Hey everyone. Today we're making a bright wall hanging, and we're letting one happy print do most of the work.
Meet the Fabric
This is Bits And Bobs Squares Teal from FIGO Fabrics. It's from the Bits And Bobs collection by Sarah Hearts. And oh my goodness, it is cheerful.
The collection celebrates the joy of making, for sewists, quilters, and makers. It's filled with tools we all love. Buttons. Vintage spools. Pins. Measuring tape. Scissors. Zippers. Notions. Even classic ric-rac.
This print is the Squares design in the teal colorway. Teal gives it a fresh, bright base. The wider collection palette pulls in black, cream, pink, teal, orange, and taupe, too. So it feels modern and playful, not fussy.
It's 100% premium cotton. It runs 44"/45" wide. That's good, honest quilting cotton, y'all. It presses crisp. It lies nice and flat. And it sews like a dream.
Here's why that matters here. A wall hanging is flat on display. There's nowhere for a great print to hide. You want one that looks good from across the room, and this one does.
The Project: A Wall Hanging
We're making a simple wholecloth-style wall hanging. No piecing marathon. No tiny seams to match. Just this fabric as the star, lightly quilted, bound, and hung up.
Finished size is about 24" wide by 30" long. That's a sweet size for a sewing room wall, over a cutting table, or in a hallway nook.
Why does this fabric suit it? Simple. It says a maker lives here. The teal brightens the wall, and the sewing theme keeps it personal. Super duper cute.
Keeping the top in one piece lets the print shine, too. We're not reinventing the wheel here. Sometimes the simplest project is the smartest one.
Materials
- 1 yard Bits And Bobs Squares Teal — that gives you plenty for a top cut 24 1/2" by 30 1/2", with room to square up
- Cotton batting, about 28" by 34"
- 1 yard cotton for backing
- 1/4 yard cotton for binding — cut into 2 1/2" strips, joined to make about 120" of binding
- Matching 50-weight thread for quilting
- A wooden dowel or slim rod about 26" long for hanging
- Rotary cutter or scissors, ruler, pins or clips, iron, and your sewing machine
Brief Steps
- Press your fabric well. Square it up. Then cut the top to 24 1/2" by 30 1/2". Take your time here. A straight cut makes everything else easier.
- Layer it up. Backing wrong side up, batting in the middle, top right side up. Smooth from the center out. Pin or spray-baste the layers so nothing shifts.
- Quilt it simply. Stitch in the ditch or echo around the shapes if you like. Or try straight lines about 2" apart. Keep your stitch length around 3.0 for quilting. Slow down on thicker spots. Just like that.
- Trim the sandwich to exactly 24" by 30". Square your corners as you go. Check each corner with your ruler before you cut.
- Add a hanging sleeve on the back. Use a backing scrap cut 8" by 24". Hem the short ends, fold it lengthwise, and stitch it to the top back edge before you bind. Leave the middle loose for the dowel.
- Bind all four edges with your 2 1/2" strips, using a 1/4" seam allowance. Slip the dowel through the sleeve. Hang it up and step back.
Practical Tips
Prewash only if you plan to wash it later. For a wall piece, most folks skip it. Either way works. Completely up to you. Just decide before you cut.
If your quilting puckers, press gently and check your tension. Let the machine feed it. I have wrestled a wall hanging before. It never helps. Slowing down does.
Warn you right here, friends. Check your sleeve opening before you finish the binding. If the dowel won't slide through, you'll be picking stitches. Ask me how I know. Make the sleeve a touch roomy and save yourself the fix.
And here's the permission part, y'all. Your quilting lines don't have to be perfect. You're your own worst critic here. From three feet away, this looks great. It's not a race. Enjoy the make.
If you want it bigger, add a border. If you want it smaller, trim it down for a mini. Completely up to you.
If I can do this, y'all can do it. Hang that teal up, let it brighten the room, and enjoy it every time you walk in to sew.
Thanks so much for sewing along with me. We'll see you next time. Bye.
Shop the Bits And Bobs Squares Teal 44"/45" Cotton Fabric Per Yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
