1, 2, 3 Quilt: Shape Up Your Skills with 24 Stylish Projects

By Ellen Luckett Baker and Laura Malek

The author of 1, 2, 3 Sew brings her creative skill-building approach to beginning and intermediate quilters—with two dozen projects included.

In this book, expert seamstress and craft blogger Ellen Luckett Baker shares her fun building-block approach to quilting. Organized by quilting shapes—squares, triangles, hexagons, circles, flowers, stars, and diamonds—this easy-to-follow guide provides a simple way to master the elements of quilt design.

Twenty-four projects progress in difficulty, allowing you to develop your technical skills as you work through the book. From the minimal Argyle Apron to the stylish Hexagon Handbag and more intricate Star Quilt, these modern, bright designs will appeal to beginning and intermediate quilters alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Sep 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781452129440

Book preview

Text copyright © 2013 by Ellen Luckett Baker.

Photographs copyright © 2013 by Laura Malek.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4521-2944-0

The Library of Congress has previously cataloged this title under ISBN 978-1-4521-1258-9

Designed by Vivien Sung

Photo styling by Ellen Luckett Baker

Pellon Wonder-Under is a registered trademark of Freudenberg Nonwovens Limited.

Velcro is a registered trademark of Velcro Industries B.V.

Chronicle Books LLC

680 Second Street

San Francisco, California 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

CONTENTS

Introduction

The Parts of a Quilt

Essential Tools

Getting Started

Selecting Fabric

Prewashing

Pressing

Cutting on the Grain

Sewing Seam Allowances

Backstitching

Batting

Top Quilting

Sizing the Quilt

Metric Conversions

Putting the Quilt Together: Quilting Basics

Quilt Backing

Basting

Top Quilting by Machine

Top Quilting by Hand

Binding

CHAPTER 1: SQUARES

Game Mat

How-To: Nesting Seams

How-To: Strip Piecing

Pixel Pouch

How-To: Install a Zipper in a Lined Bag

Lopsided Squares Quilt

How-To: Square Up Blocks

CHAPTER 2: RECTANGLES

Stacked Table Runner

Rail Fence Tote Bag

How-To: Boxed Corners

Random Rectangles Quilt

CHAPTER 3: TRIANGLES

Flying Geese Pillow

How-To: One-Seam Flying Geese

Flag Place Mats

How-To: String Piecing

How-To: Half-Square Triangles

Triangles Quilt

How-To: Flying Geese Traditional Method

How-To: Flying Geese Shortcut Method

How-To: Pinwheels

CHAPTER 4: HEXAGONS

Hexagon Handbag

How-To: English Paper Piecing

Hexie the Turtle

How-To: Freezer-Paper Appliqué

Honeycomb Quilt

CHAPTER 5: CIRCLES

Quarter-Circle Coasters

Clamshell Pillow Sham

How-To: Ease Curves

Cluster Dots Quilt

CHAPTER 6: FLOWERS

Posy Tea Towel

How-To: Mitered Corners

How-To: Needle-Turn Appliqué

Petal Skirt

How-To: Install an Invisible Zipper

Dresden Flower Quilt

CHAPTER 7: STARS

Arrow Tablet Case

Native Star Duffel Bag

Star Quilt

CHAPTER 8: DIAMONDS

Argyle Apron

Diamond Hot Pad

How-To: Foundation Paper Piecing

Cathedral Windows Quilt

Glossary

Acknowledgments

Resources

Index

Templates

INTRODUCTION

Color. Shape. Pattern. If you are interested in these elements of design, you will love quilting. It’s art for your bed or your wall.

But why stop there? In 1, 2, 3 Quilt, you will hone your patchwork and quilting skills as you learn to make all kinds of projects, from table runners to handbags, clothing, and accessories. This book shows you that you don’t need to take on a daunting project like a full-size quilt to get started.

In my previous book, 1, 2, 3 Sew, I explored the basics of sewing. Here, I help you take your skills a step further by incorporating patchwork and quilted designs. Through the years, I’ve followed the modern quilting movement and watched as new quilters have renewed this art form with fresh designs, bright colors, and a pared-down sensibility. In my blog at the Long Thread (thelongthread.com), I’ve discovered a vibrant and welcoming community of quilters, so it seemed natural for me to tackle quilting next. The limitless possibilities of quilting will allow you to take your sewing to a new level.

Growing up in Alabama, I was frequently exposed to the art of quilting. I remember visiting the curb market, where I saw women selling their calico quilts and pillows in traditional styles. I spent most of my childhood with a hand-sewn wedding rings quilt on my bed. But it wasn’t until college that it even occurred to me that a quilt could be modern. I read an article about Denyse Schmidt in Martha Stewart Living and felt a strong connection to the warmth and modernity of her work. And I was blown away by the quilts of Gee’s Bend, which illustrate how something wholly unique can emerge from necessity and creativity. Here I am almost twenty years later, combining modern style and folk art with my passion for sewing. With bold, graphic shapes and clean lines, a quilt can tell a story, become a compelling work of art, or simply provide warmth and comfort.

There are 24 projects in 1, 2, 3 Quilt, with each project increasing in difficulty as a chapter progresses. The chapters are arranged by shape—the essential design element of any quilt. By working with the basic shapes—squares, rectangles, triangles, circles, hexagons, flowers, stars, and diamonds—you can create endless quilt designs. I’ve included full-size templates so you’ll have all the patterns you need to make the projects just as you see them here. After you’ve worked through the different shapes, you will understand the fundamentals of quilting and hopefully feel empowered to design your own quilts.

This book also teaches you a set of basic techniques that you’ll need to begin quilting (or to build on your current skills). There are how-to sections sprinkled throughout to help you shape up your skills as you work through the book. Each chapter culminates in a full-size quilt project, allowing you to apply your new skills with quilting shapes to a larger-scale project. You’ll learn how to bind a quilt, use paper-piecing techniques, sew appliqués, and make patchwork quickly with some quilter’s shortcuts. You’ll also learn basic sewing construction skills like how to install a zipper and tips for making a softie toy. As you master the different techniques, you’ll make a skirt, a handbag, pillows, coasters, and much more. Once you’ve made the projects in this book, you’ll be armed with the skills and confidence to create your own designs.

Let’s shape up your skills!

THE PARTS OF A QUILT

If you are new to quilting, here’s a diagram illustrating the basic elements of a quilt. The quilt top is your main design element; it’s often sewn together in a patchwork fashion, or it’s made of one large piece (or a few large pieces) of fabric, creating what’s known as a whole-cloth quilt. The batting is the center, cushioned layer that provides padding and warmth. The quilt back , or backing, can be made of patchwork, fabric scraps, or wide strips of the same fabric. The quilt binding is made of joined strips of fabric and is sewn to the front of the quilt, then wrapped around the edges of the three layers and machine sewn or hand stitched to the quilt back, enclosing the raw edges and holding together the layers of the quilt.

ESSENTIAL TOOLS

ROTARY CUTTER AND MAT The rotary cutter and self-healing cutting mat are essential tools in quilting because they significantly speed up the cutting process. The rotary cutter is similar to a pizza slicer and cuts cleanly and precisely, but must be used with care because it is very sharp. Always cut away from yourself when using this tool. The self-healing cutting mat has grid lines printed on it for simple measuring, and it is available in many sizes—the bigger, the better.

RULERS There are many sizes of clear acrylic rulers with gridded measurements available to help quilters get just the right size and shape. I recommend a 6-in-/15-cm-wide yardstick/metric ruler and a quilter’s square ruler, around 6¹/2 in/16.5 cm square.

MACHINE TOOLS You can make a quilt of any size with a regular sewing machine if you have patience and the right tools. For machine piecing, a ¹/4-in/6-mm presser foot helps achieve accuracy on every seam. For top quilting, a walking foot, also known as an even-feed foot, is essential because it helps evenly feed the top and bottom fabrics simultaneously through the machine without puckering the material. For free-motion quilting, use a free-motion or darning foot, which allows you to move the quilt in any direction as you sew.

SCISSORS There are many different types of scissors for quilting. Before you start, make sure you have small scissors or thread snips handy by your sewing machine or by your side when you are hand sewing. You’ll also want large dressmaker’s shears for cutting fabric, and inexpensive craft scissors for cutting paper patterns. Once you have more quilting experience, you may want to invest in embroidery scissors and appliqué scissors as well.

MARKING TOOLS To mark your fabrics, I recommend white and colored chalk pencils as well as disappearing ink fabric markers. Some of these markers make marks that disappear over time, while others are water soluble. Try several types of marking tools to see which you like best.

SEAM RIPPER A small forked tool with a handle, the seam ripper is essential for removing stitches in seams when you’ve made a mistake. Simply slip the sharp tip of the seam ripper into a seam and cut through the stitches quickly.

THREAD Of the many types of thread on the market, you’ll need to experiment to find those that work best with your sewing needs and your machine. I prefer 100 percent cotton thread and have found that it’s worth it to buy the more expensive, high-quality thread. In general, use a higher weight (finer) thread for piecing and a lower weight (thicker) thread for top quilting. When top quilting, you may use a simple cotton thread, or embroidery floss for more emphasis, or my favorite, perle cotton, a twisted thread available in many thicknesses and color options.

BASTING SUPPLIES There are several methods for quilt basting (explained on page 14). I like to baste quilts with safety pins. In this method, you use bent safety pins made for this task, which are easy to slip down into the fabric and pull back up again without moving the quilt layers. I also use blue painter’s tape to secure the quilt layers as I’m working on them.

NEEDLES Machine needles come in a variety of sizes, based on the width of the needle. The sizes are generally shown as two numbers with a slash between them. (See Glossary, page 163, for more information about needle sizes.) Be sure to change your needle regularly and always replace a bent needle. You also need a variety of hand-sewing needles for hand basting, top quilting, and embroidery.

GETTING STARTED

The unlimited possibilities of quilting can be both delightful and confounding. Quilts allow us to play with design and color and to make something completely original. But choices can be overwhelming. I often spend weeks or months sketching or just thinking about a quilt before I cut my fabric.

There are as many quilting techniques as there are people making quilts, so experiment with different methods, find what works for you, and stick with it. You will find much debate in the quilting community about the right way to do things, but remember that once you have learned the basics for ensuring that your quilt stays together, there is really no wrong way to make a quilt. As a beginner, you may start off using quilt patterns, then progress to making your own patterns using graph paper and some creativity. Most quilts are based on building blocks—repeated designs that come together to form a whole. A modern approach, as you will see used in some of the quilts in this book, allows for some improvisation along the way. Here are some important things to consider before you begin sewing your quilts.

SELECTING FABRIC These days, quilters face the happy problem of having too many fabrics from which to choose! It often takes me longer to select fabrics than it does to make a project. A design wall can be helpful for arranging swatches, organizing blocks, and mocking up a layout for your quilt. You can make a design wall by covering a board with flannel fabric or batting, or simply taping the flannel or batting directly to a wall. Your fabric pieces will stick to the flannel or batting without