Happy Thursday! Today I have my finished Harvest Quilt to share with you. I'm also including a simple tutorial for this quilt since I've gotten questions about it every time I've posted a photo of it here or on
Instagram!
As I mentioned last month, Julie from
The Intrepid Thread sent over some Tilda fabric for me to play with. This is the Harvest collection by Tone Finninger. They've got a list to be notified about new Tilda collections, which you can sign up for
here.
I pretty quickly decided that a simple log cabin quilt would be a nice way to show off all the colorful prints, and take full advantage of the fat quarters.
The collection had two prints with a creamy white background, which I used for the block centers. The rest of the fat quarters were chopped up for the blocks. Log cabin blocks are one of my favorites, but I haven't made many log cabin quilts. This quilt helped scratch that itch, but I definitely want to work more with this block soon.
For the quilting I kept things simple. I quilted a diagonal line through each block and then did some echo quilting around the block/row seams. It's pretty lightly quilted, which means it has lots of crinkle.
I gave this quilt to my Mom when I saw her at the end of last month, it was fun to surprise her with it!
I happened to have this purple print in my backing stash, which was a great match for the colors on the front. I finished it off with some lime green binding (my specialty). More info on my custom woven labels
here.
Ready to make your own? Onto the tutorial!
Harvest Log Cabin Quilt Tutorial
A word of caution: This is truly a fat quarter busting quilt. You'll need nearly every precious inch of the fat quarter. Your fat quarters must be at least 18" wide (a little extra is even better), and at least 21.5" tall. A couple of my fat quarters were tight, and I ended up with a tiny bit of visible selvedge from one fat quarter.
If your fat quarters are on the smaller side or you prefer more wiggle room in your cutting, skip to the end of this tutorial, for a slightly smaller finished quilt that uses skinnier strips (2.75" wide).
Tutorial for Log Cabin Quilt Using 3" Strips
Sewing Level: Beginner Friendly
Finished Quilt Size: 75"x75"
Finished Block Size: 12.5"
Materials:
- 18 fat quarters (full 18"x21.5" required)
- 1/4 yard for block centers
- 4 3/4 yards of backing fabric
- 83"x83" piece of batting
- 5/8 yard of binding fabric
Cutting:
From block center fabric:
- Cut (36) 3" squares
From 18 fat quarters:
- Cut (6) 3"x22" strips
Subcut these strips into the following using the cutting diagram above:
- (2) 3"x3" pieces
- (4) 5.5"x3" pieces
- (4) 8"x3" pieces
- (4) 10.5"x3" pieces
- (2) 13"x3" pieces
Seam Allowance: 1/4" unless otherwise noted
Instructions:
1. Construct log cabin blocks: Start by sewing a 3" square to the right side of a center square. Press seam away from the center. Sew a 5.5" strip to the bottom of the pieced unit. Press seam away from the center. Continue adding strips in a clockwise direction until your block measures 13" square. Make 36 blocks. Press well.
2. Arrange blocks into six rows of six blocks each according to the above diagram. Sew blocks together in each row. Press seams in one direction, alternating direction every other row. Sew rows together. Press seams open.
3. Cut backing yardage in half. Press. Trim off the selvedge and sew your pieces together lengthwise. Press seam open. Baste, quilt, and bind.
Tutorial for Log Cabin Quilt Using 2.75" Strips
Sewing Level: Beginner Friendly
Finished Quilt Size: 67.5"x67.5"
Finished Block Size: 11.25"
Materials:
- 18 fat quarters
- 1/4 yard for block centers
- 4 1/4 yards of backing fabric
- 75.5"x75.5" piece of batting
- 1/2 yard of binding fabric
Cutting:
From block center fabric:
- Cut (36) 2.75" squares
From 18 fat quarters:
- Cut (6) 2.75"x22" strips
Subcut these strips into the following using the cutting diagram below:
- (2) 2.75"x2.75" pieces
- (4) 5"x2.75" pieces
- (4) 7.25"x2.75" pieces
- (4) 9.5"x2.75" pieces
- (2) 11.75"x2.75" pieces
Seam Allowance: 1/4" unless otherwise noted
Instructions:
1. Construct log cabin blocks: Start by sewing a 2.75" square to the right side of a center square. Press seam away from the center. Sew a 5" strip to the bottom of the pieced unit. Press seam away from the center. Continue adding strips in a clockwise direction until your block measures 11.75" square. Make 36 blocks. Press well.
2. Arrange blocks into six rows of six blocks each according to the above diagram. Sew blocks together in each row. Press seams in one direction, alternating direction every other row. Sew rows together. Press seams open.
3. Cut backing yardage in half. Press. Trim off the selvedge and sew your pieces together lengthwise. Press seam open. Baste, quilt, and
bind.
I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial! I have lots of other tutorials for everything from quilts, pillows, bags, and holiday items to informational series and techniques. Find all my tutorials here:
Tutorials. My online shop is filled with patterns for quilts and bags. Find my patterns here:
Jeni Baker Patterns
If you make something using one of my tutorials or patterns, I hope you'll tag me
@jenib320 and use my hashtag
#jenibaker on instagram!
Happy Quilting!
