The Easiest 3 Yard Quilt Pattern Ever!

Make your first quilt or your 100th quilt with this super easy pattern that only requires 3 yards of fabric! 3 Yard Quilts are the latest trend in quilting. They cost less to make, are often really quick to sew, and a quilt like this is easy to quilt on a home sewing machine. This quilt pattern is perfect for showcasing your favorite large scale prints because of the big 11” blocks.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The free Easiest 3 Yard Quilt Pattern Ever is included in the blog post below and is free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The Optimized for Printing PDF download for $3 is optional. Did you know you can get ALL the Optimized for Printing PDF files organized in a library to access anytime you want? 

How Big is a 3-yard Quilt?

This particular quilt finishes at 54” x 65”, which is my largest 3-yard quilt pattern. It’s an excellent throw-size quilt. You’ll have enough fabric to finish the quilt top, including 2 borders. More fabric is required for the binding and quilt back.

Most 3-yard quilts are throw quilts or lap quilts because they don’t require very much fabric. Many would also make a darling baby quilt. Since this type of quilt isn’t very big, you can finish it quickly and give it as a gift or use it in your home. Because of the size, throw quilts like this one are easy to quilt using straight line quilting, wavy line, or crosshatch quilting with your sewing machine’s walking foot.

This quilt pattern includes four-patch quilt blocks, plain quilt blocks, 2-patch rectangular blocks, and plain rectangular blocks. Your main ‘focus fabric’ can make the plain blocks really pop, and the coordinating or darker fabric will make a secondary pattern in the background.

If you love to use your AccuQuilt fabric cutter like I do, you can use the strip cutting dies to cut the borders. The squares and rectangles in this quilt are not included on standard AccuQuilt dies. See all my Accuquilt-friendly quilts.

How to Choose the Right 3 Yards of Fabric

All my 3 Yard Quilt Patterns make it really easy to pick your fabric. First, find a beautiful ‘focus fabric’ in your stash or at your local quilt shop. For this one, I picked a large scale floral print from a collection named Eden from Windham fabrics.

After you have chosen your focus fabric, choose one coordinating fabric that is lighter and one coordinating fabric that is medium value or darker. My coordinating fabrics are Moda Grunge prints.

Wouldn’t this quilt pattern in earthy fall colors too? I almost made this quilt with a medium value coordinating fabric, and I think that would have looked gorgeous too.

I used my EQ8 Quilt Design Software to see what this quilt would look like using the Hibernation collection from Tilda. It makes me want to snuggle up on the couch with someone!

If you follow these instructions for choosing your fabrics, you can’t go wrong, and you probably already have 3 fabrics in your stash that will make a beautiful quilt.

The Easiest Free Three Yard Quilt Pattern Ever

This free quilt pattern includes instructions for a four-patch quilt block. You’ll also make some partial blocks (just 2 patches) to go on the sides of the quilt. All the rest of the blocks are plain so you can show off that gorgeous focus print you’ve been saving!

Including the borders, this finished throw quilt is 54” x 65”. It’s perfect for snuggling on the couch, gifting to a friend, or donating to a worthy organization.

Let’s get creative and sew a beautiful quilt today!

Important note: This pattern squeezes as much as possible out of each yard of fabric. The two coordinating fabrics require all 36” of length. The width of each piece must have 42” of usable fabric. Most fabric printed in the last 5-10 years will work great because it’s 44” wide, including the selvages so it is 42-43” wide after you cut off the selvage. Please measure the length and width of your fabric pieces before getting started to make sure and follow the cutting charts below carefully.

You will need:

• 3 one-yard cuts of fabric (a main focus fabric, one darker fabric, and one lighter fabric)*
• a rotary cutter acrylic ruler, and mat
• sewing machine
• thread (I suggest thread matching the lighter fabric)
• ironing board and iron

To sew the quilt top into a finished quilt, you will also need:

• 3 3/8 yards of backing fabric (or enough to piece together a 59” x 70” or larger quilt back)
• a piece of quilt batting at least 59” x 70”
• 1/2 yard of fabric for the binding

Cutting:

Fabric A is your focus fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 7 squares 11 1/2” x 11 1/2”
• 6 rectangles 11 1/2” x 6”

Fabric B is the coordinating medium value or darker fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 20 squares 6” x 6”
• 6 strips 3” x 42” for the outer border

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• The border strips may be cut with the 3” strip cutter die 55084. More fabric will be required if using the AccuQuilt die.

Fabric C is the lighter fabric. From this fabric, cut:

• 20 squares 6” x 6”
• 5-6 strips 3” x 42” for the inner border (depending on the width of your fabric)*

*I suggest cutting 5 inner border strips to start, and then cut one more if you need it. My fabric was 44” wide, so I did not require a 6th strip for my inner border.

Optional Accuquilt cutting instructions:

• The border strips may be cut with the 3” strip cutter die 55084. More fabric will be required if using the AccuQuilt die.

Quilt Piecing

Use an accurate or scant 1/4’’ seam allowance, according to preference and finished block accuracy for your sewing machine

1. Sew all 6” Fabric B squares to a 6” Fabric C square, right sides together. Press the seam toward the darker fabric.

Make 20 2-patch pieces.

2. Sew two 2-patch pieces together to make a 4-patch block. Repeat to make eight 4-patch blocks. You will have four 2-patch pieces leftover. Press the seam open or to one side, as desired.

Assemble the Easiest 3 Yard Quilt Top Ever

1. Arrange two 11 1/2” x 6” Fabric A rectangles, two 4-patch blocks, and one 11 1/2” Fabric A square into a row as shown. Sew with a 1/4” seam allowance. Press the seams toward the Fabric A pieces.

Make 3 rows like this

2. Arrange two 2-patch pieces, two 11 1/2” Fabric A squares, and one 4-patch block into a row as shown. Sew with a 1/4” seam allowance. Press the seams toward the Fabric A pieces.

Make 2 rows like this.

3. Sew the five rows together in an alternating pattern as shown.

Measure and Sew the Inner Border

1. Sew five 3” strips of the light fabric (Fabric C) together to make one long strip. You will cut pieces from this to make the inner border.

The expected length of the side border pieces is 55 1/2”. I highly recommend measuring the quilt top and cutting all border pieces to the correct size. See how to cut the correct size quilt borders. Attach the side borders.

2. The expected length of the top and bottom border pieces is 49 1/2”. Measure your quilt and cut two strips for the top and bottom border. Attach the top and bottom border pieces.

If you need extra fabric for the outer border, you can cut one more 3” tall strip.

Measure and Sew the Outer Border

1. Sew all six 3” Fabric A strips together to make one long strip. You will cut pieces from this to make the outer border.

The expected length of the side border pieces is 60 1/2”. Measure the quilt top with the inner border and cut two strips for the side edges. Attach the side borders.

2. The expected length of the top and bottom second border pieces is 54 1/2”. Measure your quilt top with the inner border and cut two strips for the top and bottom edges. Attach the top and bottom border pieces.

Finishing the Easiest Three Yard Quilt Pattern Ever

1. Cut or piece together a 59” x 70” or larger piece of quilt backing fabric and make a quilt sandwich with the backing, batting, and top.

2. Baste together with fusible batting, pins or basting spray.

3. Quilt as desired. Straight line quilting or cross hatch quilting with your walking foot would be fast and easy. Trim away the extra backing fabric and batting.

4. Cut 6 binding strips and bind using your favorite method. This is my favorite quilt binding method.

As always, I love seeing the quilts you make with my free sewing patterns. Please post a picture to Instagram and tag me @sewcanshe so I can take a look!

xoxo,