1

Quilt As You Go

Blue Christmas

Finished size: is 46” x 64” after washing

All seams in this quilt are sewn with ¼ “ seam allowance.

Fabric Requirements:

•5/8 yard each of 3 different fabrics for Rail Fence

•2 ¼ yard for the borders ( includes top and back borders) You cut six 6.5” strips for

the top and six 6.5” strips for the back. So you can use different fabrics, they don’t

need to be 2 ¼ yards of continuous fabric.

•1 5/8 yard of Backing

•Throw size Quilter’s Dream Fusion fusible batting

By Jackie O'Brien,

ifthesethreadscouldtalk.com

• Sewing machine in good working order

• 1/4 inch seam allowance foot

• Walking foot

• Cotton Thread

• Pins

• Rotary cutter with a sharp blade

• 24 inch ruler

• Large cutting mat

Teacher : Jackie O’Brien, sewjackie@live.com

2

Blocks: From each of

the three 5/8 yard pieces

cut six 3 ½” strips Width

of fabric (WOF).

To create a rail fence pattern lay out blocks as

shown right.

Number the rows to be sure to add them in the

correct order.

Sew the blocks into rows, but DO NOT sew the

rows together.

Press seams in the rows one way alternating

direction for each row so they will nest when

sewing the rows together.

By Jackie O'Brien,

ifthesethreadscouldtalk.com

Cut strip sets into 9.5”

squares.

Sew one strip from

each group together.

Press seams to one

side.

From each strip set you will get four 9.5

blocks, with a total of 24 blocks.

3

If all my blocks were sewn together the top would

measure 36.5” x 54.5”. So I cut the backing fabric

WOF by 57.5 inches.

Cut the batting 38 x 56 (2inches

larger than the joined blocks would

be.) With the wrong side of the

backing up lay the batting with the

fusible side down. The backing will

still be larger than the batting. Fuse

the batting according to directions.

Then go back to iron and press again

from the fabric side to insure they

have fused.

By Jackie O'Brien,

ifthesethreadscouldtalk.com

With the batting side up, lay

down your first row of blocks.

Note: When I made this sample I

placed the first row all the way to top

and side edge of the fused backing.

I discovered that even with the

walking foot it pushed the row off

the edge. So it is best to center the

first row on the backing allowing

extra room on the sides. You can

then trim the top and sides once all

the rows are sewn down.

4

Lay row 2 on top of batting as it would

look if it were sewn, then flip up onto row

1 with right sides together.

Pin through row 1 and the backing

making sure seams nest nicely.

Take it to the sewing machine and

sew a ¼ seam following the edge

of the row as your guide.

Lay row 3 on top of batting as it would

look if it were sewn, then flip up onto

row 2 with right sides together as

before. Continue to add all the rows

this way.

By Jackie O'Brien,

ifthesethreadscouldtalk.com

5

Now, all the rows are sewn to the backing. At this time I “stitch in the ditch lengthwise

between the remain blocks and trim the edges.

Cut 6 borders strips 6.5” wide by WOF for the top and six for the back.

For the side borders you will need 4 strips 6.5” x 60” and 2 strips of batting 6.5” x 60”

For the top and bottom borders you will need 4 strips 6.5” x 54” and 2 strips of batting

6.5” x 54”

The border strips are larger than the quilt sides, they will be trimmed down after they

are sewn on.

Lay the batting strip on the ironing board fusible side up, and place a border fabric on

top and fuse with your iron. Do this for all 4 batting strips.

By Jackie O'Brien,

ifthesethreadscouldtalk.com

Right side of quilt top up

Right side of backing border up

Wrong side of top border with fused

batting up

Sew the sandwiched layers together using a

¼ inch seam allowance.

6

Smooth out the layers to remove wrinkles.

Using a quilt ruler and rotary cutter, trim excess batting and back border even with the

front border.

Add border 2 in the same manner. Repeat this step for the top and bottom borders.

By Jackie O'Brien,

ifthesethreadscouldtalk.com