This is a Patch Quilt – NOT a patchwork quilt, lol. Earlier this year my sister in law gave me my brother’s patch collection and asked me to make a quilt with it for his birthday. Apparently, he’s been collecting patches from every state he visits (plus Canada) as well as others like ‘Elvis.’
It took me a long time to figure out what to do with the patches. At first I thought I might do a patchwork quilt, with a square or triangle for each patch, but in the end I decided that would be too busy.
I auditioned several fabrics and decided this navy print from Cotton + Steel looked best with the patches. I hung the fabric on my design board and let my kids decide where all the patches would go. Once they were all pinned to the fabric, I sewed them on using invisible thread.
Using my free motion quilting foot with my feed dogs down, I sewed around each patch with a zig zag stitch. Did you know you could do that? It was the easiest way to sew the edges of all the patches. I travelled in between the patches with the invisible thread. After quilting it barely showed
This quilt is so heavy! The patches weigh a ton. It would have been really hard to quilt sitting at my sewing machine, so I put it on the Grace Frame and quilted it that way with my Juki. I quilted a geometric wandering pattern on the borders and pebbles in between the patches.
After binding. 🙂
I love how it turned out, but it’s not very cuddly. How could it be with over a hundred stiff patches? His birthday is coming up soon and I can’t wait to hear what he thinks.
So, what have you been sewing up this week? Did you make something with one of my free sewing tutorials or patterns? I would love to see! Tag me on Instagram @sewcanshe.
Sew an organizer covered with pockets that you can hang in your closet! This easy sewing project is great for organizing sewing and craft supplies, fashion accessories, bathroom necessities, gift wrappings, and more. There are pockets on both sides plus a big interior pocket so every bit of space is used. I’ll show you easy step by step instructions for sewing this organizer and putting it to use in your home. Get sew organized today.
Are you sewing a Closet Organizer with me? I hope so! This is Part 2 of our free sewing tutorial for an amazing organizer with a coat hanger inside so you can hang it anywhere.
If you are getting started, make sure you start at Part 1 of the free pattern.
Be a basketmaker! Sure, you can sew, but did you know that you can make amazing baskets too using your sewing machine, some fabric and the same materials that you use for your other projects?
Have you fallen in love with Quilt as You Go yet? It’s a fun technique for quilts, of course, but I’m having lots of fun using it for pouches and tote bags too.
I’m so excited to share with you the pattern for our first mini quilt of 2018… Flora! This beautiful little quilt was designed by the very talented Lauren of Molly & Mama…
At my daughter Chloe’s high school (can you believe my baby started high school???), the lunch lines are so long that she has been skipping lunch! She’s always starving by the time she gets home because she doesn’t want to carry a big lunch bag as well as her heavy backpack – poor girl!
Looking for free table runner patterns? I gathered up all my favorites in one place – here are free quilt patterns for table runners for fall, winter, spring and summer!
I am so in love with the beautiful look of simple patchwork quilts with lots of squares. This is the perfect way to use up fabric scraps like I did, or you can make a beautifully coordinated quilt with pre-cut 2 1/2’’ square fabric pieces that come in mini-charm packs.
I’m also in love with the process. If you feel like quilt making is your escape from the world and sitting down to sew for a few hours makes your troubles fade away… this is the quilt for you!
Sew an easy beautiful apron with this free sewing pattern that only uses one yard of fabric! Whether you are sewing for yourself or for a friend, an apron always comes in handy and makes a great gift. This blog post includes a link to a free template that I digitized for you.
Disclosure: some of my posts contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of those links I may receive a small commission, so thank you for supporting SewCanShe when you shop! All of the opinions are my own and I only suggest products that I actually use. 🙂
Let’s talk about color value. Harnessing the power of color value can make key elements in your quilts really pop! It can make your quilts go from ok to amazing. Here’s a free pattern for a Pinwheel mini quilt, plus lots of tips for using color value to make all your quilts showstoppers!
Sew an adorable modern baby quilt with sailboat blocks and a gorgeous ocean pieced with quarter square triangles! This easy baby quilt pattern includes tips for sewing fast and easy half square triangles and quarter square triangles. It’s perfect for a girl or a boy, because everyone loves sailboats.
Learn to sew a big easy Half Square Triangle block! The HST (half square triangle) unit is found in many patchwork quilts. Sometimes a bunch of half square triangle units are sewn to make a single quilt block, and sometimes…
This is the year of the gnomes! Put an adorable gnome on your table (actually two gnomes, one on either end!) with this easy to sew table runner. A new table runner like this is sure to liven up any room because this little guy will look awesome on a sideboard or even over your piano too!
Can you believe it’s December already? I am so excited to share a mini quilt designed by Christopher Thompson (The Tatooed Quilter). He is so talented and so much fun to be around that I can’t wait to share his work with all of you.
I, too have a bazillion patches I’ve collected from places I’ve been, and have been wondering for years what to do with them. I’ve toyed with the idea of making a large US shaped "innard" with the states outlined, so I can sew the patches to each state. I knew it would have to be a wall hanging, because there’s no way these patches will bend well. Nice job!
Joann fabrics had a panel of the map of the world, earlier this fall.
A friend is doing what you wondered , patches placed near the places they were purchased. It’s stunning.
When my oldest son was deployed for the first time, a group of us parents and spouses, got together and made a quilt. We had a professional embroiderer enlarge the Army patches that belonged to that section of the Army. I made the quilt by attaching these huge patches to a background, then layering and quilting it myself. It was donated to Ft. Campbell, but was stolen from there Dec 2010. Is there a way of posting a pic here? I don’t want to link to my FB page, and I don’t have a blog. It’s already on a missing quilt site, but I have to update my email for that. The link is – https://lostquilt.com/2012/status/missing/rakkasan-quilt/ The quilt is 101" x 101"
Wow! What an amazing quilt!
Really lovely. Well done
I, too have a bazillion patches I’ve collected from places I’ve been, and have been wondering for years what to do with them. I’ve toyed with the idea of making a large US shaped "innard" with the states outlined, so I can sew the patches to each state. I knew it would have to be a wall hanging, because there’s no way these patches will bend well. Nice job!
Joann fabrics had a panel of the map of the world, earlier this fall.
A friend is doing what you wondered , patches placed near the places they were purchased. It’s stunning.
Great idea!
When my oldest son was deployed for the first time, a group of us parents and spouses, got together and made a quilt. We had a professional embroiderer enlarge the Army patches that belonged to that section of the Army. I made the quilt by attaching these huge patches to a background, then layering and quilting it myself. It was donated to Ft. Campbell, but was stolen from there Dec 2010. Is there a way of posting a pic here? I don’t want to link to my FB page, and I don’t have a blog. It’s already on a missing quilt site, but I have to update my email for that. The link is – https://lostquilt.com/2012/status/missing/rakkasan-quilt/ The quilt is 101" x 101"