This basic block and this little quilt hold all the elements of quilt-making. When you master this block, you will be well on your way to being a quiltmaker.
Needed for a mini-quilt 20 x 30
- 1/2 yard of cotton fabrics for the block, one light, one darker
thin batting 25 x 35 inches
fabric for backing at least 25 inches x 35 inches
Cotton thread, #2 safety pins, straight pins
Tools needed:
- Cutting mat
plastic see-thru ruler
rotary cutter
measuring tape that does not stretch
sewing machine with dual feed foot or walking foot attachment
- for quilting
thin lead pencil
Please read through the all of the directions so that you get the whole picture before cutting and sewing.
FABRIC GRAIN
We will be cutting fabric across grain --- so what is grain? Look closely at your fabric and you will see it is woven of threads parallel with the selvage (edge) of the fabric, and threads going across those parallel threads. The fabric going with the parallel threads is said to be straight of grain. As the fabric goes across the parallel threads it is said to be cross grain. Straight of grain has very little stretch. Cross grain has considerable stretch. You may know about fabric that is bias. Imagine a square of fabric with a line running diagonally from one corner to another. That line is bias. Fabric cut "on the bias" has a LOT of stretch.
CUTTING STRIPS
The strips of fabric we cut must be straight so we want the fabric to be straight as we begin. Most good fabric is straight as manufactured. We will discuss how to straighten fabric in a later column.
Lay the fabric folded as it came from the bolt on the cutting mat with the selvages away from you and the folded edge next to you. Fold the edge that is next to you up even with the selvages.It is important that the edge you fold up remains absolutely even with the selvage so that your cut strips will be straight. Have the left edge of the folded fabric in front of you with the rest of the fabric to your right, (reverse if left handed.) This raw left edge will not be even, so we will make it so.
Place the ruler on the left edge of the fabric about 1/2 inch or far enough so that all the uneven raw edges will be cut off. Use the lines on the ruler and the bottom of the fold to get a straight cut. Placing your left hand, fingers spread, on the ruler, run the rotary cutter up the left side of the ruler. Walk the fingers of your left hand up the ruler as you cut away from you, because the ruler has a tendency to move with the pressure of the cutter against it. If you don't get a smooth cut the first time, cut again until you do.
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