Monday, February 21, 2011

V and Co how to: mini zig zag quilt


the other day katie came to me with a big frown on her face.
"what's wrong?" i asked her
she then holds out a pink with more pink doll quilt in one hand and the harley monkey in the other and in a very disappointed tone replied "MOM, he's a BOY."
so we made little harley a boyish quilt.


this little zig zag quilt is fast to make and easy to quilt (just follow the lines) so within a couple of hours the little monkey man had his very own cute (yet manly) quilt to cuddle in.
and well katie, she was happy that her monkey no longer had to deal with his feminine side

okay so first things first. you are going to need a special ruler for this project:

Wrights(R)/EZ Acrylic Template Companion Angle 10 Inch (i hope to make more things with this ruler, but for now lets learn how to make zig zags shall we?)

materials:
6 color fabric strips cut to 1 1/2" in width.
6 white fabric strips cut to 1 1/2" in width.
ez ruler

how to assemble blocks:


first you are going to take your strips, and with a 1/4" seam allowance you are going to place right sides of the fabrics facing and sew down your strips together.


open and press your seams to the color fabric side of the strip.
now we are going to use the ruler
*place your ruler tip at the top of your strip, and as far to the left as you can having fabric be under the ruler.
*cut your fabric.
*turn your ruler upside down (like the picture above) and make your next cut.
*continue to cut your triangles alternating the position of the ruler.
you should get: triangles from one strip
*you should come out with 5 triangles of each color combo.

*take one of each color combo and with right sides together, sew a 1/4" seam allowance on the longest part of the triangle.
*open and press with an iron. your block will look like these up above.

*to create the quilt you will have 5 blocks across and 6 blocks down.
*place them alternating your stripes like the picture above.



*sew your 5 blocks across together, then sew your 6 strips down together.



*to quilt your little quilt:
- place backing (facing out) batting then quilt top (facing out towards you)
-pin in place your quilt (i would suggest using safety pins instead of pins like i did because i stuck myself so many times it isn't funny, as a matter of fact if i were still catholic i would need to go to confession with how many slips of the tongue i had with every time i got stuck with a stupid pin)
- stitch in the ditch following zig zags.


use my binding instructions to finish your quilt.
now our monkey has a "boyish" quilt and i have a very happy little girl.
all is good.
thank you and goodnight.
:)
ps: thanks for your love and support and understanding of my last post.
we'll talk soon.

40 comments:

Justine said...

Great tutorial thanks! That monkey is just too cool, my kids would love one!

Larissa@Just Another Day in Paradise said...

well duh, of course he needs a manly blanket. so funny. Love it.

rissa80@gmail.com

Katie B said...

Oh, goodie! I bought that ruler for your Houndstooth pattern. I'm glad to have another use for it! This is very cute.

P.S. I bought mine at JoAnn's. It was $6.99, and I had a $5 off coupon, so I felt like I was stealing it!

Krista said...

Ah, what a great tutorial! I think I see one of those rulers in my future...

DJ Rose said...

Thanks. This is the year of the quilt for me and any and all ideas are so exciting.

Anonymous said...

What a great, and creative, mommy you are!

Shelley

Kari Sweeten said...

This is so going on my to-do list!! So glad I bought this ruler for the houndstooth quilt I made!! Wahoo!

Kari
{who is completely obsessed with you quilt patterns!}

Kristyne said...

Cute quilt. But the tattoo on the sock monkey is hilarious!

vanessa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
V and Co. said...

ha! yeah that monkey is hilarious! it's my favorite, katie and i share custody! if you follow the link you will see where i got it from. she's got a cute etsy shop!

missavene said...

Great tutorial, gonna have to get me one of those rulers :) I snickered at the straight pin comment cause I basted my first quilt (baby sized) with straight pins instead of safty one, since I didn't have enough yet.... ugh, I made sure I picked up a big pack of safty pins for my next quilt!

Cheryl said...

wow,you make it look so easy. I have seen so many different tutorials for zig zag quilts and I love this one the best. I also love that it's a mini quilt. There is nothing like instant gratification with a project that may only take a few hours to complete.
Thanks for sharing.

chris said...

Amazing. Really. I need on of those rulers!

Carolyn J. said...

Adorable.....thanks for sharing the "how too" !

Sara said...

Adorable and surprisingly easy! Well, atleast it looks do-able. If you wanted to make a bigger quilt (baby size), would you use the same size ruler? I think I'd like measurements for a baby size quilt.

V and Co. said...

sara i would use that size but it would require a lot of blocks, hence a lot of sewing, if you are up to it it would come out incredibly cute! if you make one make sure to let us know!

Wendy said...

Oh I really like this and you make it look easy enough for me to do :) Thank you so much for sharing!!

vivi said...

this tutorial is amazing, I feel like sewing right now.. but since it's 0,33hs am it will have to wait until tomorrow
I will let you know as soon as I post it in my blog; thanks for sharing
say hi to your baby girl and the monkey

momof3girls said...

I love it! I need something quick and easy to make for a gift this week. Thanks so much for all the great tutorials you post and for making quilting 'easy' (kinda). You have inspired me to do so many things that I once thought would be too hard. Blessings girl!

Denny1600 said...

Whew! I'm so glad that you remedied that serious oversight.

The blanket is beautiful . . . I mean, handsome.

Thanks for the excellent tutorial and the inclusion of the monkey here and there. Fun!

amy smart said...

That is such a neat trick!! I love zigzag quilts, but I'm always looking for a short cut. Woo! Thanks.

It looks like Generic Viagra thought it was very interesting too! lol.

Mary Jolley said...

I just found your site and I am very excited to start making stuff- thanks! Everything is so cute.

trish said...

Too cute! :o)
Harley Monkey looks very happy with his new quilt! :o)
Thanks for the tutorial.
I have not made blocks like this before and I love the visual step by step! :o)
Have a great week!!
Sincerely, Trish

Figgsandsuch said...

Beautiful! I'm such a newbie quilter I couldn't wrap my head around how you made the zig zag, but I kept scrolling and was so happy to see you explained how! Thank you from real a novice! Hope Harley is warm! :)

CREATIVE KHADIJA said...

This is super cute & great tutorial..you know i never sew any quilt till yet..but your sewing projects are really inspiring me honey..
well i am saving your tutorial pages,may be i will try any day...
Thank you &
Best regards

~ Khadija

Cathy said...

Just found you Piece n Quilt. Great tutorial. I have on my list some dolly blankets to make and this will be first on my list. Love it. Thanks

Sally said...

I Love how you can just "whip up a quilt" like it's no big "thang"! :)

I should start sewing again. Savannah told me the other day that she wished I didn't have to work so I could make her things like so-and-so's mom. Sigh.

The One and Only said...

Thanks to you, I just HAD to get the ruler (at 50% off yippee)....I was wondering if I bought a fat quarter bundle (10 prints) and then a matching solid, so it would be a print and a solid together to form the triangles...would a fat quarter bundle of 10 be enough to be a good size? I know it's going to be a lot of blocks but I'm not sure if a FQ bundle would be enough? Could you please shine your wisdom upon me? Thanks!! Hope you and the family had a great weekend!!

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Oh my. Yes, yes please! This has to be my next project, I love it! Thanks tons for this how-to, I'll be spreading the word.

Ryan and April said...

This is adorable! I want to attempt this as my first quilt, only I want to make it throw size. Any advice as to how many squares I would need? I was also wondering the name of the colored fabric you used? It's so cute!

April

Nicola said...

Another lovely, clearly explained tutorial...and so clever! Thank you for posting x

Heather Louise said...

I love how easy you make this look. I might even consider trying it myself. Good to know the monkey can help with the sewing.

...so we added chickens said...

This looks like great fun and quite quick too! Thank you for sharing a great tutorial!

foodmathquilts said...

Very cute!
How did the bias edges behave when you cut the triangles?
I'm just starting to manage a decent 1/4" seam ... so I'm scared of stretchyness.

Thanks,
Sarah

Patty said...

I love your project!! I just featured it on my blog! I'm a new follower!
xoxo,Patty.
wwww.mycraftspotlight.com

Azelex said...

This has to be one of the most interesting articles i’ve ever read on a blog! (then again, this is one of the most interesting blogs i’ve ever come across)

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

What a great tutorial and pattern! I just finished a batik table topper using your tutorial.
http://conniekresin.blogspot.com/2012/04/table-topper-blog-hop-and-giveaway.html

crafty said...

Great idea I would make it bigger. I make lap quilts for children that have cancer. When they are getting their chemo, they need something to cover up with. This is all donations. Any projects is a blessing. Thank you so much.

Danielle said...

Do you think that I could double or triple the measurements for a larger scale quilt using a fabric with a large print (like paisley, for example)??

Anonymous said...

Your daughter's monkey looks so much happier now! I'm so glad I found your tutorial. I have been wanting to make a chevron quilt for a while now! Thank you!!!!

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