  start with the solid 6 ½” squares – they will run diagonally down the quilt with an empty space (for the 4-patch) between each 6 ½” square (see top photo).  Example:  (row one) block one will be dark square, skip a space, light square, skip a space, dark square, skip a space, light square, skip a space.  Once the runs are complete, begin filling in with the 4-patch (see lower photo).  Be sure to rotate the 4-patch so that the light or dark squares touch the light or dark 6 ½” square.

 

When the layout is complete, start from the left side, and stack a row for seaming.  Begin with the first square and continue adding the next square until the row is complete.  Set aside.  Repeat until all rows are sewn.  PRESS the seams.  Row 1 seams will be pressed toward the left; row 2 will be pressed toward the right, etc –alternating to row 10.  

Tip:  With an erasable blue pen, number the rows from 1 thru 9 to stay organized. 

Begin sewing the rows together.  Press all seams down.  (remember to have intersecting seams lay opposite each other.

Borders:

 

Sew the ends of the border pieces end to end by placing  2 strips together at 45 degrees.  Draw a line connecting the intersecting points.  Stitch along the line.  Trim to ¼”.

Open and press the seam to the side.

Attaching Borders: 

TIP:  Square the quilt at this time –before adding the borders.

Begin with the top and lower border.  Measure the: top edge, quilt middle, and lower edge.  Take the average of the 3.  Cut 2 strips this length (for lower and top border).  Mark the middles of the quilt edge and border edge.  Pin and sew.  Press seam toward the border.

Side borders:  Repeat the same process:  Measure the 3 places, average, cut strips, mark the middles, pin, sew, press.

Viola!!  Done!!

 

Backing:

The backing measurement will be 6-8” wider and longer than your quilt top.  My finished quilt top is 54.5” x 60”.  I will cut the backing 60.5 (61) by 66”. 

The backing fabric will be cut into half; trim the selvage on one side; seam the two sections together (selvageless edges together).  Sew a ½” seam and press flat.

Quilting:

Options for quilting:

Hand tied 
Hand Quilted
Machine Quilting
Longarm machine quilting

Binding:

The last step!  See the tutorial on my blog.