Charmalade Quilt

I am so pleased and excited to be posting my very first Moda Bake Shop project! I am Pam Lincoln of Mama Spark’s World, and my blog can be found here. I am a HUGE fan of half square triangles (HST) and hope you are too. They are so versatile to work with. I had a lot of fun making this quilt and I hope you will enjoy making one with me. Let’s get started now shall we?

3 Charm Packs of Marmalade (SKU 55050PP)
2 Charm Packs Moda Bella Snow
1 3/4 yards Moda Bella Snow (borders) (SKU 9900 11)
1/2 yard Marmalade raspberry and white stripe (SKU 55054 12)
4 yards Marmalade Red Flower on Aqua (backing) (SKU 55050 17)

This quilt finishes at 56″ x 68.” Use all 1/4″ seams throughout the project.

Select 65 Marmalade charms to be used for your HSTs.

Select 26 Marmalade charms to set aside to be used for your pieced border (more on this later)

You need 65 Moda Bella Snow charms. Use these with your 65 Marmalade charm squares to make your Half Square Triangles (130 HST total). Pair them up. I like to put the MB Snow on top for ease of viewing my drawn line when it is time to sew.

Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on each of your 65 MB Snow charms.

When you have that done you will sew 1/4″ on either side of the line.

After you have all your units sewn cut them apart on the drawn line. Press all HST units open with the seams pressed to the dark side. Each HST unit will need to be trimmed to 4.5″ square. I love using my 4.5″ruler and a cutting mat that turns to do this. WEE lots of trimming!! This will make putting them together much easier too.

The next part is really a lot of fun. Time to lay out the center of your quilt! I used the floor but if you have a design wall now is the time to use it. I found that I needed to make a few more HST units to replace some of the ones I had made originally. You should have a few to play with, but make sure you saved your border squares out first!! Lay out the center and move it around until you are happy with your placement.

It is time to sew your squares together into rows. I chain piece so I put a pin in the square on the left of each pair and sew from left to right across the row. So the first pair are the first two in the row, the second pair are 3 and 4 and so on.

Once you have all your rows sewn press each row’s seams in opposite directions ie, even rows to the right odd rows to the left etc.

Next you will be sewing your rows together. This is where a little bit of time spent pinning helps with not cutting off your points! If you have pressed your row right and left as above the seams should “nest” like this. You can check while pinning that the pin is just at the point on each side of the intersection. I sew right up to the pin and then take it out.

You can press your seams toward the top or bottom of the quilt, or open it really doesn’t matter, as long as you press them! The center of your top should now be complete.

Borders: You should measure your center before you cut these. I will tell you my measurements but yours may be slightly different from mine. Always best to measure twice and cut once!

My center, all sewn, measured 40.5″ x 52.5″

First Snow Borders:

Cut 2 strips 2.5″ x WOF (width of fabric). You will use this for the top and bottom borders.

Using your width measurement (mine was 40.5″) Cut 2

I sewed my top and bottom first so I did not need to piece them.

Match the center of the border strip with the center of your quilt and pin. Pin border at both ends. Place pins in between easing as necessary. Sew top and bottom border to quilt, press to the border.

Cut 3 strips 2.5″ x WOF . Sew these together and press the seams open, this will be used for your sides.

Measure your top length with the new borders and cut two strips from the three strips you sewed together to match this measurement. Mine was 2.5″ x 56.5″

These will be your side borders.

To make sure your borders fit fold the border in half and pin at the halfway point on the center part of your quilt and then pin the ends. You can ease in the border or the center if necessary. Pin borders along the way before sewing in place. Sew side borders, press to the border.

Pieced Borders

You should have 26 Marmalade charm squares selected for your pieced borders. You will need to cut each square 2.5″ x 4.5″

*Tip if you are using directional fabric you may want to cut some horizontally and some vertically.

I made stacks for each border before I sewed them together. Two stacks of 12 (top and bottom borders) and 2 stacks of 14 (side borders).

Sewing end to end sew 2 strips using 14 of the 2.5″ x 4.5″ rectangles(these will be the sides) and 2 strips using 12 rectangles (these will be the top and bottom) to make 4 long strips. Press seams in one direction. I sewed each side row using the same fabrics in the same order and flipped them when I sewed them onto the quilt. For instance in the photo above the dots would be on the left for the top border and on the right for the bottom border, but you can sew them randomly or in any pattern you like!

Pin the side borders first, matching the center of the border with the center of the quilt. Pin each end, and along the border. Ease as necessary. Press to the colored border to minimize any show through. Apply top and bottom borders in this same way.

Second Snow Borders:

Cut 7 strips 4.5″ x WOF

Sew 2 sets of 2 strips to be used for your your side borders. Press seams open. Again, measure your quilt top and cut your border length to fit the measurement of your top.

I cut my side borders 60.5″ x 4.5 “

Pin side borders by matching the center of your border to the center of your quilt and match up your ends. Pin border to your quilt and ease as necessary. Sew side borders to the quilt top. Press to the outer, snow border.

Sew the remaining 3 strips together. Pressing seams open. Measure your top and use that measurement to cut your top and bottom borders from this strip.

My measurement was 56.5″ x 4.5″.

Pin top and bottom borders by matching the center of your border to the center of your quilt and match up your ends. Pin border to your quilt and ease as necessary. Sew top and bottom borders to your quilt top. Press to the outer, snow border.

Wow, can you believe it? Your top is now all finished! On to the back.

Backing:

Cut your 4 yard piece in half. Remove the selvages. Putting right sides together sew along the 72″ side lining up the top and bottom. Press your seam open.

Sandwich your quilt top, batting and backing together and quilt as desired. I chose feathers and straight lines. My friend, Liz, that has a long arm instructed me in how to make the feathers using her machine, she did the the circles and then I did all the straight lines using my Bernina.

Binding:

I chose a stripe for my binding and cut it on the bias. You will have half a yard for binding. I cut my strips 2.5″, sewed the cut strips together into one long piece and pressed the strip in half width wise. Apply binding using your favorite method and voila! You have a wonderful finished quilt!!

I hope you have enjoyed making this charming little quilt with me and I would love to see your finished quilts. Please post them in my Flickr group. If you have any questions or if something is unclear please let me know and I would be happy to help you out!

This recipe yields one 56″ x 68″quilt, perfect for a couch throw or a great picnic quilt too!

Please stop by and visit me over at my blog. I would love to have you stop in. Also, if you make a quilt from this tutorial please link up to the Flickr group here. I really enjoyed making this quilt and sharing it with everyone!

~XOP~
Pamela Lincoln