April mystery (Dashing)

Sorry we are a few days late getting the tutorial up on the blog.  As usual, I think Becky has created a wonderful quilt.  We hope you love it.

Cut all of the pieces as outlined in the instructions.  There isn't a whole lot of extra fabric so cut carefully.  (We included a cutting diagram with the pattern to help you get all the needed pieces from each of the prints.)

Begin by sewing the plum border strips around the center section of the quilt.

Next sew the six and one half inch squares randomly around the quilt.  We placed the 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch rectangles in the center position top and bottom.

Sew another plum border strip to all four sides of the quilt.


Finish the quilt with churn dash blocks.  For each churn dash block you will need:
1) 3 1/2 inch center square (not shown in photo below)
2) 4 inch squares (same fabric as center square).
2) 4 inch contrasting squares
1) strip (same as center square)
1) strip of the contrast fabric.

Before you start sewing the churn dash blocks you may want to take the time to match the fabrics for each block to ensure even color distribution.


Begin by sewing the contrasting strips together along the length of the strip.  Press open.

Cut the sewn strips into 4) 3 1/2 inch segments.

Place a contrasting 4" square, right sides together, with a 4" background square.  Make sure the outside edges are aligned.  Draw a diagonal line on the back of one of the squares.  (You can barely see the diagonal line but it is there.)

Sew 1/4 inch on both sides of the line.  Cut on the line.

Square the triangles to 3 1/2 inches.  (You know we love the Quilt in a Day ruler for this.) 

Trim the corners on each end of the seam to eliminate bulk.  Press open.

Repeat to create 4) half square triangles for each block.


Sew the half square triangles, rails and center square together as shown.  (Hint: press toward the rails so the seams will nestle when the three sections are sewn together.)

Repeat to create a total of 22 churn dash blocks.

Sew the blocks together to create two rows with four blocks in each row.  Sew these to the top and bottom of the quilt. Create two more rows with seven blocks in each row.  Sew these to the sides of the quilt.

Quilt as desired.  Bind and enjoy!

The May mystery quilt fabrics are shown below.  We will be creating the same quilt in two different colorways.  The civil war prints will include cream/tan background fabric while the spring collection will be completed with white background fabrics. 

Sign up for one or both while supplies are available.

And...don't forget the $5.55 First Friday sale coming up this week - on Friday, of course.