Today I am sharing the final instalment of the Rainbow Kisses quilt. I hope that you enjoyed sewing the centre applique panel, which I shared HERE. If you would like to catch up and sew this pretty quilt, you can find the first instalment HERE.
BEFORE STARTING Always Remember to:
1. Read all instructions before you begin.
2. RST means right sides together.
3. All seam allowances are 1/4”.
4. FWOF means width of fabric.
5. If you need help, please do get in touch!
To complete your quilt top, you need to first decide on your lay out...... are you going to go for a scrappy random look, like this.........
or perhaps a more orderly lay out like this.......
To complete, the instructions are the same for both options, you will just vary the positioning of your 9 patch blocks accordingly.
You will need to cut:
From your Background Fabric:
(84) 5" squares
(8) 2" x 32" rectangles
(12) 2" squares
(4) 2" x 5" rectangles
(8) 5" x FWOF rectangles
From a grey fabric:
(4) 2" x 32" rectangles
(4) 2" squares
(4) 2" x 3 1/2" rectangles
Right..... lets get sewing!
First off, we're going to construct the Inner 9 Patch borders. Using the reference diagrams of the completed quilt above as a guide (Random or Orderly), layout the inner 9 patch units and (12) Background fabric 5" squares into a Top, Bottom, Left and Right side border.
With RST sew the units together. Remember to use a 1/4" seam allowance and as usual I had Aurifil 50wt in #2311 in my machine.
Press the stitches to 'set' them , then press with the seams open.
The Left and Right Side units should measure 5" x 23"
The Top and Bottom units should measure 5" x 32"
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Next, we're going to add the units to the Applique Centre.
With RST, pin and sew the Left and Right side borders. Press on top of the stitches to ‘set’ them, then press the seams open.
With RST, pin and sew the Top and Bottom borders. Press on top of the stitches to ‘set’ them, then press the seams open.
The Centre unit should measure 32" x 32”.
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Now for the Grey Stripe border. Lay out (2) Background and (1) Grey 2" x 32" rectangles as shown in the diagram below.
With RST sew the 3 rectangles together. Press on top of the stitches to ‘set’ them, then press the seams open.
This unit should measure 5" x 32".
Repeat with the remaining Background and Grey 2" x 32" rectangles to make 4 units in total.
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For the Grey Stripe Corner blocks, layout a (1) 2" x 5" Background rectangle, (3) 2" Background square units, (1) 2" x 3 1/2" Grey rectangle and (1) 2" Grey square as shown in the diagram below.
First sew in to 3 rows and then, sew the rows together. Press the stitches to 'set' them , then press with all the seams open. The completed Corner unit should measure 5" square.
Repeat to make a total of 4 Corner blocks.
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With RST, sew the Corner blocks to (2) of the Grey Stripe units as shown.
These units should measure 5" x 41".
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Next, we're going to add the Grey Stripe units to the Centre unit.
With RST, pin and sew the Left and Right side borders. Press on top of the stitches to ‘set’ them, then press the seams open.
With RST, pin and sew the Top and Bottom borders. Press on top of the stitches to ‘set’ them, then press the seams open.
The Centre unit should measure 41" x 41”.
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Moving on to the 9 Patch Outer borders. As you did for the Inner 9 Patch borders, using the reference diagrams of the completed quilt above as a guide (Random or Orderly), layout the 9 Patch units and remaining (72) Background fabric 5" squares into a Top, Bottom, Left and Right side border.
With RST sew the units in to rows and then the rows together. Press the stitches to 'set' them , then press with the seams open.
The Left and Right Side units should measure 41" x 14"
The Top and Bottom units should measure 41" x 68"
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With RST, pin and sew the Top and Bottom borders. Press on top of the stitches to ‘set’ them, then press the seams open.
The Centre unit should measure 68" x 68”.
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Finally, for the outer Background fabric border, sew (2) 5" x FWOF rectangles together. Subcut this to yield (1) 5" x 68" rectangle.
Repeat to yield a second 5" x 68" rectangle.
Repeat the process again a further two times to yield (2) 5" x 77" rectangles.
With RST, pin and sew the Left and Right side borders. Press on top of the stitches to ‘set’ them, then press the seams open.
With RST, pin and sew the Top and Bottom borders. Press on top of the stitches to ‘set’ them, then press the seams open.
The quilt top should measure 77" square.
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To complete your quilt, sandwich the batting/wadding between the backing fabric and the quilt top. Baste. I use a spray glue baste but you can pin or tack the three layers together.
Machine or Hand Quilt as desired. You could choose an all over quilt design or alternatively if you fancy hand quilting, I would first quilt in a cross hatch through all the 9 patches. Then in a square following the grey stripe border and then for the centre applique, I would shadow quilt around all the applique shapes approx. 1/8" from the applique edges.
Once quilted trim away the excess batting & backing.
Finally, add the binding.
I hope that you have enjoyed sewing your Rainbow Kisses Quilt and enjoyed this FREE pattern..... a little happy thank you from me to you!
Happy Stitches
