Blue and white quilts are so classic, and one of my favorite combinations. I went to Hobby Lobby to buy fabric, and instantly this blue floral print stood out to me, and I had to have it. Next it was time to pick a solid blue to coordinate with the print. I wanted something with a little texture and found this sort of grunge type blue fabric. The combination gives it a vintage feel. Of course, I had to use my go-to background, Kona Bone. Get the free pattern HERE.
For this quilt, we are using strip piecing to make all of the 9 patch blocks. This is a shortcut to making a lot of squares in a little bit of time.
Cut pieces from the strips will be sewn together to make the 9 patch block.
Remember chain piecing is your friend when quilting. Sew all units together without breaking thread between pieces.
The other technique used in this quilt is half square triangles. To make HSTs quick, this quilt calls for are 8-at-a-time half square triangles. Using this method, you’ll end up with 8 HSTs from each square. When I’m preparing, I pair all of my background/print squares together, then I draw an X on all of the background squares.
You will only need to make 2 blocks for this quilt. A 9 patch and unit that looks like a churn dash.
Once your top is done, it’s time to quilt it. Coming up with a free motion quilting design to finish your quilt, can lead to indecision. Two things to consider are do you want custom quilting or an all over design. Custom quilting is a lot more work and time intensive. Choosing an all over design can help you finish your top faster. For this quilt, I went with a swirl design for the center, straight lines in the inner border, and a loopy meander in the outer border.
Free motion quilting is so much easier on my Baby Lock Regent. This is a sit down quilting machine with a large throat space to accommodate up to a king size quilt. The Regent is a longarm machine that sits in a table. It’s stationary, so you have to move the quilt underneath the needle. As opposed to a longarm on a frame where you move the machine using handlebars. I love this machine, and it makes free motion quilting so enjoyable.
My least favorite part of quilting is basting and binding. For the binding I now use the glue method. This was a game changer for me and helps make the process less daunting. Find out more about glue basting binding here.
One thing I did differently when sewing on this binding, is I used my Baby Lock zipper foot. Move the needle position to the right side of the zipper foot. Line up the edge of the foot with the inner edge of the binding – so you’re stitching in the ditch.
To make this quilt, you can get the free pattern from the Baby Lock website HERE.
Looking for other projects? Check out the Baby Lock page with loads of free sewing and quilting projects that you’re sure to love.
