How to Sew a Checked Quilt (with Ombre Fabric too) easy quilt pattern

Looking for a fast and easy modern quilt pattern? This buffalo check style patchwork quilt tutorial is the best! Using just 5’’ squares, you’ll be able to piece together this simple yet stunning quilt in just a few hours. At nearly 50’’ x 60’’, it’s the perfect size for snuggling on the couch or curling up in your favorite reading spot.

This blog post has been converted to an optional PDF that’s optimized for printing. Find it here. The blog post below is totally free to read, print, and sew! Just hit CTRL +P on your computer to print. The PDF download is inexpensive and optional.

It’s easy to sew up a bold gingham quilt like this using just 3 different fabrics: white (or cream), a medium colored fabric, and a dark fabric. This style of quilt pattern looks great with solids and prints, although I am always sure to make my white or cream background fabric solid so as not to obscure the sharp lines in the design.

A couple months ago I was shopping at my local quit shop with my daughter Chloe and she fell in love with this beautiful ombre quilting fabric from Blank Quilting Company (it’s called Unicornocopia – of all things!). It took me a bit to figure out how to use this gorgeous fabric in a design, but now I love how it turned out. The ‘plaid’ design in my quilt moves from lighter at the top to darker at the bottom.

Since the ombre fabric has so many variations within it, I only needed this one print plus solid white fabric to make this Checked Quilt.

Lots of different fabric companies have jumped on the ombre trend. I found a few examples and put them above with links.

Of course, if you don’t want to use ombre fabric you can use other fabrics, as long as you have a light (white or cream), a medium value fabric, and a dark value fabric.

How to Sew a Checked (Buffalo Check, Gingham) Quilt

Finished size: approximately 49’’ x 58’’

You will need:

• 3/4 yard dark colored fabric
• 1 1/4 yards medium colored fabric
• 1 yard white or cream background fabric
• 1/4 yard fabric for the binding

If you are using an ombre fabric (that moves from light to dark within the same fabric), you will only need:

• 2 1/4 yards ombre fabric (that’s enough for the medium and dark squares and the binding)
• 1 yard of white or cream background fabric

You will also need:

• a piece of batting at least 53’’ x 62’’
• 3-4 yards of fabric for the quilt back

Cutting:

• cut 30 squares of dark fabric, 5’’ x 5’’
• cut 71 squares of medium colored fabric, 5’’ x 5’’
• cut 42 squares of white or cream colored background fabric, 5’’ x 5’’
• from your binding fabric, cut 6 strips 2 1/2’’ x WOF (width of fabric)

If you are using ombre fabric, refer to the diagram above for cutting 30 squares from the dark side of the fabric and 71 squares from light/medium colored fabric. The leftover fabric in the middle is perfect for the binding, and since you can cut it lengthwise, you’ll only need 3 strips that are 2 1/2’’ x 82’’

Note: if your ombre fabric is dark on both sides and light in the middle, you’ll need to cut a bit differently in order to cut 30 squares from the darkest areas and 71 squares from the light areas.

Arrange the Squares

For this quilt, you’ll need a quilt design wall or a bed with a plain bedspread on it so you have a nice large area to layout your squares.

1. First arrange all of the medium colored squares on your design wall or bed referring to the image above. There are 13 rows in all. 7 rows have 5 squares and 6 rows have 6 squares.

If you are using ombre fabric, arrange your medium colored squares going from the lightest at the top, to the darkest at the bottom.

2. Now use your dark fabric squares to fill in the blank spots in each row that has 6 medium colored squares (see image above).

If you are using ombre fabric, once more arrange your squares going from the lightest dark squares at the top, to the darkest dark squares at the bottom.

3. Finally, fill in the rest of the blank spots with the solid white or cream colored squares.

Doesn’t that look amazing?

Sew the Easy Checked Quilt Together

1. Sew each row of squares together, making 7 rows with alternating medium and white fabrics and 6 rows with alternating medium and dark fabrics.

2. Sew the rows together to finish your quilt top.

3. Piece together a 53’’ x 62’’ piece of backing fabric and make a quilt sandwich with the backing, batting, and top. My favorite basting methods to hold my quilt sandwich layers together are fusible batting or pin basting.

5. Quilt as desired. This simple quilt pattern would also look great with straight line or wavy line quilting.

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

As always, I love to see what you are making with my free sewing patterns! Upload a picture to Instagram and tag me @sewcanshe or #sewcanshe so I can take a look!

xoxo,