An Economy Block Quilt Top

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It’s been almost a year since I started an economy block quilt for my five year old. This is a great block and so much fun for kids, but I admit that it took lots of perseverance for me. I had to set small goals for myself every time I took it out to work on it.

I used Red Pepper Quilt’s tutorial. The repetitive squaring and trimming makes for PERFECT five and a half inch blocks, but it also takes a lot of time…and patience.

I made 108 total blocks. Each block, like I mentioned, finished at 5 1/2 inches square. My plan is to sew them in rows of nine with twelve total rows. This will create a 45 inch by 60 inch quilt.

After I finished sewing every last block, I laid them out on the floor to arrange them. I looked for color balance. I didn’t want all the red stripes clumped together in one corner.

I also intended to keep repeat blocks and fabrics from sitting next to each other. Since this quilt is really quite scrappy, this was not a hard feat for me.

Being that I have three small children, I cannot leave the blocks nicely arranged on the floor. Instead, I labeled the first block of each row.

I sewed the rows together (nine blocks per row) and clipped a number to the first block of the row. (Since sharp pins and little children don’t always work well together, I use wonder clips instead when possible.)

Since I spent so much time fussy cutting all those center blocks, I went through the effort to ensure they were all sitting upright when I sewed the rows together.

After sewing the rows together, I started ironing seams. One row I pressed the seams toward the clip. The next row I pressed away from the clip. Nesting seams is one great way to ensure good corners.

Then I sewed the rows together one by one.

Since I used the trimming method of making these economy blocks, I ended up with near perfect 5 1/2 inch squares.

What happens when all your squares are near perfect?

It means that sewing your squares together is a breeze because they all line up perfectly.

Most of the fabrics I used in this quilt are a couple years old. That frog, though. He’s brand new and I love that block. 🙂 He’s from Heather Ross’ latest collection called Kinder. I thought he fit in perfect with this quilt.

Are you looking for some shops with fun fabric…cute little illustrations? Here are a few shops that likely have a good selection for fussy cutting:

Modern Violet
Sojo Fabrics
Fresh Modern Fabrics

Those little clothes you see. Those are from an old line by Aneela Hoey. It’s some of my favorite fabric that I’m glad I held onto. Sometimes I find my tastes change, and I’m not sure what to do with fabric I regrettably purchased, but that’s one fabric I’m glad I bought years ago.

All the stripes you see in this quilt…they’re all Sevenberry Stripes by Robert Kaufman.

Case, my five year old son, has claimed the farm blocks as his favorite. Those are all from Stacy Hsu’s line called Farm Fun. It’s an older line and getting harder to find.

Since I’m on an informal mission to clear out my fabrics right now…before purchasing any new…my plan is to use all the remaining scraps from these fabrics for the backing of this quilt.

If you see any other fabrics here you like, shoot me an email or leave a comment and I’ll try to remember the name. Most of these fabrics are too old to purchase anymore, but some of them are still available.

This is so close to finished, and I’m looking forward to marking yet another quilt off my list.

Happy Monday, friends!

Update: (To see a this quilt all finished, be sure to check out this post.)