Modern Plus Quilt Tutorial

Castle Peeps Plus Quilt, originally uploaded by jenib320.

The Castle Peeps Plus Quilt is finally finished! I've cooked up a tutorial if you're interested in making your own! It's a fun alternative to regular patchwork, but the piecing is just as easy since you're still using squares! I can definitely see myself making more plus quilts in the future!

**For more size options, check out the pattern version here. **

Castle Peeps Plus Quilt, originally uploaded by jenib320.

This is a relatively simple quilt pattern, appropriate for beginner quilters. The most complicated part is laying the quilt out, and even that isn’t that tricky!

Materials
20 Fat Quarters
4 yards of backing fabric (solid)
2 yards of 90” wide batting
2/3 yard binding fabric (or 300 inches of premade binding)

Basic Measurements
Size: 64” x 75” finished (after washing!)
Top: 64.5” x 76.5”
Backing: 72” x 84”
Batting: 72” x 84”
Block size: 4.5” unfinished, 4” finished.
Layout: 304 blocks, 19 rows, 16 columns,
Seam Allowance: 1/4"

Instructions – Quilt Top

The Peeps Have Arrived!, originally uploaded by jenib320.

1. First and foremost, you need to choose your fabrics! This quilt is a good way to showcase prints from a single line or a mix of lines! It's a great pattern for solids as well! I choose to use the entire line of Castle Peeps by Lizzy House for my quilt! This size quilt requires a little more than 18 fat quarters, so I choose my two favorite fabrics from the line and ordered two extra fat quarters.

The Peeps Have Been Cut!, originally uploaded by jenib320.

2. Be sure to press all your fabrics before you start cutting! Using a rotary cutter, square up the edges of your fat quarters. Be careful not to trim too much though, you’ll need a full 18” to work with! Cut (4) 18”x4.5” strips from 18 of your fat quarters. Then cut (4) 4.5” squares from each strip, resulting in (16) 4.5” squares.

3. From your two remaining fat quarters cut (2) 18”x4.5” strips. Then cut (4) 4.5” squares from each strip, resulting in (16) 4.5” squares. You should now have 320 squares! You won’t be using all 320, but it’s necessary to have excess in order to have some flexibility in your layout! Don’t forget to save your scraps from those fat quarters, you’ll need them for the backing!

Castle Peeps, originally uploaded by jenib320.

4. Now comes the fun part! Laying out your quilt. The process for laying out the pluses is difficult to explain in words but easy to understand from a diagram! Here is a diagram showing the process below. I choose to do a semi-random layout for my fabrics!

Plus Quilt Top Diagram, originally uploaded by jenib320.

(48) - Full 5 square pluses
(11) - 4 square parts
(2) - 3 square parts
(14) - Single squares

Peeps!, originally uploaded by jenib320.

5. Once you’re happy with your layout, you’ll want to stack up your rows so that you sew them up in the correct order. I choose to stack the squares moving from left to right.

6. You should now have 19 stacks of 16 squares each. Label the top of each row with a small slip of paper attached with a safety pin.

Rainbow Peeps, originally uploaded by jenib320.

7. Sew your squares together for each row. I recommend pressing seams to one side, alternating left to right every other row. This makes it easier when you sew all the rows together! I like to sew a few rows and then press 2 or 3 at a time. This breaks up the sewing a bit and doesn’t leave you with a ton of ironing at the end!

Castle Peeps Quilt Top, originally uploaded by jenib320.

8. Now it’s time to sew your rows together! I suggest sewing your rows together in pairs, 1+2, 3+4, etc. You can then sew your pairs together and continue until you’ve finished. This system helps minimize the amount of bulky sewing you’ll have to do. Just like with your rows, don’t forget to press your seams. Your top is done, congrats!

Instructions – Backing

Plus Quilt Backing Diagram, originally uploaded by jenib320.

1. Your backing is going to end up being 72” x 84”, this gives you 3” of extra on all sides for shifting during quilting! This is especially important if you plan on sending out your quilt for quilting! There is a diagram of the backing above to help you better understand how it is put together!

Castle Peeps Quilt, originally uploaded by jenib320.

2. Take your backing fabric and cut it into (4) 33.5”x39.5” pieces. Set aside.

3. To make the pieced plus, you’ll need the leftover scraps from cutting your fat quarters. You should have pieces that are 18” long and varying widths of 3”-4”. Take all your strips and sew them together on the long side (18”). You'll end up with a big piece 18" wide and around 60" long. Once sewn, press all the seams. You’ll now cut this long strip into (3) 6” side strips. Each strip will be approximately 60” x 6”.

Castle Peeps Plus Quilt, originally uploaded by jenib320.

4. Sew all 3 strips together end to end so that you have one giant strip that is approximately 180" long by 6” wide. From this large strip, cut (1) 84” piece and (2) 33.5” pieces.

5. Take one of your backing pieces (33.5"x39.5") and sew one of the 33.5” scrappy strips to one of the short sides of the backing piece. Repeat with the other 33.5” scrappy strip.

Castle Peeps Scrappy Backing, originally uploaded by jenib320.

6. Sew the remaining backing piece to the other side of the short scrappy strip, resulting in two large backing pieces that have two solid pieces with a scrappy strip in the middle.

7. Press your seams. Sew one of the large pieced backing pieces to one side of the long scrappy strip. Sew the other large pieced backing piece to the other side of the scrappy strip. You’re finished with the backing!

Finishing

Kitty, originally uploaded by jenib320.

There are a lot of great tutorials out there for quilting as well as making and sewing on your binding. For the quilting I choose to quilt straight lines 1/4" on both sides of the seams going vertically and horizontally. You’ll need around 300” of binding. This includes some excess. I choose to use a coordinating solid for my binding. Basting helper kitty recommended but not required ;)

Castle Peeps Plus Quilt, originally uploaded by jenib320.

Quilt, bind, wash, and enjoy!

If you have any questions or issues please feel free to leave a comment (make sure you leave your email address) or email me! :)