Britannia Rose Blog > Help & Advice
How to Make a Patchwork Quilt
Patchwork quilts are a great way to use up fabric remnants or scraps while helping the environment.
If you have a lot of fabric lying around, or a bunch of scraps you can't bring yourself to get rid of, then patchwork is a perfect way to utilise these materials. Patchwork is also great for the environment and saves scraps of fabric from ending up in landfill.
Preparation is easy, all you need to do is start cutting your fabric scraps into squares - the more you have the larger your quilt will be. For our guide, we will be using 15cm squares, but you can make them smaller or larger depending on your preference and remnant size.
What you will need:
- 15x15cm squares of fabric
- An Iron
- A 15cm patchwork template square
- A Tape Measure
- A Sewing needle
- Thread
- 150x115cm fleece fabric or lining
- 6m of 7.5cm ribbon or a strip of salvage this size
How to make your patchwork quilt:
- Iron each piece of fabric before cutting out your assorted pieces using your desired patchwork template
- Lay out your squares on a large, flat surface and rearrange them so that you don't have two of the same square touching
- Take two of the squares and with the right sides facing sew them together with a 0.5cm seam.
- Continue joining the squares together in rows until you have your desired number of rows.
- Pin and sew the strips together, matching seam to seam. Press all of the seams flat.
- Place the fleece fabric right side down on a flat surface and gently press any creases.
- Lay the patchwork on top of the fleece, right side up and pin the two layers together. Cut the fleece to the same size as the blanket.
- Pin and sew the fleece to the patchwork as close to the edges as possible.
- Using a needle and thread, take a couple of backstitches through the fleece and patchwork top in each corner of the squares. Pull the thread through several times and secure it with a knot.
- Fold the ribbon or strip of salvage in half lengthways. Pin it to the blanket with the raw edges aligned. Work in sequence by pinning along one side, then cutting the ribbon to length leaving a 3cm overlap. Repeat on the opposite side and sew along both lengths to close the edge.
- Fold the binding over the raw edge of the blanket and pin on the fleece side. Slipstitch both strips of binding to the fleece.
- Repeat this process on the remaining sides of the blanket.
Where can I get fabric for a patchwork quilt?
The point of a patchwork quilt is to use up remnants or offcuts of fabric that would otherwise be thrown away. If you want to make a patchwork quilt but don't have any offcuts then it is always best to look for pieces of fabric that are on clearance or to purchase bags of scraps or remnants. We have a large selection of clearance fabrics that are ideal for patchwork quilts and other crafts.