Sew Mitered Frames Around 12-inch Quilt Blocks
This mitered frame layout pattern was created for the Scrap Happy Sampler Quilt, but works for any twelve 12" square quilt blocks.
The setting-in technique is used to sew mitered frames around each of the twelve blocks. An alternate layout option surrounds twelve quilt blocks with patchwork sashing and cornerstones.
There are several ways to miter corner seams.
- One mitering method uses too-long strips that are sewn to the sides of a block (or quilt) and then stitched on the diagonal at the corners. If you are accustomed to that method, and your blocks are all the same size, with no variations, do put it to use with this quilt.
- However, the oversize strip technique does not help you square-up the sides of a block that is skewed a bit or standardize blocks that aren't quite the same size, so we'll use a different method for this layout pattern.
Cutting frames to their 'textbook' size helps ensure that framed quilt blocks are ready to sew together when it's time to join them into rows. If your quilt blocks are different sizes, work on them a bit before you begin by using one or more of the techniques in my article about fixing problem quilt blocks. Often, all it takes is a thorough pressing to bring the blocks up to their correct size.
Setting-in is not difficult -- beginning quilters won't have a problem if they work slowly and methodically. But it's important to know where seam intersections are (or should be) at the corners of a block and on the inner edge of each frame -- more about that on the following pages.
Yardages will vary. If you choose to sew your block frames with only two fabrics, one darker than the other as illustrated above, you'll need about 1-1/2 yards of each. Read the entire pattern before you make fabric decisions.
Quilt Size: about 54" x 66" (add borders to increase size)
Backing & Batting: about 64" x 76" for each (How to Make Quilt Backing)
Binding: about 270 running inches of doublefold binding. Binding can finish at 1/4" or wider, since there are no block areas that will be chopped off around the quilt's edges, but a too-wide binding may detract from the light/dark shadowing. You can also use split the binding to match the dark and light areas on each side of the quilt.
