Colorful Garden Rows

Inspired by Scrap Happy from designer Christa Watson

Quilt tester: Laura Boehnke

• 21--2-1⁄2 ×42" strips or 1-1⁄2 yards cream tone-on-tone (blocks)
• 5--2-1⁄2 ×42" strips or  3⁄8 yard each green tone-on-tone and blue tone-on-tone (blocks)
• 5--2-1⁄2 ×42" strips or  3⁄8 yard each assorted purple, yellow, pink, and blue prints (blocks)
• 3⁄8 yard pink floral (inner border)
• 1-3⁄8 yards green floral (outer border, binding)
• 3-7⁄8 yards backing fabric
• 69" square batting

Finished quilt: 61" square

Finished blocks: 6×12", 12" square

Yardages and cutting instructions are based on 42" of usable fabric width. Measurements include 1⁄4" seam allowances. Sew with right sides together unless otherwise stated. Press seams in directions indicated by arrows on diagrams. If no direction is specified, press seam toward darker fabric.

Cut pieces in the following order.

From cream tone-on-tone, cut:

• 320--2-1⁄2" squares

From green tone-on-tone, cut:

• 64--2-1⁄2" squares

From blue tone-on-tone, cut:

• 64--2-1⁄2" squares

From each assorted print (purple, yellow, pink, and blue), cut:

• 64--2-1⁄2" squares

From pink floral, cut:

• 5--2×42" strips for inner border

From green floral, cut:

• 6--5-1⁄4×42" strips for outer border
• 7--2-1⁄2×42" binding strips

1. Use a pencil to mark a diagonal line on wrong side of 128 cream tone-on-tone 2-1⁄2" squares.

2. Layer a marked cream tone-on-tone square atop a green tone-on-tone 2-1⁄2" square. Sew on marked line (Diagram 1). Trim excess, leaving 1⁄4" seam allowance. Press open to make a triangle-square. The triangle-square should be 2-1⁄2" square including seam allowances. Repeat to make 64 green triangle-squares total.

3. Using remaining marked cream tone-on-tone 2-1⁄2" squares and blue tone-on-tone 2-1⁄2" squares, repeat Step 2 to make 64 blue triangle-squares.

4. Referring to Diagram 2 for orientation of cream tone-on-tone pieces, lay out one green triangle-square, four assorted purple print 2-1⁄2" squares, three cream tone-on-tone 2-1⁄2" squares, and one blue triangle-square in three rows. Sew together pieces in rows. Join rows to make a corner unit. The unit should be 6-1⁄2" square including seam allowances. Repeat to make 16 purple corner units total.

5. Using assorted yellow, pink, and blue prints instead of purple, repeat Step 4 to make 16 corner units in each colorway.

6. Sew together two purple corner units to make Block A (Diagram 3; note orientation of cream tone-on-tone pieces). The block should be 6-1⁄2 ×12-1⁄2" including seam allowances. Repeat to make a second purple A block.

7. Using pink corner units, repeat Step 6 to make two pink A blocks.

8. Sew together four purple corner units in pairs (Diagram 4; note orientation of cream tone-on-tone pieces). Join pairs to make Block B. The block should be 12-1⁄2" square including seam allowances. Repeat to make three purple B blocks total.

9. Using yellow, pink, and blue corner units, repeat Step 8 to make four yellow B blocks, three pink B blocks, and four blue B blocks.

1. Referring to Quilt Assembly Diagram, lay out blocks in four vertical rows, starting and ending odd-numbered rows with A blocks. Sew together blocks in rows. Press seams open. Join rows to make quilt center; press seams open. The quilt center should be 48-1⁄2" square including seam allowances.

2. Cut and piece pink floral 2×42" strips to make:

• 2--2×51-1⁄2" inner border strips
• 2--2×48-1⁄2" inner border strips

3. Sew short pink floral inner border strips to opposite edges of quilt center. Add long pink floral inner border strips to remaining edges. Press all seams toward inner border.

4. Cut and piece green floral 5-1⁄4×42" strips to make:

• 2--5-1⁄4×61" outer border strips
• 2--5-1⁄4×51-1⁄2" outer border strips

5. Sew short green floral outer border strips to opposite edges of quilt center. Add long green floral outer border strips to remaining edges to complete quilt top. Press all seams toward outer border.

1. Layer quilt top, batting, and backing; baste.

2. Quilt as desired. Machine-quilter Cheryl Duncan used two layers of batting-a wool and Hobbs 80/20. In the block portions she quilted a traditional design that fits the points of the pieced blocks, and in the outer border she quilted a feather motif (Quilting Diagram). "The background looked like latticework to me, so I followed the piecing and used a ruler to quilt a crosshatch pattern," Cheryl says.

3. Bind quilt with green floral binding strips.