Americana Doll Quilt

Americana Doll Quilt - FOR SALE HERE

 While sorting through my scraps of fabric (I have 2 rubbermaid tubs full!), I came across these little 1.5" squares I pre-cut from the left-overs of a quilt I made last year. These are from the American Banner line of fabrics from Moda. Have I told you that I love these fabrics? Even though I'm not American, the red, blue and tan colors speak to my country side and I love seeing what I can make with them. When I start with fabrics, the design sort of grows organically, and as I sewed this, I saw in my mind a miniature quilt that I have with similar design, but this one is a little larger finished.

Piles of 1.5" squares

 First I sewed them together in little 4-patch units - very scrappy, just tried to make sure each 4-patch was made of four different fabrics. I made 21 little units.

 

Little 4-patches

I wanted to put the little 4-patch units on point, so I got out my iPhone and used a sweet little app called QuiltRef to calculated what I needed for side triangles and corner triangles. Finished size of the 4-patch units was 2", so I entered that in and found I needed 4.25" squares for the side triangles (cut in 4 diagonally) and 2.5" squares for the end triangles (cut in half diagonally). I needed 12 corner triangles, so I cut 6 squares 2.5"x2.5" and cut them in half once diagonally. I needed 36 side triangles, so I cut 9 squares 4.25" x 4.25" and cut them in half diagonally and again on the other diagonal. If you need more of a visual, Quiltbug.com has a page showing setting triangles. Lay these out on your design wall or on your sewing table and carefully sew together. There will be some bias edges, so if you want to use your walking foot to minimize stretch as I did, go for it. Trim the sides so you have a quarter inch seam from the 4-patch points to the outside edges.

Sewn in strips

 I only had limited amounts of the prints large enough for borders and sashing, so I auditioned what I had and came up with this layout.  I didn't have enough red for another border, so I had to be satisfied with using it for the binding. The strips are cut the width and length of the 4-patch units, so measure up and match what you have. Pin at both ends and the middle before sewing to avoid the nasty stretchies of the bias edges.

Auditioning sashing and borders

Then, just find a great backing fabric. I used a little piece of matching stripe that I had quite a large piece of. Layer with your choice of batting, quilt as desired and attach binding.

Finished doll quilt

A peak at the back!

And a beautiful little doll quilt is done! This is a great project for a confident beginner. The bias edges can give some trouble, but if you stitch slowly and don't push or pull the fabric as it goes through your machine, you should be just fine!

--Ann

Linking up with:
Quiltsy WIP and Whatnot
The Needle and Thread Network WIP Wednesday #80