Easy Twin Size Quilt Pattern – The Wrapped Candy Quilt

Sew a beautiful twin-size quilt faster than you thought possible with strip piecing techniques and big, easy quilt blocks. This free quilt pattern can be perfect for anyone on your list by changing the fabrics. The generous twin dimensions make it perfect for a kid moving to a twin bed, a college student, or a tall person snuggling on your couch.

First, I’ll show you a shortcut method for making bunches of four-patch blocks to make our first block. The second block in this an easy snowball block. You’ll love this 70” x 94” geometric quilt pattern.

Sew through your fabric stash with all my free quilt patterns.

I chose a cream fabric for my background and four brightly colored Tula Pink fabrics for the candy pieces. Another great thing about this quilt is that you can use up 1/2 yard pieces in your fabric stash for the 4 different colors of candy! Scroll down to see it in dark colors.

If you are searching for a big easy quilt pattern, you have to see some of these other free quilt patterns:

• The big Super Star Quilt Pattern (it’s 60” x 80”)
• My Modern Log Cabin Quilt (this is a generous 70” x 84” twin size quilt)
• The Fat Quarter Fancy Star Quilt Pattern (queen size!)

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The free Wrapped Candy Twin Quilt Pattern 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 for you to access anytime you want? Check it out.

I wrote this quilt pattern because I needed to make a twin quilt really fast, but I think it’s great because it’s:

• Fast and easy patchwork
• Perfect for a beginner quilter
• Great for a last-minute going-to-college or birthday gift
• For more experienced quilters, there’s lots of negative space to quilt in
• It would look beautiful with straight-line quilting or easy cross-hatch quilting, too.

The Wrapped Candy Quilt contains:

• 18 blocks with 4-patches of each color
• 17 snowball quilt blocks
• half-blocks around the edges
• 4-patches in the corners.

Look how striking it could be in dark gray, black, and red fabrics! If you make this, use dark gray background fabric, 1 yard of red instead of pink and light turquoise fabrics, and 1 yard of black instead of yellow and purple fabrics. 

How to Sew the Wrapped Candy Quilt

Finished quilt dimensions: 70’’ x 90’’. Finished block size: 12” x 12”.

You will need:

• 5 yards of background fabric (mine is cream colored)
• 1/2 yard pink fabric
• 1/2 yard yellow fabric
• 1/2 yard purple fabric
• 1/2 yard light turquoise
• 3/4 yard binding fabric
• 5 1/2 yards of backing fabric, or enough to piece together a 75” x 95” quilt back piece
• a 75” x 95” piece of quilt batting
• a rotary cutter, acrylic ruler, and mat
• sewing machine
• thread (I suggest thread matching the background fabric)

Cutting:

From each 1/2 yard of print fabric, cut:

• 4 strips 3” x 42” (for strip piecing the 4-patches)
• 24 squares 3” x 3” (for the sashing squares)

From the background fabric, cut:

• 16 strips 3” x 42”
• 46 strips 2 1/2” x 5 1/2”
• 18 strips 2 1/2” x 12 1/2”
• 17 squares 12 1/2” x 12 1/2” (for the snowball quilt blocks)
• 14 rectangles 5 1/2” x 12 1/2” (for the half-snowball quilt blocks)

Binding fabric:

• cut 8-9 strips 2 1/2” x width of fabric (42’’)

Make 4-Patch Quilt Blocks

Use a 1/4’’ seam allowance and a short stitch length such as 1.5-2.

Make 24 4-Patch Blocks of each color

1. Place a 3” x 42 background fabric strip and a 3” x 42” print fabric strip right sides together. Sew along one long edge. Open and press the seam toward the darker fabric.

Repeat 4 times for each different color of print fabric. You’ll have 16 strip sets.

2. Trim the ends of the strip sets to make them even. Cut each strip set into 12-13 pieces that are 3’’ wide.

Cut 48 2-patch pieces of each color.

3. Sew two pieces together as shown above to make a 4-patch block. Press the seams to the side or open, as desired.

Make 24 4-patch blocks in each color.

Make 18 Candy Blocks and 14 Half-Blocks

Use a 1/4” seam allowance. Pay close attention to the color and orientation of 4-patch blocks when sewing them together.

1. Sew a pink and a purple four-patch block together with a 2 1/2” x 5 1/2” background fabric strip in between. Note the orientation of the 4-patch blocks. Press.

Make 20 pieces. 18 of these are for making blocks, and 2 will be half-blocks for the top edge of the quilt.

2. Sew a light turquoise and a yellow four-patch block together with a 2 1/2” x 5 1/2” background fabric strip in between. Note the orientation of the 4-patch blocks. Press.

Make 20 pieces. 18 of these are for making blocks, and 2 will be half-blocks for the bottom edge of the quilt.

3. Sew one of each piece together with a 2 1/2” x 12 1/2” background fabric strip in between. Press.

Make 18 blocks.

3. Sew a purple and a light turquoise four-patch block together with a 2 1/2” x 5 1/2” background fabric strip in between. Note the orientation of the 4-patch blocks. Press.

Make 3 pieces. These are the half-blocks for the right side of the quilt.

4. Sew a yellow and a pink four-patch block together with a 2 1/2” x 5 1/2” background fabric strip in between. Note the orientation of the 4-patch blocks. Press.

Make 3 pieces. These are the half-blocks for the left side of the quilt.

You should have one four-patch block left over in each color. These are for the corners of the quilt.

How to Make the Snowball Quilt Blocks and Half-Blocks

Use a 1/4’’ seam allowance.

1. Draw a diagonal line across the wrong side of all of the 3” x 3” print fabric squares. This is a stitching line.

2. Place one 3” x 3” square of each color 3” x 3” right sides together at the corners of a 12 1/2” x 12 1/2” background fabric square. The diagonal lines should dissect the corners of the block. Pin the smaller squares in place.

Pay close attention to the placement of each color square against the background fabric. Each snowball block must have this exact color order: yellow, light turquoise, purple, pink (clockwise from top left).

3. Stitch across the corner of each block along the lines marked on the smaller squares.

4. Trim away the extra fabric 1/4” past the seam.

Open the snowball corners and press.

Repeat to make 17 snowball quilt blocks.

5. Sew a purple square and a pink square to a 5 1/2” x 12 1/2” background fabric rectangle to make snowball corners as shown. Trim away the extra fabric 1/4” past the seam and press.

Make 3. These are the half-snowball blocks for the top of the quilt.

6. Sew a yellow square and a light turquoise square to a 5 1/2” x 12 1/2” background fabric rectangle to make snowball corners as shown. Trim away the extra fabric 1/4” past the seam and press.

Make 3. These are the half-snowball blocks for the bottom of the quilt.

7. Sew a light turquoise square and a purple square to a 5 1/2” x 12 1/2” background fabric rectangle to make snowball corners as shown. Trim away the extra fabric 1/4” past the seam and press.

Make 4. These are the half-snowball blocks for the right side of the quilt.

8. Sew a pink square and a yellow square to a 5 1/2” x 12 1/2” background fabric rectangle to make snowball corners as shown. Trim away the extra fabric 1/4” past the seam and press.

Make 4. These are the half-snowball blocks for the left side of the quilt.

Make the Wrapped Candy Quilt Rows

This quilt has 9 rows. Make each row exactly as shown. Use a 1/4” seam allowance.

ROW 1. Sew together:

• 2 four-patch blocks (purple and pink)
• 3 half-snowball blocks (purple and pink)
• 2 half-wrapped candy blocks (purple and pink)

ROWS 2, 4, 6 AND 8. Sew together:

• 1 half-snowball block (pink and yellow)
• 3 wrapped candy blocks (note orientation)
• 2 snowball blocks (note orientation)
• 1 half-snowball block (light turquoise and purple)

ROWS 3, 5, AND 7. Sew together:

• 1 half-wrapped candy block (yellow and pink)
• 3 snowball blocks (note orientation)
• 2 wrapped candy blocks (note orientation)
• 1 half-wrapped candy block (purple and light turquoise)

Sew the Rows Together

1. Sew the 9 quilt rows together using a 1/4” seam allowance. Press.

Finishing the Wrapped Candy Quilt Pattern

1. Cut or piece together a 75’’ x 95’’ piece of 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.

I used quilting designs by Karlee Porter.

4. Cut 8 or 9 (as needed) binding strips and bind using your favorite method. This is my favorite quilt binding method.

xoxo,