44. Sandy Varley – Stained Glass Window

Large Lap Quilt or Throw

sandyvarley@comcast.net 435-476-4535

All Day

This stunning is rotary cut and strip pieced in panels of French Braid, and is much, much easier than it looks. Guaranteed to elicit oohs, aahs, and envious looks from your quilter and non-quilter friends. They’ll never know how easy it was to make—you’re not going to tell them, right?

Skill Level: Confident beginner and up

Pattern fee: None

BSK

Supply List:

Book “French Braid Quilts” by Jane Hardy Miller highly recommended

24” Ruler

Fabric Requirements:

2 yards of non-directional, multicolored fabric for outer borders, separator bands, ending triangles, and center squares. You can also use this fabric for your accent squares.

2 yards black for leading and inner borders.

3/8 or ½ yard of accent square fabric if you are not using your multicolored fabric. 3/8 is for the three panels, ½ is for the four panels.

¼ or ½ yard of 8 to 10 fabrics for the braid run. Fat quarters are okay. They should be solids or tone on tones (batiks are perfect!) that pick up the colors in your multicolored fabric. Buy the smaller amount if you want three braid panels like in the book (pg. 42). Buy the larger amount if you want four braid panels like my sample.

Cutting Instructions:

This is enough to get you started, but bring your uncut fabric to class also.

Braid fabric: From each fabric, cut one strip 7” x WOF. Cut these strips into 2 rectangles 7” x 13.” OR, if using fat quarters, cut two 7” strips from selvedge to center, then trim each to 13”.

Accent fabric: Cut 4 strips 2” x WOF, then cut each strip into thirds

Black Fabric: From length of fabric, cut 8 strips 1 ¼” wide and set aside for inner borders and separator bands. Then, cut 10 or more (you will need at least 19 total, but not for class) strips ¾” wide, length of fabric. Cut 2 of these strips into 10 pieces 13” long.

Multicolored Fabric : Cut three squares 6 7/8 by 6 7/8” and six squares 6.5” by 6.5’ for a three panel quilt. Cut one more square of each size if you are making a four panel quilt. Cut these squares along the length of fabric, not the width. You will need the full length for your borders and separators bands later, unless you want seams in them. Cut each of the 6.5” squares diagonally to obtain half-square triangles. If you are using this fabric for your accent squares, cut 10 strips 2” x 13,” also along the length of fabric.

Note: finished size of your quilt will vary in length, depending on how many braid colors you choose, and in width, depending on how many panels you make. The quilt in the book has three panels and ten braid colors and measures 46” x 72” with 5.5” borders. I thought it was a little too skinny for the length and added another panel.