LUDLOW QUILT AND SEW
Ribbonweave Cot Quilt
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Newsletter March 2010 Cot Quilt
At long last it looks as if the English winter is over and we are heading into spring. My garden is full of snowdrops and crocuses and the daffodils should be in bloom soon. Even the snowdrops beside the drive have flowered this year - in the past they have always been flattened by daughter Samantha driving over them as she reverses out of the drive!
My sister Diane made a brief trip to the UK for my niece's leaving party (for those of you who have joined us recently, Karen and boyfriend Andy are travelling overland to New Zealand). Diane brought me some stunning Zimbabwe fabric so I am going to have to think really hard to find projects that will do justice to the fabric.
This month's project began life as a wall hanging, but the pattern was so bright and happy feeling that I kept going and made a patchwork cot quilt - or it could be a lap quilt. The finished size is 38" by 59".The quilt block is called ribbon weave. It is thought to date back to the 1930's.
As ever with quilt blocks though, it probably has many other names.
You will need:
Dark blue fabric: 1 yard
Light blue fabric: 1/2 yard
Yellow fabric: 1 yard
Patterned fabric: 3/4 yard
Backing and wadding: rectangle 41" by 62" of each
The patchwork cot quilt is made from one block repeated 15 times.
For each block you will need one 4.1/4" square of patterned fabric, two 4.1/2" squares each of dark blue and light blue and four 4.1/2" squares of yellow. I find it easiest to cut a 4.1/2" strip across the width of the fabric and then cut across the strip at 4.1/2" intervals to make 4.1/2" squares.
With right sides together, place one yellow square on one blue square. Mark a line along the diagonal - pencil will do as the line will not show. Sew a seam 1/4" either side of the line you have drawn.
Cut along the diagonal to make 2 triangles. These should open up to 2 squares as shown on the left. Repeat with the remaining 3 yellow and blue squares. Chain sewing (shown above right) speeds up the process enormously. Trim the edges of the triangles where they stick out beyond the square. This will reduce bulk later when the patches are all sewn together - and it looks neater.
Lay the patches out as shown. Keep referring to the photo as it is terribly easy to place one of the patches the wrong way up. I know because I did it many times.
With right sides together and using a 1/4" seam, sew the 3 patches across the top row together.
In the same way, sew the 2nd and 3rd rows and then sew rows 1 and 2 to each other, followed by row 3. In some of the corners there are 5 layers of fabric meeting, so it is important to have the seam allowances going in opposite directions. Make 14 more quilt blocks the same and press carefully.
Sew the quilt blocks together in rows of 3. Once again, keep referring to the photo to check that your blocks are the right way round. Then sew the 5 rows of quilt blocks together.I toyed with the idea of making several layers for the border, but felt that it would detract from the main pattern, so I just used a 2.1/2" strip of the patterned fabric for the quilt border.
Measure the width of the patchwork quilt top (about 33") and cut two 2.1/2" strips that length. Sew to the top and bottom of the quilt top. Measure the sides of the cot quilt top (including the border you have just added, around 59"), cut 2 strips that length and sew to the sides of the quilt top.
That's the patchwork cot quilt top complete. Lay the backing fabric right side down, lay the wadding on top and then the cot quilt top with right side up. Quilt and bind.Click on baby quilt for full layering and binding instructions.
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rose@ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk
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