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How to: Beginner Friendly Lots of squares quilt (It's much quicker than you might think!)

I love quilts with just squares- they are fun and quick to sew and have a lovely timeless feel. And with strip piecing, this one comes together a lot quicker than you might think. Don't know what strip piecing is? No worries! Let's get started! 

This pattern/ tutorial makes a decent size throw quilt which is approximately 60" x 72" (150cm x 180cm).

Fabric requirements:

Fabric
Quilt top

5 Fabrics (A,B,C,D,E)- 1 yard  (0.75cm) each (or 28" x Width OF exactly)

Binding 1/2 yard (45cm)
Backing  3-4 yards (click here for details on how to get away with less fabric)

 
We are going to start by cutting each of Fabric A-E into 8 strips each which are 3.5” x Width of Fabric (WOF). You will have 40 strips in total. 

Group together strips into 10 groups of 4. Try to make them all different which will give you more variety in the quilt. For example one set may be A,B,C,D, another may be B,C,D,E, another may be C,D,C,D. Also try to mix up the arrangement- for instance one will be A,B,C,D and the other B,A,D,C

Take one group of 4 strips and sew together in strips, like so. Press all seams in the same direction. Check out Tied with a Ribbon's tip on pressing strips to avoid wonkiness!

Trim off the uneven edges/ selvage and then cut your strips into (12) 3.5” widths

You will then have twelve identical strip set columns made up of 4 squares each.

We are going to repeat the above steps with our other sets of strips, until we have 120 columns in total. (10 different strip combinations cut into 12 different columns each). 

Once you have all your strip set columns it’s time to mix and match- we are going to make 30 blocks of 4 strips (each block will have 4 strip set columns of 4 or 16 squares in total).

When you are sewing them together, try to make it so that the strips have the seams pressed in opposite directions- for instance, Column 1 would have the seams pressed down, Column 3 would have them pressed up, 3 down and 4 up. This will ensure they nest together nicely. 

Once you have made your 30 blocks, it’s time to sew them together! Firstly sew groups of 5 blocks together in rows. You will have 6 rows. Then you can sew your rows together

And that's your quilt top done! As always, let me know if you have any questions :-) 


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