Picnic In The Shade Quilt

Hello, it’s Amanda from Material Girl Quilts and I am so pleased to be back on the Moda Bake Shop with this latest project. Picnic In The Shade has now become one of my favorite quilts. I absolutely adore the PB&J line from Basic Grey (it’s not only pretty on the eyes, it feels amazing as well!) The names and colors of the fabrics in this line are just too cute (Raspberry Jam, Bag of Chips, Fluffer Nutter, etc.) My absolute favorite fabric from this line is the beautiful floral called Daisy Mae, it is gorgeous in every colorway. So whether you decide to picnic on this quilt or put it on your bed, I hope you enjoy my latest design.

16 fat quarters (PB&J fat quarter bundle)
3 1/2 yards background fabric (PB&J Grunge – Picnic)
3/4 yard inner border fabric (PB&J Raspberry Jam – Fluffer Nutter)
1 1/2 yards outer border fabric (PB&J Bag of Chips – Tonal Picnic)
6 yards backing fabric (PB&J Daisy Mae – Picnic)

Block Cutting Instructions:
Select 16 fat quarters and from each one cut the following:

5 – 5 1/2″ squares
8 – 3 1/2″ squares

From background fabric cut the following:

80 – 5 1/2″ squares
128 – 3 1/2″ squares

Border cutting instructions:
Inner border – cut 8 strips 2 1/2″ by WOF
Outer border – cut 8 strips 5″ by WOF (Depending on the width of your fabric selection, you may need to cut 9 strips. I was able to *JUST* make two strips pieced together work on each of the long sides of the quilt.)

Piecing Instructions:
Pair a background 5 1/2″ square with a print 5 1/2″ square (right sides together) and sew 1/4″ all the way around the squares as shown below.

Now you have 2 squares completely sewn together. Line up your ruler on the diagonal from the top left corner to the bottom right corner and cut as shown below.

Without moving the fabric, line your ruler up diagonally from the top right to the bottom left corners and cut as shown.

Now you will have four separate “triangles”.

Open each of them up and press towards the background fabric to create four half square triangles (HST).

Repeat this step for all 80 5 1/2″ square sets. This will result in a total of 320 half square triangles.

Now you need to square up and trim your half square triangles. Using a small ruler, line up the 45 degree line with the diagonal line in your HST. And trim/square up to be 3 1/2″. Using this HST method, I almost always only had to trim off the dog ears from the seams, but you should check them all just to make sure they aren’t off before piecing them into the blocks.

Block layout:

Block A – Using the photo below as a guide, create 2 A blocks (per print fabric) using 8 trimmed 3 1/2″ HST, 8 print 3 1/2″ squares and 2 background 3 1/2″ squares. You will have a total of 32 A blocks.

Piece each block row and press the seams towards the solid print squares. Then sew the rows together and press toward the center row as shown below.

Block B – Using the photo below as a guide, create 2 B blocks (per print fabric) using 12 trimmed 3 1/2″ HST and 6 background 3 1/2″ squares. You will have a total of 32 B blocks.

Piece each block row and press the seams in opposite directions with each row. Then sew the rows together and press away from the center row as shown below.

Using 63 of your 64 blocks, lay them out in 9 rows of 7 blocks each, alternating between Block A and Block B as shown below.

Sew each row together pressing the seams in the odd numbered rows toward the right and the even numbered rows toward the left. When sewing your rows together, you can either press all seams up, down or open depending on your preference.

Border Instructions:

To determine the length of your side borders, measure the quilt from top to bottom in three locations (right side, midpoint and left side). If they are not all the same measurement, then add those numbers together and divide by three to determine the appropriate length for your inner side border. Using two 2 1/2″ strips of the inner border fabric, piece them together end to end and then trim to match the measurement you determined above. Do this two times to create your two inner borders and attach them to the right and left sides of the quilt.
Once you have pieced the inner side borders onto the quilt top, repeat the measuring instructions above to determine the appropriate measurements of the top and bottom borders (across the width of the quilt). Once again, use two 2 1/2″ strips of inner border fabric sewn together end to end and then trimmed to the appropriate length per border. Sew the top and bottom inner borders to the quilt.
Following the same instructions as above to determine the new length of your outer border. Using the PB&J line, I only needed two 5″ strips pieced together per side border. Double check to make sure your fabric selection will be long enough. If not, then use the 9th strip you created in the cutting instructions above, cut in half and attach one to each side border pieced strip and then trim to the correct measurement.
Using the same method, piece and attach the top and bottom outer borders.

Backing Instructions:
Cut your backing fabric into two 3 yard pieces. Then sew them together along the selvage edge far enough into the fabric so that the selvage won’t be seen once pieced. You should end up with a pieced backing that measures approx. 84″ x 108″.

Layer your backing, batting and quilt top and quilt as desired.

One 75″ x 93″ quilt perfect for family picnics or your favorite bed.