A Complete Guide to Contemporary Quilting

Part 2: Squares and rectangles

with JULIUS ARTHUR — British textile artist specialising in handmade quilts and unique textile objects for the home.

Lesson 16 of 27

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Part 2: Squares and rectangles - Video thumbnail

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Discover how to piece squares and rectangles of fabric scraps together to create a creative patchwork quilt.

From the Lesson Workbook

Part 2 - Squares and Rectangles

We are going to create small patchwork blocks. When we join two or more pieces of fabric together, we are creating a block. Those blocks are then joined together to create the panels of our quilt.

I have a selection of fabric scraps pulled from my colour palette.

  1. Find two scraps of fabric that are roughly the same size and stitch them together on a sewing machine.
  1. You want to stitch them in a straight line, using a centimetre seam allowance to stitch them together, then stitch straight through.
  1. Take your scraps out of the machine and cut any excess thread. Grab your scissors and trim your seam allowance half a centimetre, so the quilt is nice and tidy. Once you've joined those two pieces, take them over to your ironing board and give them a good press. Cut off any loose threads. Continue to add scraps of fabric, pressing the seams as you go, and trimming until you are satisfied with the size and composition. Grow each block until it is a manageable panel.

Tip: you can start slicing into your patchwork and rearranging it.

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Julius Arthur

Your Instructor

Julius Arthur

British textile artist specialising in handmade quilts and unique textile objects for the home.

Julius Arthur is a textiles designer specialising in quilts and unique objects for the home. His design practice, House of Quinn, creates small-batch homeware using traditional and age-old craft techniques and practices to cultivate contemporary design narratives onto familiar objects. His work is grounded in uncomplicated - often repurposed - materials and inspired by an abstract view of the places and things around us. Growing up in Cornwall, memories of childhood and a sense of home and belonging intersect in Julius' work. Quilts have become a staple motif in Julius' work - a way of combining materials, connecting through stitch and exploring shape, form and line - and the subject of his book Modern Quilting.

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