Updated
August 06, 2015.
Sew an Amish Inspired Miniature Quilt
Use my miniature quilt pattern to create a miniature quilt in the Amish style.
Traditional Amish quilts were nearly always sewn with solid color fabrics, although colors used differed by location, because each Amish community's textile color choices varied. Quilts were sewn from the same fabrics used for clothes, linens and other cloth items.
We often associate the color black with Amish quilts, but black wasn't always included.
It does make a striking backdrop when combined with other colors, but is not a must for your Amish quilt.
Amish women sometimes sprinkled a few very light colors within their patchwork to create sparkle. They also combined fabrics in ways that, at the time, might have been regarded as unconventional, pairing colors that didn't "match."
Feel free to include colors that were seldom seen in Amish quilts, such as hot reds and pinks (although some communities were more open to warm and jewel-toned colors).
Finished Miniature Quilt: About 25-1/2" square
Quilting an Amish Quilt
Amish patchwork might have been simple, but quilting motifs were often intricate, with plenty of circles and curves added to soften an angular background.
About Double Nine-Patch Quilts
A basic nine-patch quilt block has nine main grids, three across and three down. In a double nine-patch block, five of the plain units are replaced by smaller nine-patch blocks -- at the corners and center, forming an "X." Plain squares are sewn in the four remaining slots.
The double nine patch blocks in this miniature quilt finish at 4-1/2" square; the smaller nine patches within the blocks finish at 1-1/2" square.
To establish the quilt layout, miniature double nine patch blocks are sewn on-point and surrounded by setting triangles and two borders.
Fabric Choices for the Miniature Quilt
Quilts can be totally color-structured, with identical small nine-patch blocks resting in each of their five slots in the larger blocks. But you might prefer to make a scrap quilt that uses a wide range of fabrics.
Because we're dealing with very small patches, my instructions allow a bit of extra strip set length to allow for additional squaring-up steps that might be necessary to keep segments accurate.
When You Make a Miniature Quilt
Dealing with Seam Allowances
The squares in small nine-patch units finish at 1/2" -- just enough for two quarter-inch seam allowances to butt into each other on the back. We'll reduce the bulk by trimming seam allowances after assembling strip sets. I don't recommend that technique for a large quilt, but it works fine for minis that don't experience much wear and tear.
Sew with a scant quarter inch seam allowance -- just a tiny bit narrower than a true quarter inch.
Crosswise Grain vs. Lengthwise Grain
- The instructions call for strips of fabric cut on the lengthwise grain, which is less stretchy than the crosswise grain -- less stretch enhances accuracy when sewing tiny units.
- I used shorter strip sets but bumped up the number of strips required. That method helps you sew accurate strip sets -- it's sometimes difficult to sew consistent seams when joining long strips.
Learn more about fabric grain.
Yardages for the Miniature Quilt
Setting Squares and Triangles:
- 3/8 yard (shown as black)
Plain Squares in Blocks:
Assorted Fabrics for Small Nine-Patch Blocks:
- 1/4 yard of at least five fabrics (for variety)
Inner Border:
Outer Border:
- 1/2 yard to avoid piecing the border strips (shown as black)
Batting and Backing: About 33" square each
Binding: About 125 running inches to sew with at 1/4" seam allowance; single-fold binding is acceptable for miniature quilts, but doublefold binding is more durable (How to Make Quilt Binding)
