Beginner's Guide To Quilting - UK (2020-04)

YOU WILL NEED

Materials

Q Basic quilting toolkit, see page 16

Q One fat quarter of each of these

11 printed fabrics from Cloud 9’s

Mad Mend range: Don, Betty,

Peggy (in black and white), Joan

(in black and white), Roger (in

black, red, olive, blue and gold)

Q 1½ yards Pete

Q For binding: ½ yard Peggy

(in black)

Q For backing: 2 yards Joan

(in white)

Seam allowance

Q ¼in unless otherwise stated

Finished size

Q 41x5 0 in

S

ometimes the print on a fabric

will lend itself perfectly to a

particular design, and that’s

certainly the case with this retro-

flavoured quilt designed by Michelle

Engel Bencsko. Her Mad Mend range

of designs (with each fabric named

after a character from the show Mad

Men) features stylised scissors,

buttons, thimbles and other sewing

kit, so what better way to show it off

than with clever spool-shaped blocks.

Once you’ve made this quilt, why not

take inspiration from other fabrics to

try block shapes that suit the print?

CUTTING THE FABRIC

For the ‘spools’: cut 40 2½x9½in strips

from the five Roger prints (eight of

each print).

For the ‘thread’: cut 20 5½in squares

from your collection of fat quarters.

For the sashing: cut eight 1½in x width

of fabric strips from Pete, then cut four

of these into 15 1½x9½in strips.

For the background: cut 11 2½in x width

of fabric strips from Pete, then cut

these into 40 2½x5½in pieces and 80

2½in squares.

For the borders: cut five 2½in x width of

fabric strips.

ASSEMBLING THE QUILT

Step 1 To make the ‘spools’, place two

2½in squares right sides together on

128 Beginner’s Guide to Quilting

Once you’ve made this

quilt, why not take

inspiration from other

fabrics to try new

block shapes that suit

the print?

Working with Blocks

either end of a 2½x9½in strip. Sew

diagonal lines across the squares and

trim the excess fabric. Open the centre

fabric and press.^1

Step 2 For the ‘thread’, sew two

2½ x 5½i n p i e c e s to e i t h e r s i d e o f a

5½in square.^2

Step 3 To complete the block sew two

‘spool’ strips to the top and bottom of

a ‘thread’ strip, positioning the pieces

as shown in our diagram.^3

Step 4 Arrange the blocks into five

rows of four blocks, then add 1½x9½in

sashing between the blocks.^4

Step 5 Add 1½in x width of fabric

sashing between rows until you’ve

completed five rows.

Step 6 Add a border of 2½in x width of

fabric strips (piecing them together

accordingly) and sew around the

panel that’s been formed.

Step 7 Square your quilt top using a

square ruler. Back it with the white

Joan fabric, baste it, quilt and bind

as desired.

NEED A HAND?!

(^) How to: Half Square Triangles, p83
(^) All about blocks, page 104