Little Black Dress « modafabrics

Hello, again! I’m Shannon from Modern Tradition Quilts and I am so excited to be a part of Moda Bake Shop today. It’s great to share my Candy Squares Table runner made from those darling pre-cut Mini Charm packages–Moda Candy. They are so cute that they’re sweet! The 2 1/2 inch squares work-up into 2 inch squares–perfect for a postage-stamp style quilt. I love using pre-cuts, don’t you? I also love the Little Black Dress fabric line by Basic Grey. It works beautifully with modern home decor and will make a beautiful addition to any table at any time of the year. This is one project that can be displayed all year round! So, let’s get down to business!

2 Packages of Moda 2 1/2 inch pre-cut Mini-Charms (I used Little Black Dress)
1/2 yard white dot for setting squares (I used Little Black Dress Ivory Dot)
1/3 yard for outer borders (I used Little Black Dress Grey Dot)
1/3 yard for binding (I used Little Black Dress Cream Black)

LAYOUT YOUR MINI-CHARMS

This is the fun part! Playing with all of those prints and trying to make it so that no two of the same print touch one another. It is helpful to look at your candy pieces in gray-scale to see if there are any similarly valued pieces touching one another. If you don’t want to use a yellow filter, you can always squint at it to get your eyes to notice the gray-scale.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

For the setting squares, cut seven squares measuring 4 7/8 inches from the width of fabric (WOF), then cut them in half diagonally to yield 14 triangle units.

Also cut one square measuring 2 7/8 inches and cut it into quarters diagonally to get the setting triangles for the four outer corners.

For the outer border, cut four strips from the WOF measuring 3 1/2 inches wide.

PIECING INSTRUCTIONS

Due to the fact that this quilt has odd numbered rows, it would appear that the triangle units would need to be set-in. This can be difficult for new quilters and I have found a way to get around it by simply doing the piecing in several sections. Please refer to the number in the photo for final section placement.

Section One and Five: Sew two rows consisting of 5 candy squares with a triangle unit added at the end.

Sections 1 and 5

Section Two and Four: Sew two rows consisting of 7 candy squares with a single triangle unit added at the end.

Sections 2 and 4

Section Three: This is the tricky section. In this section we compensate for the odd-numbered setting by using three rows instead of two. This way we can avoid setting-in the outer triangles.

First, sew two rows of 7 candy squares then add a triangle section just as before for sections 2 and 4. Then sew another unit comprised of two candy squares and one triangle as shown on the right-hand side of the photo. Save this piece

Sew a strip of 9 candy squares together, then add it to the unit comprised of two rows of 7 candy squares. This row will span the full length of all 7 candy squares and the triangle.

To complete this center unit, add the triangle with the two candy squares to this section.

Sew the outside corner units. They are comprised of two candy squares, two triangle units and topped with the mini-triangle unit. Sew four, one for each corner.