Persia Lou

Creative. Crafty. Fun.

Herringbone Quilts Part One

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One of the big projects I have been working on as part of the larger new kids’ room project is making two twin-sized quilts. I knew that I wanted to make two quilts in the same pattern but different colors – one for my son and one for my daughter. I wanted to do something simple and graphic.

Originally, I was thinking I would do chevron or zig-zag quilts, until I saw this herringbone quilt by Craftyblossom (who makes and sells the MOST amazing quilts. Seriously, check her out.) And I immediately knew I was switching to a herringbone pattern. I had already bought fabric, but it was no big deal, because the herringbone pattern uses half-triangle squares just like a chevron pattern, but just twisted a different way.

It just so happened that my real-life friend and jogging buddy, Christa over at ChristaQuilts, did a whole awesome chevron quilt-a-long on her blog last year, and I used her tutorials to help me get going.
I knew I wanted twin-sized quilts, so I took out my grid paper (wait – is that a thing?) and math brain and tried to figure out how big my squares were going to be and how many I needed to get the finished size I wanted. Christa’s tutorial has you use charm packs of pre-cut squares, which would be totally nice, but I wanted specific colors and I’m cheap so I bought fabric by the yard and cut my own squares. That also meant that I could use larger squares, which equals fewer squares to piece in the end. I used five yards of white fabric and three yards each of coral and teal for both quilt tops. I cut my fabric into 8″ squares – 54 each of the teal and coral and 108 of the white.
To make it crystal clear, here’s the yardage you will need for one twin-size quilt:
Christa’s blog has a super smart tip for how to get half-triangle squares, without actually cutting triangles. By marking the diagonal on one square, sewing two squares together 1/4″ on either side of the diagonal line, and then cutting along the diagonal you marked previously, you will end up with two half-triangle squares. Viola! Hopefully you can see what I mean here:
Here, I have sewn a coral and white square together on either side of the diagonal line that I had previously marked on my white square. Now, I am going to cut along the diagonal which gives me two magically pieced triangle squares. Pretty soon you will have nice big piles of squares ready to be pressed open and pieced together.
I totally recommend having a buddy hang out with you while you work. You can each work on your own project.
To get my finished quilt of 63″x84″, I needed 12 rows of 9 squares each pieced together with a 1/4″ seam. I used the pattern I had drawn out on my grid paper (no – graph paper?) to help me piece my squares together correctly. I tried to be careful to get the orientation right before I stitched, and only had to unpick one! 🙂 Pretty soon, I had two completed quilt tops.
This is about the point where I started to think that maybe I should have just bought some comforters at Target and called it good. The piecing I can do, but the quilting is what intimidates me. But, I sucked it up and got down to work. Next step: Basting!
I made my quilt sandwich: fabric backing, batting (I used cotton), and quilt top. Then pinned them together with safety pins. They have fancy curved quilting safety pins, but I just used regular old safety pins, and I think they worked fine.

Roll her up, and you are ready to start quilting that beast. I’ve never quilted anything this big, and while it is not the easiest thing I’ve done, it is doable.

So, this is where I am spending my spare time right now:

(P.S. A few people have asked me about my sewing machine. I am using the SINGER 9960 Quantum Stylist  for about a year now and really like it.)
I am about halfway done quilting the teal guy and my dear, dear mother is working on quilting the coral one at her place. Hopefully they will be all quilted, bound, and ready to show off soon!
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  5. These are going to be so adorable! Quilting intimidates me a little, but I&#39;m about to give my first one a try. :)<br /><br />xoxo<br />Michelle<br />Ya Gotta Have a Hobby

  7. Alexis, <br />I love these. I saw your finished quilting on fb. I love it! I&#39;m totally obsessed with modern quilts right now. Excellent work!<br />Can&#39;t wait to see that finished retro Disneyland room. I LOVE 1950-60&#39;s Disney. I had a bunch of old Disney posters in my room at BYU. Nerdy to most, but you would have dug it.<br />P.S. This is random, but every time I see Alice in

  10. Awesome! I never thought of a herringbone pattern with triangles! I just did a sort of chevron one in my Etsy shop, but this looks fun!<br /><br />Don&#39;t you just love trying to quilt huge quilts on small machines? lol

  11. Love the quilts and I love how you used contrasting colors/prints for the backing. I just made my first herringbone, and I used much of your tutorial for guidance. I am using your quilting technique because I love the way it follows the herringbone. Anyway – I started mine this morning (it&#39;s a toddler-sized quilt) and it has already reached the point of quilting!!! I love it. 🙂 Thanks for

    • Thanks so much for your kind comments. Small quilts for kids are the best because they work up so quickly. Good luck with the quilting. I hope you just love it when you are all done. I&#39;d love to see it!

  12. I don&#39;t know if my last comment went through. Just wanted to make sure you knew that I absolutely love the quilts you made (I presume for your kids) – the colors and the contrasting printed backings. I just made my first herringbone quilt based mostly on your tutorial. I love the way you chose to quilt it and I am in the process of adding the 1/2 in and 1 in to it.. (already did the 1/4 in on

  13. Thank you so much for this amazing tutorial! My father in law was a missionary pastor, he passed suddenly 14 years ago. We stored his suits this whole time. I decided to make a quilt utilizing them. Wanting something modern yet classic your tutorial was the perfect fit! It turned out great! <br /><br />Thank you for your time to post this!!!

    • Thanks, Tracy! What a great idea for a quilt and a great way to honor your father-in-law and his work! I will go check out your instagram pics right away. 🙂

  15. Hi there, found your blog through Pinterest and LOVE this quilt. I am trying to recreate it as a toddler sized quilt. The problem I seem to be running into is my corners are not lining up. Did you have this problem at all? Any idea of what I may be doing wrong? Thanks!

    • Hi Bekah! Thanks for stopping by!<br /><br />It can be tricky to get the corners to line up perfectly. If they are just a bit off, I would say just go with it. By the time the whole thing is pieced and quilted, I don&#39;t think you will notice. If you look at my tops you will see some less than perfect corners. If it is really bugging you though, I would recommend that you make sure all of your

  16. I am working on a herringbone quilt after seeing your beautiful quilts. I have a question, when piecing after making all the two colored squares, did you then piece the long strips down the quilt, or did you piece across, or big squares? What was your method for attaching all the small two colored squares together?

  18. Hi`,<br />I have never quilted before. But I am obsessed with this quilt. I am clearly missing something. Why do you need more yardage and squares of the white than of the coloured? Don&#39;t you want all the squares to have both colours on them? Or did you do a border?

    • Hi Jacey! I only had twice as much white because I made two quilts. If you are only making one you will need an equal amount of white and your other color. 🙂