6 Steps to make letter blocks the easy way | Amour Quilted Banner

The holidays are almost over and in very few days, here in Ontario, we’re into cold, snowy January. But, as we all know, this time of year is perfect for quilting.

Last January on QUILTsocial I shared with you how to make a showy Valentine’s Day themed wool wall banner using products like Odif OdiShine Glitter Gel and CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons – Pink Tones – 75g (2.6oz).

This week I’m making another quilted banner, but it will be one that I’ll be able to display for most of the late winter and into spring. I’ve always wanted to go to Paris, so I chose some sweet fabrics from the FABRIC CREATIONS Fabric Bundle (5pcs) – Summertime Paris – 45 x 53cm (18in x 21in) and two coordinating solids FABRIC CREATIONS 100% Cotton Fabric – Gray – 1.8 x 1m (2yds x 42in) and FABRIC CREATIONS 100% Cotton Fabric – Pink – 1.8 x 1m (2yds x 42″) and I’ll make blocks using foundation paper piecing, regular piecing and fusible applique for my quilted banner.

An assortment of useful quilting products

First, I’ll cut the fabric pieces I need for all the different segments in the quilt.

If you’d like to make your own quilt, the following is what you need.

materials

• 5 fat quarters of coordinating fabrics
• 29” [75cm] solid gray background fabric
• 8” [20cm] solid pink fabric
• crib size quilt batting

1 Press the fabrics.

Fabrics that have been folded into fat quarters and other quilter’s cuts often have significant creases that should be ironed out before you do any cutting. These fat quarters and 2yd cuts are no exception. To get those tough creases out, I’ll use my

BEST PRESS Starch Alternative – 499mL (16.9 oz.) – Scent Free, BEST PRESS Spray and Misting Bottle – 295mL (10 fl. oz.) – Empty and my brand new OLISO PRO^TM TG1600 Pro Plus Smart Iron – Tula Pink^TM.

Iron out any creases before cutting.

2 Cut the fabrics.

From the background (gray) fabric cut the following. WOF means width of fabric.

• 1 – 2½” x WOF strip, sub cut into 9 – 2½” x 2½” squares for letter blocks.
• 2 – 1½” x WOF strips, sub cut into 4 – 1½” x 2½” rectangles and 32 – 1½” squares for letter blocks.
• 3 – 4½” squares – cut in half diagonally for heart blocks.
• 3 – 3½” squares – cut in half diagonally for heart blocks.
• 2 – 3″ squares – cut in half diagonally for heart blocks.
• 1 – 2″ x WOF strip, sub cut into 2 – 2″ x 18½” strips for sashing strips.
• 3 – 2″ x WOF strips, set aside for inner border.

From fat quarter A cut:

• 10 – 2½” x 2½” squares for “X” blocks
• 16 – 1¼” x 1¼” squares for “X” blocks
• 1 – 2½” strip for heart blocks, sub cut into 2 – 2½” x 6″ rectangles and 2 – 2½” x 3″ rectangles.

From fat quarter B cut:

• 4 – 1½” x 2½” rectangles for “O” block
• 4 – 2½” x 2½” squares for “O” block

From fat quarter C cut:

• 1 – 18½” x 7½” rectangle for applique background
• 1 – 2½” strip for heart blocks, sub cut into 2 – 2½” x 6″ rectangles and 2 – 2½” x 3″ rectangles.

From each of fat quarters D and E cut:

• 2 – 2½” strips for heart blocks, sub cut into 4 – 2½” x 6″ rectangles and 4 – 2½” x 3″ rectangles.

To cut the squares in half diagonally, I’ll use my OMNIGRID Ruler – 6″ x 12″ (15.2 x 30.5cm) and my brand new OLFA RTY-2/GP5 – Printed Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm – it’s so pretty and the blade is so sharp. I just need to make sure that the side of the ruler is lined up perfectly with the opposite corners of the square.

Cut squares diagonally to make triangles.

3 Draw diagonal lines.

Before I begin sewing, I’ll draw a diagonal line on the back of all the 1½” squares cut from the background fabric and Fabric A. This will be my sewing line when I’m making the X and O blocks.

Draw a diagonal line on the back of the 1½” squares of fabric.

4 Sew on corner blocks.

Now I’ll piece the X blocks using a very easy way of adding triangles to the corner of a square. First, I’ll take one of the 2½” squares of Fabric B and I’ll pin one 1½” square of background fabric to opposite corners.

Pin two squares to opposite corners of one of the larger squares with right sides together.

Now I’ll stitch along that drawn line and then cut away the excess fabric using my OLFA RTY-2/GP5 – Printed Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm  and UNIQUE Double Sided Cutting Mat – 18″ x 24″ (45 x 60cm) leaving about a ¼” seam allowance.

Cut away the extra fabric using a rotary cutter and mat, leaving a ¼” seam allowance.

Now, I’ll press the seams towards the new corners and get them nice and flat using my Oliso M2Pro Mini Project Iron, and my UNIQUE QUILTING Wool Pressing Mat – 14″ x 14″ – Grey. Now that the corners have been sewn on, I’ll label these all as Unit A.

Press the corners and then label each as Unit A.

I’ll sew one Fabric B 1½” x 2½” rectangles to one of the 1½” x 2½” rectangles of the background fabric and repeat to make four of the same unit. I’ll label each of these as Unit B.

After pressing, label each as Unit B.

5 Assemble the O block.

Now I’ll take all these units and assemble them into the “O” block. First, I’ll sew together one Unit B with two of Unit A then I’ll repeat to make a second and label these as Unit C.

Sew two Unit A and one Unit B together to make one Unit C and repeat to make a second unit the same.

Next, I’ll sew together one 2½” square of background fabric to two of Unit B to make Unit D.

Sew one 2½” square of background fabric to two Unit B to make one Unit D.

Now I’ll sew Units C and Unit D to together to make the “O” block. I’ll press the seams all in one direction using my OLISO PRO^TM TG1600 Pro Plus Smart Iron – Tula Pink^TM.

Sew together the two Unit C to one Unit D to make the completed block.

6 Assemble the X blocks.

Now I’ll make the X block using the same process to sew three marked background fabric squares onto each of the Fabric A 2½” squares to make a total of eight Unit E. I’ll also sew two Fabric A 1½” squares to each background 2½” square to make a total of eight of Unit F.

Make eight Unit E (left) and eight Unit F (right).

Now, I’ll sew four Unit E, four Unit F and one 2½” square of Fabric A together to make one “X” block. Here’s a short video to show you how to do this.

Here’s the finished “X” block. I’ll repeat this process to make a second block.

After sewing together the different units, the block will look like the letter X.

Now all I need to do is to sew these three blocks together to make the XOX row for the quilt. After sewing I’ll press all the seams to one side.

Sew the three letter blocks together to make the bottom of the quilt.

Now that the letter row has been finished, tomorrow I’ll show you how to use HeatnBond Stitch n Sew EZ Print Quilt Block Sheets – 20 pcs – 22 x 28cm (8½″ x 11″) to make paper pieced heart blocks. See you then.

This is part 1 of 5 in this series

Go to part 2: 5 easy steps to make paper pieced heart blocks | Amour Quilted Banner

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