Lap Quilt Pattern with Christmas Orchard Blocks

By Janet Wickell

Quilting Expert

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Sew an Easy Christmas Orchard Quilt

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Christmas Orchard Lap Quilt Pattern - Janet Wickell

Christmas Orchard Lap Quilt. Photo Credit: Janet Wickell

Updated November 05, 2015.

Try this Easy Lap Quilt Pattern

Christmas Orchard is a lap quilt pattern with small-scale blocks that are also perfect for a toddler quilt. The design is is made up of two traditional quilt blocks, Practical Orchard, and Snowball. My example is Christmas themed but it's easy to change the quilt's appearance by selecting different fabrics.

A poinsettia Christmas fabric is used at the center of the Snowball quilt blocks and then surrounded by gold.

Gold continues vertically in Practical Orchard, with squares separated by a quarter-square triangle unit.
Green replaces gold in the vertically positioned squares.

Quilt blocks: 6" square finished size

Quilt size: about 45" x 57"

Materials You'll Need for the Lap Quilt

Poinsettia fabric for Snowball centers: 3/4 yard

Gold for squares, quarter-square triangles, and the narrow border: 7/8 yard

Neutral for squares: 1/2 yard

Red for quarter-square triangles and the inner border: 1 yard

Green for squares and outer border: 1-1/4 yard

Backing: 4 yards (there will be leftovers; buy about 1/4 yard more and use part of the backing yardage for snowball centers) Learn How to Make Quilt Backing.

Batting: About 55" x 67"

Binding: About 250 running inches of doublefold binding (Binding Strip Instructions)

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Make Snowball Quilt Blocks for the Christmas Orchard Quilt

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Easy Snowball Quilt Block Pattern - Janet Wickell

Make the Snowball Quilt Blocks. Photo Credit: Janet Wickell

Make the Snowball Quilt Blocks

Cut (6) 6-1/2" strips of poinsettia fabric from selvage to selvage. Square up one end of each strip and cut a total of (17) 6-1/2" x 6-1/2" squares.
Cut (4) 2-1/2" strips of gold fabric from selvage to selvage; cut another strip, 2-1/2" x 11". Square up one end of each strip and cut a total of (68) 2-1/2" squares.
Draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner on the reverse side of each square.

Align a square with one corner of a 6-1/2" Snowball center, right side down, matching edges carefully and diagonal line placed as shown in the illustration.
Sew a seam directly on the marked line. Repeat in remaining corners.
Press as sewn to set the seams. Trim away each corner, about 1/4" outward from the seam line. Flip each gold corner right side up and press seam allowances towards the Snowball center. The block should measure 6-1/2" x 6-1/2".
Make a total of (17) identical quilt blocks.

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How to Make Practical Orchard Quilt Blocks

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Easy Quilt Block Patterns - Janet Wickell

Make the Practical Orchard Quilt Blocks. Photo Credit: Janet Wickell

Sew the Practical Orchard Quilt Blocks

Cut a 3-1/4" x 33" strip of red and another of gold. Square up one end of each strip and cut (9) 3-1/4" x 3-1/4" squares from each.
Use the a quick piecing method to combine gold squares with red squares to make (18) half-square triangle units that measure 2-7/8" x 2-7/8" when complete.
Use the half-square triangle units as parents to create (18) quarter-square triangle units. Be sure to sew together with unlike colors facing. Units should measure 2-1/2" square (Quarter Square Instructions)

Cut (4) 2-1/2" selvage to selvage strips of neutral; cut (2) 2-1/2" x 11" strips of neutral.
Cut (2) 2-1/2" selvage to selvage strips of green; cut (1) 2-1/2" x 11" strips of green.
Sew a strip set as shown in the middle portion of the illustration, placing a long neutral strip lengthwise on each side of the long green strip.
Press seam allowances towards the green center. Square up one end of the strip set and cut (16) 2-1/2" segments from it.
Make another identical strip set and cut (16) more segments. Make a strip set from the shorter fabric strips and cut (4) segments.
Cut (2) 2-1/2" selvage to selvage strips of gold; cut (1) 2-1/2" x 11" strips of gold. Cut a total of (36) 2-1/2" squares from the strips.
Matching edges carefully, sew a gold square on each side of the gold/red quarter-square triangle units as shown, placing the red triangles against the gold squares. Press seam allowances towards the gold squares.
Make a total of (18) identical units.
Sew a neutral/green/neutral row to either side of the gold/red middle row. Press seams away from the center row.

Make a total of (18) quilt blocks. Each block should measure 6-1/2" x 6-1/2".

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Finish Sewing the Christmas Orchard Quilt

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Christmas Quilt Patterns - Janet Wickell

Two blocks used in the Christmas Orchard quilt. Photo Credit: Janet Wickell

Assemble the Christmas Orchard Quilt

Refer to the illustration on page 1.

Arrange the quilt blocks in seven rows, each row with five blocks. Lay out blocks so that they alternate from row to row as shown.
Check layout and then sew the blocks in each row together, matching seams carefully. Press new seam allowances towards the Practical Orchard quilt blocks.
Sew rows together, butting seams for a perfect match. Use straight pins to keep fabrics from shifting as you sew.