Tutorial: Chenille-backed patchwork blanket. Part 1: Design and cutting

Quite a few people responded with questions about my most recent chenille backed patchwork blanket and a few intrepid souls said it has inspired them to try their first patchwork.  So I, in turn, was inspired to write up a little tutorial on how I do it.  There are plenty of how-to guides out there I know -- but this is what I do.  I hope it will help some of you.

The project:  A patchwork on one side, and fuzzy chenille on the other -- resulting in a nicely weighted and cozy blanket.  For the purposes of this tutorial, I made a little doll quilt.  You can choose your size -- from a baby blankie to an adult-sized throw.

Materials:  Like all projects, it starts with the materials.  In this case you want a bunch of nice cotton prints.  If you are a beginner, it would be nice if they are all cotton and all about the same weight.  Also -- chenille or other fuzzy/soft/thick fabric for the back, coordinating thread for the sewing machine, and perle cotton thread/large needle for tying the blanket.  Equipment: sewing machine, cutting mat/rulers/rotary cutter, iron/ironing board, good scissors.

If you are a beginner and bothered by your squares not matching up perfectly, I'd recommend busy fabrics.  Below is a picture of my first independent sewing project ever in February 2005.

I was luckily attracted to busy, fun fabrics because it wasn't until later that I realized they really help to hide sewing "sins."  Anyhooo, back to the subject at hand.

Preparation:  Wash your fabrics.  Some people debate this.  I don't have any doubt.  Wash them.  Then iron them well. 

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Design:  Now it is time to figure out what you are going to do.  For this simple blanket, I chose to alternate a four patch with a large block.  The small squares are cut 2.5 inches and the large squares are cut 4.5 inches.  (They finish at 2 inches/4 inches then when you use a quarter inch seam.) For the recent blanket I did for my cousin, I did slightly larger squares -- 3.5 inches/6.5 inches cut respectively.  You can choose your look, even going larger (4.5 inches/8.5 inches) if you'd like. 

This is a simple "pattern" that results in a pretty busy and fun look -- good for a beginner.  Here's another example. You could always do a "one patch" and just piece together blocks of all the same size.

Figure out your layout now - either in your head or on a piece of graph paper.  You don't have to decide on colors, but you need to decide how big you want it so you'll know how many squares to cut.  Make sure you remember seam allowance in your calculations.  (If you use 3.5/6.5 cut squares, each square - either big or 4 patch - will finish at 6 inches.  A 6 block by 6 block quilt will be 36 inches square when finished.) 

Cutting:  I use a cutting mat, rotary cutter, and a see-through plastic ruler for this.  If you don't use these things, then do the best you can to cut your squares accurately however you can.  The first step is straighten out one side by cutting along the grain of the fabric (usually the lengthwise grain.)

Next, flip the fabric around and line up proper measurement along the straight edge of your fabric - in this case, the 4.5 inch line.  Cut along the outer edge to get a strip of fabric 4.5 inches wide.  Note: a thin lined ruler is more accurate.  The smaller the square you cut, the more accurate you need to be.  Pay attention to where you put that line and do it the same each time.

Next use the same technique (straighten up one side of the strip, flip and then cut from the other side) to cut the squares.  Note that this time you can line up both the left and bottom edges straight along the ruler lines to ensure that you are getting a square.

Cut all your big and little squares with the same technique.  If you feel confident in cutting you can cut many layers of fabric at the same time so it goes faster. 

Layout:  Now that all your squares are cut, you get to have fun laying out your quilt.  For this quilt I do straight rows.  For Ian's quilt I purposely moved the rows around, resulting in a more random look.  This is pretty fun but it does complicate the piecing so just make note if you are a beginner.

Throw them down on the floor/table/bed/design wall (yeah right) - somewhere where you can stand back and admire.  This quite random layout actually resulted from careful placement - making sure that the colors were balanced throughout the layout.  I like to look at my quilt through backwards binoculars - it is easy to see the colors and see if anything needs to be re-arranged.  Once you have it laid out, you are just about ready to sew.  (Note: the four patch squares will appear bigger than the other squares so your layout won't match up perfectly at this point. This is correct.)

If your squares aren't near your sewing machine then you'll need to transport them without messing up your layout.  You can use post-its to number your rows and stack things up neatly.  In any case, you might want to use a pin to mark the tops of the squares/four patches as you sew.  As much as you think you'll remember, it is sometimes hard to remember where to put the pieces back into the layout.

Tommorrow:  Part II - Sewing together the patchwork.

Comments

[LauraJ]

another tip: take digital pictures of your layouts then upload them on to your computer, then when you see the layout of squares that you like erase the other ones. once you are ready to sew, you can always go back to the picture of the layout to see what squares go where.

great tutorial!!

[Angela]

Well, looky here-she's back at tutorial posting! Yahoo ;-) A groovy little tutorial at that, my dear! You have such a great stash of novelty prints. The doll quilt is so sweet.

[babybug]

thanks! i've been wanting to make a patchwork quit. will check back tomorrow!

[capello]

great. now i have to figure out how to clean drool off my keyboard from looking at your 30's reproductions so much.

i hope you're proud of yourself.

[Dee]

Awesome! Thanks so much for this tutorial. I'm going to use it to make DD a doll blanket for the holidays.

[Lauri]

Ha! I just posted about loving patchworked things...So I am especially loving this!
Great tutorial, and I really like the little 4-patch with the big square.

[Marianne]

Thank you! ThaNK YOu! THANK YOU! Great tutorial! You RAWK!

[Krista]

Amy, that quilt you made for Ian is so great. But the piecing is making me crazy! I'm trying to figure out just how you moved the rows around to get that random look. You're so tricky! But it's great. I think I'll just go play with some squares now that the boys are in bed and see what I come up with... Maybe I'll end up looking tricky too ;)
I love that you do these tutorials, it's such a generous gift of your time, energy, thought. I am sure you get a lot out of doing them, it must be very satisfying, but just so you know, I'm sure we all get even more! They are so well done. Thank you.

[Nancy Jane]

This is a darling little quilt and thanks for posting the tutorial on how to..

[Meredith]

This is wonderful, thank you so much for posting. My daughter and I are about to make one of these for her AG dolls and your pictures really help!! Visit us at http://happyheartsmom.typepad.com/threads_of_love/

[carri]

I finally got around to posting.
Thank so much for this tutorial. It was so great and easy to follow (a compliment to your detailed instructions).
I'm very new to sewing.

My daughter LOVEs her blanket and wants more and a HUGE one for her bed :)

I'm posting a picture of the one I did.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27520341@N02/3037278436/
thanks!