Zig Zag Quilt

I am so excited to say I have successfully finished my first quilt and tutorial! I cant believe how well it turned out and it was so much easier than I thought it was going to be. 

 

How did I make it? Well, I am glad you asked. Here is how you can make your very own zig zag quilt!

You will need 8 different fabrics in the following cuts. (You could also purchase pre cut charm packs).

1/3 yard - C,D,F,H

½ yard - A,B and G
1 yard - E
(You should be able to get away with these measurements if the fabric is cut straight and you conserve fabric when cutting your squares. To be on the safe side you may want to buy extra just in case you make a mistake. Which I did... more on that later.)

Also these fabric measurements are only for the quilt top. This does not include the batting, fabric back or binding. There is an awesome tutorial on cluckclucksew on finishing a quilt.

*If you can I highly recommend investing in a cutting mat, rotary cutter and clear plastic quilting ruler it makes this project go so much faster.

 I purchased these at hobby lobby and used coupons to get them 40% off. You can also find them at Joanns or on Amazon for about $30 to $60 for the set. They are a little pricey but if you plan on quilting or sewing a lot it is a good investment.

Cut the fabrics into 5x5 inch squares:

20 – A  (Teal Damask)

20 – B   (Black)

15 – C   (Brown Dot)

10 – D  (Teal)

25 – E   (Dark Multicolor Print)

10 – F   (Lime)

20 – G  (Light Multicolor Print)

10 – H   (Tan)

*I pinned post-it notes to my piles so I wouldn’t forget how many I had and what to match up together.*

 Once you have all of  your squares cut and sorted in piles you will pair them up. You will end up with 5 sets of each in the following combinations(except for the one combo you need 10 of)…..

Pair them up 5 pairs of each :

H&C-Tan & Brown Dot
H &B-Tan & Black
B&E - Black & Dark Multicolor
E&G - Dark Multicolor & Light Multicolor

G&F - Light Multicolor & Lime
F&A - Lime & Teal Damask
A&E - Teal Damask & Dark Multicolor (This set repeats so you will make 10 total pairs of this combo)
G&D - Dark Multicolor & Teal
D&C - Teal & Brown Dot
C&G - Brown Dot & Light Multicolor
G&B - Light Multicolor & Black
B&A - Black & Teal Damask
A&E - Teal Damask & Dark Multicolor

 *Sorry the fabric in the pictures isn't the first set listed. I forgot to take pictures at first I just started sewing because I was so excited!)

Take your first pair:

Place right sides together & using a marker or fabric chalk draw a line diagonally through the middle of the square:

Then stitch ¼” away on each side of the line.

Now stitch ¼” away from line on the other side.

Your line should be in the middle of your stitches (Sorry it is hard to see I should have use lighter thread for this part):

Using a rotary cutter or scissors cut on the marked line:

You should now have two pieces.

Open square and press flat. Be sure to press seams toward the darker of the two fabrics (See arrows):

Now you have 2 half square triangle blocks. Repeat until all of your blocks are complete (130 blocks total):

As you complete blocks you can begin laying them out in the zig zag pattern:

 If you have a large table to do this on I would really recommend it. It helps to keep everything in order and you get to see all of your hard work coming together! It really motivated me to keep working until I had it all connected.

When you have completed all of the blocks you can begin piecing them together to form the quilt top.

Using a 1/4" seam sew the blocks first in long strips. To start place first two blocks right sides together and sew making sure to attach the correct two sides together. (This is where it is very helpful if you have all of you pieces laying out on a table.)

 
You can then sew the strips together to complete the quilt top.

 Congratulations you have completed a zig zag quilt top. Now we just have to pick out fabric for the back of the quilt and the binding.... hmmm. I have some ideas....Stay tuned I will be posting pics of the finished quilt...when it is finished.

Hope you enjoyed my first tutorial. Please feel free to ask questions and I will get back to you as soon as I can!