LUDLOW QUILT AND SEW
Squirrel Batik Quilt Pattern
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SQUIRREL IN A CAGE QUILT PATTERN
NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2012
Happy New Year to each and every one of you. My children have all been and gone and we had a great time while they were here in Ludlow. Christmas is definitely a lot less work and a lot more relaxed now than when they were babies.
As soon as I could get my sewing machine out again I decided to make a quilt using a quilt block that I have admired before but could never decide which fabrics to make it in. I've chosen now to use some batiks and I've used a large block size to show off the batiks. I've also made the quilt quite large (76" square) because I often get asked for patterns for larger quilts.
This is the basic squirrel in a cage quilt block and I've used three fabrics. I made nine blocks, each 24" square and didn't use any sashing because I didn't want to interrupt any secondary designs that appeared - and there were plenty of them.
To make the quilt the same size you will need 1 yard of the lilac fabric, 2.1/2 yards of the green batik and 3.1/4 yards of the purple (this includes binding), plus batting and backing fabric.
For each quilt block you will need eight purple squares, two green squares and six lilac squares, all 4.7/8". These are all used to make half square triangle units. Place a purple square with a lilac or green square, right sides together, and mark a line along the diagonal. Sew a seam 1/4" either side of the diagonal and cut along the marked line. This gives you two half square triangle units as shown.
Sew these half square triangle units together in pairs and then fours to give a square as shown with all the purple fabric making a central square and one green corner to each block. You'll need four of these.
Cut four 8.1/2" by 4.1/2" rectangles in each of the purple and green fabrics and sew these together in pairs along the 8.1/2" length. Sew one of the squares that you made above to each side of two of the two strip panels. Take care that you have the green corner of each square joining the green rectangle. These two rows will form the top and bottom of the squirrel in a cage quilt block.
The middle row of the quilt block is dead easy. Cut one 8.1/2" purple square and sew the remaining two rectangle blocks to either side of it. The green rectangle should be attached to the purple square with the purple rectangles on the outside.
Sew these three rows together and that's the squirrel in a cage quilt block complete. Make eight more of them and sew them together in rows of three. Sew the three rows together to make a quilt top approximately 72" square. As you'll see, loads of secondary designs appear which is what I love about quilting.
They show up in the video:
I decided to leave the quilt border plain, using just a 4.1/2" strip of the green batik to frame the quilt top. For the cornerstones I wanted to use part of the quilt block design so I cut four 3.1/2" purple squares from the leftovers and four 4.1/4" lilac square. Cut the lilac squares along both diagonals and sew the resulting triangles to the sides of the purple square.
Sew together 4.1/2" wide strips of the green batik to make four 72.1/2" lengths. Sew one length each to the top and bottom of the quilt top. Sew a cornerstone to each end of the remaining two quilt border strips and then sew them to the sides of the quilt top.
That's the squirrel in a cage quilt top complete and ready for layering, quilting and binding. These stages are covered fully in the
baby quilt pattern.
I hope that you like this quilt pattern as much as I do.
Best Wishes
Rose
Return to free quilt patterns
Visit my blog
rose@ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk
www.ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk
NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2012
Happy New Year to each and every one of you. My children have all been and gone and we had a great time while they were here in Ludlow. Christmas is definitely a lot less work and a lot more relaxed now than when they were babies.
As soon as I could get my sewing machine out again I decided to make a quilt using a quilt block that I have admired before but could never decide which fabrics to make it in. I've chosen now to use some batiks and I've used a large block size to show off the batiks. I've also made the quilt quite large (76" square) because I often get asked for patterns for larger quilts.
This is the basic squirrel in a cage quilt block and I've used three fabrics. I made nine blocks, each 24" square and didn't use any sashing because I didn't want to interrupt any secondary designs that appeared - and there were plenty of them.
To make the quilt the same size you will need 1 yard of the lilac fabric, 2.1/2 yards of the green batik and 3.1/4 yards of the purple (this includes binding), plus batting and backing fabric.
For each quilt block you will need eight purple squares, two green squares and six lilac squares, all 4.7/8". These are all used to make half square triangle units. Place a purple square with a lilac or green square, right sides together, and mark a line along the diagonal. Sew a seam 1/4" either side of the diagonal and cut along the marked line. This gives you two half square triangle units as shown.
Sew these half square triangle units together in pairs and then fours to give a square as shown with all the purple fabric making a central square and one green corner to each block. You'll need four of these.
Cut four 8.1/2" by 4.1/2" rectangles in each of the purple and green fabrics and sew these together in pairs along the 8.1/2" length. Sew one of the squares that you made above to each side of two of the two strip panels. Take care that you have the green corner of each square joining the green rectangle. These two rows will form the top and bottom of the squirrel in a cage quilt block.
The middle row of the quilt block is dead easy. Cut one 8.1/2" purple square and sew the remaining two rectangle blocks to either side of it. The green rectangle should be attached to the purple square with the purple rectangles on the outside.
Sew these three rows together and that's the squirrel in a cage quilt block complete. Make eight more of them and sew them together in rows of three. Sew the three rows together to make a quilt top approximately 72" square. As you'll see, loads of secondary designs appear which is what I love about quilting.
They show up in the video:
I decided to leave the quilt border plain, using just a 4.1/2" strip of the green batik to frame the quilt top. For the cornerstones I wanted to use part of the quilt block design so I cut four 3.1/2" purple squares from the leftovers and four 4.1/4" lilac square. Cut the lilac squares along both diagonals and sew the resulting triangles to the sides of the purple square.
Sew together 4.1/2" wide strips of the green batik to make four 72.1/2" lengths. Sew one length each to the top and bottom of the quilt top. Sew a cornerstone to each end of the remaining two quilt border strips and then sew them to the sides of the quilt top.
That's the squirrel in a cage quilt top complete and ready for layering, quilting and binding. These stages are covered fully in the
baby quilt pattern.
I hope that you like this quilt pattern as much as I do.
Best Wishes
Rose
Return to free quilt patterns
Visit my blog
rose@ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk
www.ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk