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When Life is Scrappy Quilt

When Life is Scrappy Quilt

Written by: 
Vanessa Goertzen

When Life is Scrappy >>> Make a Quilt

Calling all scrappy quilt lovers! This is Vanessa from Lella Boutique and I'm sharing a little about my Spell It With Moda quilt today :)

When Life is Scrappy >>> Make a Quilt

I have been dying to stitch up some of these sweet letter blocks since Moda released the free alphabet pattern back in early 2014. I've mixed Jelly Roll® strips from a couple of my newest Moda collections--Little Miss Sunshine (currently in shops), and Olive's Flower Market (shipping in November). I've also used low volume prints in lieu of a white background for the majority of letters... The exception is the word "SCRAPPY" because I decided to use a special background color to really make it stand out. But really, the whole point is that there are no rules to this quilt except SCRAPPY, SCRAPPY, SCRAPPY...

And can we talk about this quilting yumminess by Abby Latimer?! (I think I found my new favorite pantograph.)

When Life is Scrappy >>> Make a Quilt

This quilt finishes at 71" x 72 1/2". Let's get started!

8cb62-title_ingredients

NOTE: Because this is a scrap quilt, it's a little difficult to come up with the exact quantities used but I'll do my best:

  • 27 Jelly Roll® strips for the letter blocks
  • 5 Jelly Roll® strips/scraps for sawtooth stars
  • Assortment of low-volume scraps for background
  • 1 fat eighth arrow fabric
  • 1 fat eighth arrow background fabric
  • 1 yard of background fabric for the word "SCRAPPY" (total guess but I think this would be plenty)
  • 1/2 yard border fabric
  • 1 square 8'' x 8'' scrap for border corner squares
  • 4 1/2 yards backing fabric
  • 2/3  yard binding fabric
  • 80'' x 80'' batting

96b91-title_instructions

1letterlayout

1. The first step is to make all the letters.  You will need 1 Jelly Roll® strip per letter (plus your desired background fabric). Instructions for each letter can found through the Spell it with Moda Pinterest page OR you can copy the web address below and just plug in the letter you are looking for... For example, here is the link address for the letter "a" pattern:

http://www.modafabrics.com/a_spellitwithfabric.pdf

(Do you see where I have bolded the letter "a" in the address? Just plug in whatever letter you need in that spot and it will pull up the PDF for that letter.)

Now here is something REALLY IMPORTANT! The last step of making each letter instructs to sew 1 rectangle 2 1/2'' x 9 1/2'' of background fabric to the bottom of each letter... DON'T sew it on just yet! Instead, make a pile of all of the 2 1/2'' x 9 1/2'' rectangles you cut from your low volume prints and set aside for later. (You will need 42 low-volume rectangles total in the pile--14 in addition to the ones cut for the letters). The idea is to mix them all up and create even more scrappiness later.

2dontaddyet

The exception is for the letters of the word "SCRAPPY" since those will all be framed in one background color. Go ahead and add those 2 1/2'' x 9 1/2'' rectangles to the bottom of each letter.

3okaytoadd

FILLER BLOCKS: Make 5 SAWTOOTH STAR FILLER blocks and *3 ARROW FILLER blocks:

4fillers

*1 of the ARROW FILLER blocks will have 1 slight difference from the other 2 per the instructions.

2. To make 1 SAWTOOTH STAR FILLER block, take 1 Jelly Roll® strip/scrap and cut the following:

  • 1 square 2 1/2'' x 2 1/2''
  • 8 squares 1 1/2'' x 1 1/2''

From the background fabric, cut the following:

  • 4 squares 1 1/2'' x 1 1/2''
  • 4 rectangles 1 1/2'' x 2 1/2''
  • 2 rectangles 2 1/2'' x 4 1/2''
  • 2 rectangles 3 1/2'' x 8 1/2''
  • 1 rectangle 1 1/2'' x 10 1/2''

FLYING GEESE:Make 4 flying geese units using 8 squares 1 1/2'' x 1 1/2'' of the Jelly Roll® print and 4 rectangles 1 1/2'' x 2 1/2'' of background fabric.

5flyinggeese

Arrange 4 flying geese units with 1 square 2 1/2'' x 2 1/2'' of Jelly Roll® print and 4 squares 1 1/2'' x 1 1/2'' of background fabric. Sew the units into rows; press. Sew the rows together, press.

6sawtoothstars

Sew 2 rectangles 2 1/2'' x 4 1/2'' to the sides of the sawtooth star unit Press.

7sides

Sew 2 rectangles 3 1/2'' x 8 1/2'' to the top and bottom of the sawtooth star unit. Press.

8blocktops

Attach 1 rectangle 1 1/2'' x 10 1/2'' to the right side of the block. Press. Make 5.

9finalstar

3. To make 1 ARROW FILLER block, take 1 Jelly Roll® strip and cut the following:

  • 2 rectangles 2 1/2'' x 10 1/2''

From the background fabric, cut the following:

  • 2 squares 6'' x 6''
  • *1 rectangle 1 1/2'' x 10 1/2''

Cut each 6'' x 6'' background square in half at the diagonal.

12cuttingdiagram

Place 1 rectangle 2 1/2'' x 10 1/2'' of arrow fabric onto your cutting mat. To the bottom-left edge, measure over 2 1/2'' and make a small mark. Draw a straight line from the top-left corner down to the small mark. Cut along the marked line. Make another 45 degree cut parallel to the first by measuring 2 1/2'' away from the top-right edge and making a small mark. Draw a straight line from the bottom-right corner to that small mark. Cut along the marked line to get 1 parallelogram.

11template

Place 1 rectangle 2 1/2'' x 10 1/2'' of arrow fabric onto your cutting mat. To the top-left edge, measure over 2 1/2'' and make a small mark. Draw a straight line from the bottom-left corner up to the small mark. Cut along the marked line. Make another 45 degree cut parallel to the first by measuring 2 1/2'' away from the bottom-right edge and making a small mark. Draw a straight line from the top-right corner down to the small mark. Cut along the marked line to get 1 parallelogram (mirror image to the first parallelogram).

10template1

Arrange all units into rows as indicated. **Sew the units into rows; press.

13intorows

**NOTE: When bringing the units right sides together to sew into their rows, you will notice overlap of some of the points. This is normal. See the diagrams below to see examples of the units should look for each step.

14 overlapping seams

Sew the rows together; press.

15assembly

Attach 1 rectangle 1 1/2'' x 10 1/2'' to the right side of the unit. Press. Make 2.

16final block

*Make 1 more ARROW FILLER block, but cut and attach a low volume rectangle 1 1/2'' x 10 1/2'' instead of in the arrow background fabric. This ARROW FILLER block will be sewn to the left of the "M" in "MAKE" and there needs to be a low volume separator instead of the arrow background fabric color (see below).

17specialv

Congrats! All your blocks are made!

QUILT-TOP ARRANGEMENT:

4. Since each row comes together a little differently, the easiest way to explain the quilt-top assembly is to take it line by line:

Line #1: Gather the "WHEN" letters, 3 SAWTOOTH STAR FILLER blocks, and 14 of those low volume rectangles 2 1/2'' x 9 1/2''. Arrange and sew the units into 3 rows as shown; press. Sew the rows together; press.

18row1

Cut and attach 1 low volume strip 1 1/2'' x 14 1/2'' to the left side of this row; press.

19row1part2

Line #2: Gather the "LIFE" "IS" letters, 1 SAWTOOTH STAR FILLER block, and 7 low volume rectangles 2 1/2'' x 9 1/2''. Arrange and sew the units into 2 rows as shown; press. Sew the rows together; press.

20row2

Cut and attach 1 low volume strip 1 1/2'' x 12 1/2'' to the left side of this row; press.

21row2part2

Line #3: Gather the "SCRAPPY" letters, 2 strips 2 1/2'' x WOF of (special) background fabric, and 1 rectangle 1 1/2'' x 12 1/2'' of (special) background fabric. First, sew the letters into 1 row with the 1 rectangle 1 1/2'' x 12 1/2'' to the left-side; press.

22row3

Sew 2 strips 2 1/2'' x WOF together end-to-end. Measure the length of the "SCRAPPY" row and trim the strip to that measurement (should be approximately 64 1/2'' long). Attach to the top of the row; press.

23rowpart2

Line #4: Gather the "MAKE" letters, 3 ARROW FILLER blocks, and 14 low volume rectangles 2 1/2'' x 9 1/2''. Arrange and sew the units into 3 rows as shown; press.  Sew the rows together; press.

24row4

Cut and attach 1 low volume strip 1 1/2'' x 14 1/2'' to the left side of this row; press.

25row4part2

Line #5: Gather the "A" "QUILT" letters, 1 SAWTOOTH STAR FILLER block, and 7 low volume rectangles 2 1/2'' x 9 1/2''. Arrange and sew the units into 2 rows as shown; press. Sew the rows together; press.

26row5

Cut and attach 1 low volume strip 1 1/2'' x 12 1/2'' to the left side of this row; press.

27row5part2

SEW THE ROWS TOGETHER :)

28quilttop

BORDER:

From the border fabric, cut 8 strips 3 1/2'' x WOF. Piece 2 strips together end-to-end to get 1 new strip that measures approximately 3 1/2'' x 80''. Make 4. From the border corner square fabric, cut 4 squares 3 1/2'' x 3 1/2''.

Now we need to trim the pieced border strips to fit the sides of the quilt-top. To determine the length of the strips for the sides, measure the height of the quilt-top in 3 places and take the average. Trim 2 pieced border strips to that length (I estimate it should be around 3 1/2'' x 68 1/2'' but it is best to measure) and sew to the sides, pinning in place beforehand.

29bordersides

To determine the length of the top/bottom border strips, measure the width of the quilt-top in 3 places and take the average. Trim 1 pieced border strips to that width (I calculate it should be 3 1/2'' x 64 1/2''.) Sew 1 border corner square 3 1/2'' x 3 1/2'' to each end; press. Make 2.

31piecedborder

Sew the pieced border strips to the top and bottom of the quilt. Press.

30quilttopwithborders

Baste, quilt and bind using desired method.

4b2da-title_yield

IMG_50882

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Check out my other patterns at lellaboutique.com

Vanessa Goertzen
{lellaboutique.blogspot.com}

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