Making Waves Quilt Tutorial

with
Jenny Doan

Making Waves Quilt Tutorial

Quilt Size: 45" x 17"
Jenny Doan demonstrates how to make a quick and easy patriotic table runner using yardage and 5 inch squares of precut fabric. For this pretty 4th of July quilt, Jenny chose "America the Beautiful" precuts by Deb Strain for Moda Fabrics.
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video transcript

Hi everybody, it’s Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. And I’ve got a fun project for you and it is this runner right here. Now I know before we get started you’re going to ask me about this quilt behind me. I just thought it would be lovely to hang but we have a pattern on this. It’s called Summer in the Park and we’re going to link to it in the description below. I just thought it made a beautiful backdrop for this darling runner that we are going to make today. We called it Making Waves and it’s just a darling quick runner. It’s a quilt as you go project and so it goes very quickly. I was going to call it Make it in a Morning but you know I thought Making Waves was cuter and it is just really that fast. So this is the block we’re looking at. For the second block we just turned the top and bottom squares so it’s super easy. So to make this quilt you’re going to use one packet of five inch squares. And we have used America the Beautiful by Deb Strain for Moda Fabrics. You’re also going to a half a yard of background fabric and a half a yard for your border. For your backing you’re going to need 1 ½ yards. Also helpful in making this quilt is Quilter’s Select Free Fuse, a bloc loc ruler and our Quilter’s Best Blend batting. 

So the first thing we’re going to do is we’re going to take some background squares, cut them five inches. And we’re going to draw that line. And I have a line drawn on here but I’m going to go ahead and do it again so you can make sure everybody knows that I did it and you can see it. So here’s our line. We’re going to lay that on top of our charm right here. And you’re going to need two charms that are the same to make this whole block. So the block is made up of one center square and then these outer squares are half square triangles so we’re going to stack these just like this. And we’re going to sew on both sides. So let’s do that. And then we’re going to flip this around. Now you can see my presser foot is against the line and I’m sewing on both sides. We’re going to be squaring these to 4 ½. Every block in this block is squared to 4 ½. So you don’t have to be too careful about that quarter of an inch in the center as long as it’s not too, too big. Alright so now we’re going to trim these. And I’m just going to press these open like this. And I’m pressing to the dark side. And then what we’re going to do is we’re just going to use a regular ruler, any ruler that has a 45 you can square it on. And we want to square these to 4 ½. And so I’m going to take my line right here. And I have to start on the one so it squares at 4 ½. So you can see here’s our four right here, here’s our half line right here. And we want to watch that it catches on even the far side down here so we’re going to have to actually square this both directions. So my center 45 is right on that seam. And I’m just going to trim off these edges like this and like this, you know. I use a lot of different tools for squaring things and people are always like, can I just use a normal ruler. Yes you can. So we’re going to do the other side as well. We’re coming in at 4 ½ right here, watching and making sure this lines up, this lines up, this line is still on the 4 ½. And basically we’re just going to kind of shave this edge right here. So that’s just a little bit off of that one. And then we’ve got to do the other one as well. So we’ll go ahead and put it at 4 ½. And sometimes it fits just perfect and you don’t have to trim both sides. Oh this one looks really close. Usually I’m trimming a little on this side and a little on that side. Let’s see what we’ve got here. So again here’s our four to 4 ½. We’re lining, making sure our block is lined up with those lines. Making sure that this stays on that seam. So we’ve got to turn that just a little bit. And then I don’t think I have anything, oop just a tiny bit on there. 

Alright so half of our blocks are going to be this way. And the other half are going to be this way. So it’s going to make that chevron look. So we’re going to go like this and we’re going to go like this. And then this center block right here we also have to cut down to 4 ½. So I’m going to take  my ruler here, line it up on the edges. And we only have to cut on two sides for this one. So we’re cutting here and here. And then we’re going to stick that right in the middle. And that makes your wave. And so you have one block going on way, one block going the other so you’ll make a, you know, however long you want your runner to be. So let’s go ahead and sew this block together right here. So we’ve got to make sure that we keep these going in the right directions. If we don’t then we just have to make another one so that we have enough going each way. So I’m pretty sure this one is still right and then this one is going to go this way. So a key to remembering which way they go is they should go the same direction. This center seam should be pointing the same way. If this one is pointing this way it’s not right so just remember they both go the same way. When you do the other block they’re both going to go the other way. Alright so let’s sew this down. And then we’re going to press these. And then you’re just going to make a pile of these. You’ll have some going one way, some going the other. Now if you make, if you have ten in your table runner, this charm pack will make two table runners which I always love that one five inch pack can make two table runners. Or if you have a really long table like I do, it will make one long runner. 

So once you get all your little pieces done you’re ready to really get into the quilting of it. So what we’re going to do, I’m going to show you, I have this all ready for you here. And I’m going to open this up. And this is our backing and our batting. Now we used, we have this right here, quilter’s best blend. This is a crib batting. There are rarely like perfect sized batting for what you need and so you’ll end up cutting this one. And when you put the blocks down, this is for any quilt as you go product. You want to make sure that you have enough for your border and enough so that in case if you wiggle, you know, you won’t get too lost on it. But this one is crib size so you’re going to cut 19 inches off of the crib size and one of these will make three runners. So that’s kind of good to know. You could also use the bed runner size, you know, if you had the really long one. We have several different types of batting. 

So I’ve got this backing here and I’ve got my whole runner laid out and these are all just pieces. Now one of the things I want you to notice is that I took my sharpie and I took my ruler and I drew a straight line here. When I do quilt as you go I tend to kind of slide down, you know, and my things don’t stay straight. So by drawing a line on here I have a great way to keep my project lined up. So this is 12 ½ inches and I’ve drawn the line on both sides. You can see right here so that I make sure that my pieces stay within the guide. Now another thing that you’ll need to do or that will be helpful to you, on a runner it isn’t so crucial because, you know, batting generally sticks pretty good to the backing. But you want to make sure your backing is a little bigger. And then you can adhese this batting to your backing, several ways. They have basting spray. You can pin it. I like this quilter’s select free fuse. And basically, let me show you how that works because it’s super easy. You’re just basically going to peel your batting back and you’re just going to sprinkle some of this on here like this. And then you’re going to lay this down here and you’re just going to press it and let the heat fuse that. I really like it. There’s no fumes. There’s no, you know, nothing happens. You know, I mean it’s just a great product and easy. And once it gets on there, see then it’s kind of like fused on there and it’s not going to slide around on you which you don’t want it to slide around. So then what I did here was I made a four inch line here because I know I’m going to want to put a border on this one. Now this one I showed you right here. This has no border. But I have another one here that I made long for my table runner and it’s got a border. Look how long this is. It’s crazy long but I have a crazy long table. I had a lot of children to feed and so I love these really long runners. So this is the whole charm pack in this one. And then the other one is just a half a charm pack. So you can make two or one long one, whatever you want. 

Anyway so once you get your batting fused to your backing then you lay your pieces on how you want them. And the first thing we’re going to do is we’re going to line up this one with this line that I’ve drawn right here. And I’m going to sew right here. Now because this is, I want to keep all this together, I’m just going to roll this part right here like this. And this is going to go under the throat of my sewing machine. So when I come over here, I’m going to lift up my presser foot and I’m going to slide this under. Move all the things out of the way. And I’m just going to keep that in a roll like that. And so then what I can do is I make sure this stays lined up. I start at the edge. I’m sewing a quarter of an inch and I’m just going to sew straight down. Now I want to talk a little bit, a lot of people do quilt as you go projects with a walking foot. Please, please use that if you want to. These sewing machines are equipped with a little pin that is in the feed dogs and so you can raise and lower the feed dogs and the strength of that pin. Some of them have this tensioner up here so that you can, it’s your presser foot tension. It’s how hard it holds down on the fabric. And you just want to make sure, if you have a machine and it’s just kind of slipping and sliding through then you may want to check your foot tension and you may want to use a walking foot or whatever. My machine is set up for this kind of stuff and so I’m just going to sew down the side like this. Alright.

So the next thing we’re going to do is we’re going to roll this over a little bit and we’re going to take this next piece and we’re going to lift it off of here. And we are going to fold it over and lay it on here like this. And so basically I’m going to sew a quarter of an inch right down here and I’ve just quilted that first piece because it’s attached to the backing and the batting. And we’re just going to go along here and sew this. You can make sure your little seams interlock so that your pieces stay lined up and then that we stay close to our lines. Alright then we’re going to go here and we’re going to open this up and you can press this, finger press it. You know, whatever is easiest for you and seems to work best and then we’re going to take our next piece and fold it over and we’re going to keep going on this. Now right here you’ll want to nest these little seams where they connect because that’s where our V comes together that makes our waves. We’ve got this one right here. And we’re just going to keep going. We’re going to push this one back. And you want to make sure these stay really nice and flat. I mean it might be worth it to just get up and iron each one. I’m just really making sure they’re nice and flat. And I’m just going to go ahead and keep sewing these one. I make sure that I stay lined up on this top line up here. Oop, see look I’m already kind of, you know, sliding a little bit. I tend to do that when I sew so I do know what I have to watch out for as you probably do when you sew as well. And I’m just going to go under here and sew this down. Now we are just going to keep going along and sewing this down all the way along and as soon as I’m finished I’ll just meet you right back here. 

We’re here at the last one and I want to show you one more time how I nest these seams. So here we go. I’m going to put these and on, now see these two seams right here will nest and these up here will also nest. And so I’m going to keep this right up here. I can feel with my fingers that there’s no fabric in between. And then this one I’m going to just make that fit right there. And you know, I’ll nest this down and then I come down here and I get this one nested before I sew and so then it’s nested. And then we’re down here and we sew right to the bottom. Alright so now you can see what we’ve got here. This is our whole big quilt. And you can see it shrinks up when you sew. But this is two, four, six, eight, ten of these and so that’s half the charm pack. And then we’re ready to add our border. 

Now when you add your borders, the cool thing about this is let me show you right here. So see how this, you can see that it’s all sewn. You can see the stitch lines. It’s all quilted through on the back. And we don’t have to worry that, you know, we don’t have to send this off to the quilter. This is going to be great for a table. So you could actually trim this out right along here, right along the edge and just put a binding on it. Or you can add a border. Now if you want to add a border, you’re going to do it exactly the same way. We’re just going to take our little border piece right here and we’re going to add one piece here at the end. And you’re just going to lay it on here and sew it down a quarter of an inch  and flip it back. So let’s go add one of these on the end so you can see how I do that. 

First thing I’m going to cut off this little selvedge right here. And I am going to roll this back up and stick it back under there just like this. And then I like to sew from this way so I’m going to make sure that this is lined up right along the edge. I did sew a quarter of an inch on this. So I’m probably going to come in, I want to call it a fat quarter of an inch so that I cover up my first stitch line. And I’m just going to lay this on here and sew this across there. You can cut your pieces if you want. I tend to just cut them after I’m done. Alright so then we can just clip this off right here. And then this part, you see we have that very first little border on there. So it’s going to be the same. For the sides I’ll do the ends first and then the sides so let’s go ahead and put all our borders on. And I’m going to come down here to this end down here. And I’ve got this piece and because I know that this is all extra, I’m just going to go ahead and trim this off. So let me move some of these things out of the way. I’ll grab my ruler. I’m remembering that I need about four inches for my border. And so I’m just going to go ahead and trim this off right here because that will just save me some wiggle room and some bulk. And we’re going to put our border on this way like this, slide this under here. Lay it on there and again I just love these projects where you quilt it and it’s done. Alright, let’s trim that. 

Now what I’m going to do next is I’m going to look at how long this side is if I need to sew these pieces together or if I can do it with one piece. So let’s take a look at that. I’ve got to come up here, go all the way down here. Oh my gosh, look at this you guys. It’s just like perfect almost so let’s go ahead, we only need one for that. So what I’m going to do is I’m going to cut off my selvedge. I don’t want that up here. And I think I’m going to go ahead and press this border down just to make sure it’s laying nice and flat. And now I’m ready to add that border to the next side right  here. And so, see how this right here, this is cut a little wonky. It’s not going to matter because I am going to put this on my line and come straight across on that line. And I’m just going to sew that down the side. So I’m going to add this on here like this and come over, make sure that I’m covering up the top of my runner. We’re going to sew right down the side. There we go. Alright let’s take a look at that. That’s looking pretty good. Now I’ll add the other piece to the other side. Let me go ahead and trim off this selvedge. Alright I’m going to lay this one on here just like this. And we are going to sew right down this edge. Make sure I stay lined up with the bottom of my runner. Making sure those runner pieces stay nice and flat. And they really can’t help it because they are sewn down. I’m going to keep going here. And just like that our table runner is ready to go. We’re just going to iron down these borders and so I’m just going to pull this across here and catch each side, ironing across the middle as I go. There we go. And now we’re going to trim it up so it’s ready to bind. 

And you don’t often get to see us trim up a quilt. So I thought I would show you how I do that. And so what I’m going to do is I’m going to lay this on here like this. And when I trim a quilt I use parts of the quilt to measure it by. And so what I’m doing is I’m looking at my border right here. And I’m looking at this line right here. So when you pull a quilt, you know, that border can do this a little bit. But this line is going to stay pretty even so I’m going to pull it down here to the bottom. And I’m going to start my cut right here and I’m just going to follow this all the way up like this, keep pulling it down. And then, almost lost my ruler there. And just keep lining this up with this line. A little more up here. There we go. There we are.  Alright. Now we’re going to turn it and do the same thing on the ends. And you can see, you know, I have a little bit of my border sticking out out here. It’s not going to matter because we are just going to trim that off. Then we’re going to come down the other side. Here is this. Remember what line you’ve had it on. I’ve got it on the 2 ½ which means I started with a three inch border strip. And you can see if I can do this right on here while we’re having a tutorial. I mean this is a great thing to do even if you have to do it the night before. I mean you’re going to be able to get this done because then you can just put your binding on it and just, you know, you’ll be ready by the morning. It won’t take you any time at all to bind this. Make sure I’m straight here. And there we go. And how fast is that? 

How cool is that? It’s so quick and easy and it’s already all quilted. We don’t have to send it away to the quilter. It’s one and done and ready to go. Again I want to show you these other ones. Here’s the big one. This is what size you get if you put all your pieces from the charm pack in one runner. You’re going to get a really long runner. And if you don’t want to add a border and you don’t want to go to that trouble it’s just as cute. I mean you can do it like this as well. So lot’s of options with this. Quick and easy idea. Quilt as you go and we hope you enjoyed this tutorial on Making Waves from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

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