How to make: A 9 patch (Little Flower) Quilt
I bought some coloured pencils and nice paper recently and have been busy scribbling some potential quilt ideas. When I shared a few to my instagram stories, this was one of the favourites- so here is a tutorial so you can make one too!
This makes a quilt which is approximately 70” x 70”
Fabric Requirements
10 fat quarters
3.5 yards background fabric (I used a neutral linen cotton blend)
4 yards backing fabric
0.5 yards binding fabric
Cutting Requirements
Fat Quarters
From each FQ, cut 5 strips that are 3” x 22” (make sure you cut the LENGTH of the fat quarter)
Background Fabric
For the flowers:
Cut (18) 3” x WOF- subcut each strip into two strips that are approximately 22” each for a total of 36 strips
For the sashing:
Cut (10) 3” x WOF strips- subcut each strip into five strips that are 3” x 8” for a total of 50 pieces
Cut (2) 5.5” x WOF strips- subcut each into five strips that are 8” x 5.5” for a total of 10 pieces- you will only need 8 so can discard the remaining two.
(Optional borders)
Cut (8) 3” x WOF strips
Making Instructions:
Divide your strips into the following:
4 strips of one Colour (A)
1 strip of another Colour (B)
4 strips of Background Fabric (3” x 22”)
You will have 10 piles in total
Each pile will make 6 flower blocks
Take (2) strips of Background fabric and (1) strip of Colour A. Using a 1/4” seam, sew right sides together lengthwise:
Background- Colour A- Background as follows:
Repeat with another (2) background strips and (1) colour A strip so you have a total of two strip sets that look like this:
Now take (2) strips of Colour A and (1) strip of Colour B and using 1/4” seam, sew together (right sides together)
Colour A- Colour B- Colour A as follows:
Next, take each of your strip sets and trim off one end to even it up. Then cut (6) strips from each that are 3” wide
Take (2) of the mini strips that go Background-Colour A-Background and (1) mini strip that goes Colour A- Colour B- Colour A and using a 1/4” seams, sew together as follows:
Repeat 5 more times to make a total of (6) flowers in this colourway.
Then we are going to repeat with our other 9 piles to make 6 flowers from each for a total of 60 flowers.
Assembling the quilt top:
Lay out all your flowers on the floor to make sure they colours are evenly spaced and you have a good mix of colours. Then we are going to sew the sashing between each one.
We are going to make 5 rows that have 7 flowers and 6 pieces of sashing (3” x 8”) as follows:
And another 4 rows that have 6 flowers and 5 pieces of sashing that are (3” x 8”) and 2 pieces that are 5.5” x 8” (on either end) as follows:
Then we assemble the rows, alternating, starting and ending with a row that has 7 flowers
And it will look something like this!
Final optional step - adding the border. Take (2) 3” x WOF strips and attach them to each other, right sides together- make sure you cut off the selvage before attaching. Repeat with your other 6 strips to make 4 strips total. Using 1/4” seam, attach to each edge of your quilt- you will need to trim off the excess strips at each end.
And your quilt top is done! Baste, quilt and bind as desired.
Now onto my quilt! I’m still working on mine, but I am using a linen cotton blend for the background fabric and a some gorgeous textural Japanese cottons- both which I purchased on a recent trip to Taipei. I love the moody and earthy colours and the texture it adds
I couldn’t find a backing fabric that I liked so pieced together all the leftover fat quarters, background fabric plus some matching gingham I had in my stash. I had exactly the right amount and the pieces just magically fit together- I barely had to do any trimming at all!
I am hand quilting this quilt using straight lines in a dark blue thread and love the effect it is giving- just a million more rows (and a lot of TV) to go! :-)
(I couldn’t wait to take a photo so those dark patches are where I sprayed to remove the markings :-)