The beauty of the turnovers is that when you sew two of them together, they square up to 5 inches! This means they match up perfectly with the charm squares. I designed this quilt with that idea in mind. However, not all fabric lines have the turnovers, so I made this using 2 layer cakes. You can also use charm squares. If you did, it would take 7 charm packs. After all, it is a queen size quilt, measuring at 83″ x 83.”
The first thing I thought of when naming this quilt was pecan pie. Mmmm. . . . Pie is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.
Despite the size, this quilt goes together quickly. In fact, if you were in a crunch, you could get it sewn in time for Christmas. However, getting it quilted is another matter unless you can do it yourself. I have heard of giving a top for Christmas and then taking it back and getting it quilted after Christmas.
Enjoy!
Konda Luckau of Moose on the Porch Quilts
2 charm packs and 3 turnovers -OR- 2 layer cakes (I used 2 layer cakes of Wrapped in Paisley)
3-1/4 yards border fabric
3/4 yard binding fabric
6-1/4 yard backing fabric
1a) If you are starting with layer cakes like I did, then the first step is to cut them into 5″ squares and organize the squares into 4 groups:
48 squares for the blocks — 24 light and 24 dark
30 squares for the border — 15 light and 15 dark
96 dark squares (or 96 dark turnovers) for triangles in blocks
96 light squares (or 96 light turnovers) for triangles in block
1b) Take the 30 border squares and cut them in half so there are now 60 rectangles 2-1/2″ x 5.” Set these aside.
1c) Take your border fabric and cut the following:
Cut 7 — 5″ strips and
Cut 9 — 8-1/2″ strips
Set these border strips aside.
2) Set aside the stacks of 48 and 30. First we need to make 96 half square triangle blocks using the two stacks of 96. If you have turnovers, just sew any light triangle to any dark triangle. Then make sure they measure 5.” This may involve trimming or squaring up. If you don’t have turnovers, you need to first draw a diagonal line on the back of all 96 light squares.
3) Pair 1 light square with 1 dark square, right sides together. Sew ON the line. Repeat with all 96 light and 96 dark squares.
4) Trim a 1/4″ seam allowance on ONE side of the line as shown below.
Yes, there is a large triangle wasted here. As I was going, I sewed those together too. I intended to put them together into a table topper. I am still intending to do that — just haven’t gotten that far yet. That’s the beauty of the turnover, no waste to get a half square triangle square that matches up with the 5″ charm square.
BUT, the beauty of this method, is that it now measures 5″ exactly — no squaring up.
5) Press all of the seam allowances toward the dark triangle.
6) Now for the blocks. There are 16 blocks — 8 dark blocks and 8 light blocks. To sew the blocks together, you are going to use all 96 of the half square triangles and the 48 squares that were set aside for the blocks.
First the light blocks. The light block has a light square in the corner. Watch the placement of the dark and light of the half square triangles.
Each light block needs:
6 half square triangles
2 dark squares and
1 light square
These are sewn together as shown below.
Repeat to make 8 light blocks. Press this block any way you like, but do all the light blocks using the same method. You need to press the dark blocks in the opposite direction.
7) The dark block is identified by the dark square in the corner. Again watch the placement of the dark and light of your half square triangles. It is opposite of the light blocks.
Each dark block needs:
6 half square triangles
1 dark square and
2 light squares
These are sewn together as shown below. This block picture is rotated differently from the light block. The orientation doesn’t matter. The blocks are just rotated.
Repeat to make 8 blocks. Again, press seams in the opposite direction of the light blocks.
8) Now to assemble the quilt center. Alternate light blocks and dark blocks as shown below. I have shown it as a black and white image to make it easier to show the block orientation.
Press. The quilt center should measure 54-1/2″ x 54-1/2.”
9) Take 3 of the 7 — 5″ border strips. Sew them together. Cut into two 54-1/2″ lengths. Sew these lengths onto the left and right side of the quilt center. Press.
10) Take the remaining 4 — 5″ border strips. Sew two together. Repeat. Trim each long strip to 63-1/2″ long. Sew these strips onto the top and bottom of the quilt center. Press.
11) Now for the pieced border. Take your stack of 60 rectangles. Sew together 4 border strips that each have 14 rectangles in them — alternating dark and light rectangles. Each strip will use 7 dark and 7 light rectangles. Start with a dark and end with a light rectangle.
12) There will be 4 rectangles leftover (2 light and 2 dark). Take these rectangles and cut them in half to make eight 2-1/2″ squares. Four of these squares will be used for the corners and four will be left over. Take one light square and one dark square and sew them onto either end of one of the long pieced border strips from the previous step. Repeat with another pieced border strip. These are the top and bottom borders.
13) Sew the pieced borders on as shown below. The strips will be rotated so the dark and light alternate all the way around the quilt. Sew the smaller strips onto the left and right first. Then sew the longer strips onto the top and bottom.
14) For the last border, take the nine 8-1/2″ strips. First, sew two strips together and repeat to make 4 double strips. Take the last strip, cut it in half, and sew it onto the end of two of the double strip sets. Trim the double strips down to 67-1/2.” Sew these onto the left and right of the quilt. Press.
15) Take the extra long strips and trim them down to 83-1/2.” Start measuring from the cut edge of this strip. Two strips is either barely long enough or barely not long enough. It is really close either way and depends on your fabric if there will be enough. If you start from the cut edge, then there will not be a seam right next to the edge of your quilt. Sew these strips onto the top and bottom of your quilt. Press.
16) Yeah! Queen size quilts are quite larger than baby quilts. Sometimes those last borders feel like they will take forever to sew on. Quilt and bind. For the binding you will need nine 2-1/2″ strips.
One beautiful queen size quilt!
Konda Luckau
{Moose on the Porch Quilts}
modafabrics 