Fun with stripes- Quilting Tutorial

Probably many of us like using strip piecing in our quilts.
But how about using striped fabrics ? Instead of piecing strips use some striped fabrics...

Lately I have played a little more with such fabrics and I love them. And I love even more what I can make with them.

The fabric I used for this tutorial is a heavy cotton canvas from Ikea. My recent obsession is making bags (you can see my collection ) and this is a nice fabric for bags.


I always prewash these fabrics because they shrink.
Pre-wash your fabrics with much care to not distort the stripes. Don't use steam for pressing.
If you use quilting fabric and usually pre-wash them do that with the same care.

So, what can we do with these fabrics ? Let's see...

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Cut a square then cut it on both diagonals

From two squares we can make two blocks like these

Using 2 green squares and 2 red squares

from half of the triangles we can make these 2 blocks

or these ones


and using the other half ( see the placement of the white stripes on these triangles)

we can make one of these three blocks ( hard to choose just one ! )

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The next two methods apply for fabrics with stripes of the same width.

From a long strip cut rectangles;
the width of a rectangle = the width of a strip +0.5" (for seam allowances) ;
offset the rectangles and sew them together.

Place the ruler 0.25" away from the points and cut

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Using more than two stripes

I forgot to add seam allowances and the diamonds are not perfect...

The method described above is called Seminole patchwork.
Many variations can be created by changing the number of the strips (stripes), the angles of the cuts and the way the pieces are sewn together.

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Making octagons

I used a triangle ruler ( Kaleidoscope ruler from Quilt in a day) to cut the triangles.

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Cut two squares and cut them on the opposite diagonals.
Set aside the inner triangles and piece them to make squares.
Repeat with the outer triangles.

These quarter blocks can be arranged in this way:

I used this method for this quilt

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Making fans
I use a 15 degree fan ruler

If we don't close the circle, we can make a beautiful tree skirt.
(cut a larger circle in the center if needed)
Quilt and bind around the edges.

I will make a bag :)

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But how about beautiful quilting fabrics like this one ?

How to cut these quarter triangles using a rectangle ruler.
May I say that I am a fan of Creative Grids rulers ?

Align the 45 degree marking line of the ruler with the edge of the fabric and cut.

Rotate the ruler, align the other 45 degree marking with the edge of the fabric;
keep the already cut edge of the triangle parallel with a marking line of the ruler.

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Making hexagons -
using 60 degree triangles with three equal sides

Use the rectangle ruler in a similar manner as we used above.
This time align the edge of the fabric with the 60 degree marking of the ruler.

These 60 degree triangles can be also cut using this triangle ruler.

I will combine all the pieces I sewn for this tutorial with some solid colors and the original stripe fabrics and I will use the new pieces for making some new bags.

I hope this tutorial is helpful for some of you.

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Would you like to try something new ?  

 Retro Fun bags

Pockets with Love - fabric origami

Building Fun quilt

 Nina's Garden quilt