Thursday, July 10, 2008

My Jewel Box instructions

Several people have asked how I got from the design to the instructions to make this Jewel Box quilt with the medallion center and pieced border, so I'll show you how I planned it out. First, the picture of the EQ design I made. If you don't have EQ, I certainly recommend it, it's great.


I divided the design I made with EQ into nine sections to make it easy to sew. I'll assemble the nine sections at the very end, like a huge nine-patch, so I'm not dealing with a king size top until the final seams.

Then. looking at my sections, I counted out exactly what combinations of blocks I'd need to make the four corners. For each corner section, I will also need 6 solid navy rectangles to complete the border edge.


The middle of each edge section needs just two solid navy rectangles for the pieced border, but also had the most different block combos:


And the center of the quilt was the simplest, needing mostly blocks with the navy blue, except for those 4 white triangles at the corners:


If you don't like half square triangles, don't start this quilt... I made 396 white-to-a-color hsts and 184 blue-to-a-color hsts to use in the whole quilt, then divided them up into 9 piles (and nine ziplock baggies) to spread out the different fabrics to the different quadrants. I was afraid if I didn't, I'd end up with a glob of lime green or red in the last corner... lol

I used a paper template to make the half square triangles. You can print them free on your computer from sites like Block Central. Here's a link to the size I used in this quilt:

Half Square Triangle paper

In order to make this bright and scrappy, I used some 4 inch squares I'd ordered on eBay to make the hsts, plus cutting into my stash of fat quarters. The only fabric I bought is the navy blue that makes the pieced border. Even the white on white used in the quilt is scrappy. It's been a great stash buster.

I made a lot of the sixteen-patches using Bonnie Hunter's leader/ender method, but I also sewed together strips cut from fat quarters to strips from the navy or white on white fabric, then pressed them and sub cut them into two-patches. If anyone is counting, I needed 784 white-to-a-color two patches, and 512 blue-to-a-color two patches to make my 16 patch blocks. :D But I AM making a king size, and that's a lot of bed to cover. This will be my summer quilt, bright colors and lightweight batting in this one, when I get it quilted.

15 comments:

dot said...

Thanks for the instructions for this great quilt.

Tazzie said...

It's so exciting seeing this top come together, I just love it. You've planned it so well, it's a beautiful design.
*hugs*
Tazzie
:-)

Lindsay Jean said...

What a great pattern - thanks for sharing it with a grateful blogosphere. You are so skilled with the EQ, I'm wildly jealous!

Helen in the UK said...

It is fascinating to hear how much planning and organisation has gone into this quilt. It is going to be such a stunner :)

Candace said...

Thank you for sharing. You have made a beautiful quilt pattern. I am anxious to see yours made, and will add this to my long list of want tos.

Helen said...

This quilt is going to be great when it is finished. What's not to like about half square triangles, I ask you :-)

julieQ said...

Thank you for sharing. Love your colors and pretty quilt!

Eileen said...

I am completely blown away by this design! I can't wait to see the finished product. This is way too advanced for a beginner like me, but I am putting this on my list of "someday, I'm going to try..." quilt patterns.

Janet said...

Stupendous! I made a small jewel box (unembellished except by a border of 2inch blocks) and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Janet

Rose Marie said...

EQ is such fun to play with. What size will this quilt finish at? Love, love, love this design

Molly said...

This is the best jewel box quilt I've seen (and I even made a pretty one)! I think I have to make this one. Thank you for posting the instructions.

Shelley said...

This is amazing! I do not have EQ and am wondering how I could make this smaller. I do not want to struggle with a king sized quilt. A double would be good. What would you suggest as far as resizing the sections? Can your EQ program figure this out easily?

Thank you. You are very talented and creative.

Jackie McCoy said...

Can you give cutting sizes for the king siZe quilt?

Unknown said...

Buenísimo me pondré ha hacer este proyecto

calico632 said...

Hi, I found your quilt on pinterest and I loved it. I had to have the pattern..so I clicked on to see more and found you and your beautiful quilt..and a Free pattern. I have made it in fall colors and brown instead of navy. It came out gorgeous. I love it..I still have to quilt it..but thank for sharing your pattern. I truly appreciate it.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...