QNM Articles & Patterns

Summer Love

 Assembly Instructions

Step 1

Wash and press fabrics. Decide on your method of applique. We suggest that you use traditional methods with turned edges and hand stitching to make this an heirloom. Cut the patches listed in the materials and cutting box and shown in the rotary cutting diagram.

Step 2

Fold an 11" square of tracing paper in quarters. Trace the full-size pattern of the complete block motif, matching dotted lines with the folds.

Prepare the applique motifs. Fold each green bias strip in thirds and press. Position and stitch the bias vines on each A patch. Add the leaves, blue circles, and hearts. Finally, add the center blue and gold circles. Applique 9 blocks.

Step 3

Join the blocks in 3 rows of 3 blocks each. Join the rows.

Step 4

Sew the short cream borders to the sides of the quilt. Trim even with the edge of the quilt. Sew the longer borders to the top and bottom; trim.

Step 5

For reverse applique, lightly mark the 5 circles on the right side of each swag, using a white pencil. Position 3 swags and 2 hearts on each border. The ends of the swags will be covered by the hearts. Stitch the swags and hearts in place.

Applique the gold circles to each swag. To reverse applique them, cut away the blue fabric a scant 1/8" inside each drawn circle. Position a gold circle, right side facing up, underneath each opening. Pin in place. Use your needle to turn under the blue fabric along the drawn line, and stitch the folded edge to the gold fabric.

Step 6

Position and stitch the corner swags and corner hearts in place. Follow directions in Step 5 to applique the circles on the corner swags.

Step 7

Layer the quilt lining, batting, and top. Baste. Quilt in-the-ditch around the applique. Quilt the zigzag line on each heart if desired. Nancy quilted a 3/4" diagonal grid in the background.

Step 8

To make piping, join 1 1/2"-wide red strips end-to-end to make 4 strips each 45" long. Fold the strip in half lengthwise, right sides facing out, and position the cording inside the fold. Using a zipper foot, stitch close to the cording. Trim the raw edge of the strips 1/4" beyond the line of stitching. Align the raw edge of the binding strips with the raw edges of the quilt, and baste it to the quilt near the edge. Overlap the binding strips in the corners.

Sew on binding in the usual manner, catching the piping in the seam.