COMING UP CROSSES QUILTED WALL HANGING

Fabric amounts are listed in the attached Materials diagram.

The designer used a jelly roll of blue batik for this quilt. The ombré theme of the jelly roll made it incredibly easy to get the look I wanted.

Techniques: Rotary cutting Piecing Hanging sleeves Featured size: Wall hanging (36 1/2x 18 1/2 or 92.7 x 47cm)

See last step for additional size suggestions Suggested fabrics: Quilting cotton, flannel, linen, poplin

Cutting plan Set aside all of the backing fabrics and batting for the time being. Gather the patchwork fabrics and, using a rotary cutter, cut the following fabric strips along the width of the fabric yardage. Then subcut the strips as directed below. The fabrics have been assigned a number based on color and a letter based on size. Sort your cut pieces by color for easy assembly, labeling them with a sticky note if desired. (See attached image for more detail.)

PIECING Use a scant 1/4" (6mm) seam allowance for all seams. Press seam allowances open or to the side as desired; mine are pressed open. Figure A

1. Sew the first row of fabric pieces together following Row 1 (the one at the top) of Figure A. Use the assigned numbers and letters to select the proper fabric squares and rectangles.
2. Assemble each row as shown in Figure A until all rows are sewn.
3. Then sew the rows together in the order shown in Figure A.

USING A DESIGN WALL Because all the pieces in this wall hanging need to follow Figure A exactly, it’s helpful to have a space to spread out all your pieces so you can see them all together.

Not everyone has a huge table to work on, so a design wall is a great option. Pin a large piece of batting or flannel-backed tablecloth to the largest empty wall you have. The fuzzy surface of the fabric will allow you to stick thin fabrics like cotton on it with ease. Now you can lay out row or an entire quilt exactly as you plan to sew it.

Assembly

1. Trim a 36x 6 (91.4 x 15.2cm) rectangle off one edge of the backing fabric; set this aside for the hanging sleeve.
2. Layer the remaining backing fabric (right side down), batting, and quilt top (right side up) on top of one another in a sandwich.
3. Quilt the wall hanging as desired.
4. Trim off the excess batting and backing fabric.

Hem the sleeve. Turn under and iron the short edges of the trimmed 36” x 6” (91.5 x 15cm) rectangle by 1/2” (1.5cm); repeat this one more time and sew the folds in place to complete the double fold hems.

Attach the folded sleeve. Fold the piece of fabric in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and center it at the top of your quilt, aligning its raw edges with the raw edge of the quilt. Hand sew the fold in place for an invisible join or, if it goes with your quilting, machine stitch this fold in place.

Bind the quilt. Bind the edges of the quilt. To display your quilt, slide a curtain rod or wooden dowel through the sleeve and hang with hooks on either side.

Would you like to make this wall hanging in a larger size? It can be done with a little extra effort. To work with this asymmetrical pattern, simply repeat Steps 1–3 of the Piecing section to make one block. For the next block, repeat Steps 1 and 2 of the Piecing section to create the strips, but for Step 3, rotate the strips 180 degrees before stitching them together (see Figure B). This creates a reflection effect that will look fabulous when you stitch the blocks together.

OPTIONAL SIZES (IN THE IMAGE) Note that the baby size quilt consists of three of the wall quilts attached together. For twin, full, and queen/king, the sizes of the squares and rectangles in the block have been changed. The construction method is the same, but it’ll be far less challenging working with larger squares than those required for the wall hanging.

Excerpted with permission from Quilting Simplified: Fresh Designs and Easy Instructions for Beginners.