Hey everyone. Today we're making a wall hanging quilt, and I'll show you how one grey wideback print can do all the talking with no piecing at all.
Here we go.
Meet the fabric
This is the 108" Vitality Chic Grey Cotton Wideback Fabric per yard from P&B Textiles.
It is cotton. It is 108 inches wide. And this colorway is a calm, modern grey.
The product notes say this design exudes visual movement. I love that, y'all. It is not flat or sleepy.
P&B calls it sophisticated and chic. Vitality is offered in 9 colors. This grey is the one we're sewing with today.
P&B says it is ideal for a quilt backing, and stylish enough to hold its own as a duvet cover, pillows, or other home décor accents. If it can hold its own in home décor, folks, it can hold a wall.
That width is the real gift. At 108 inches, you cut your front and your back from one length. No piecing. No seam down the middle. Just like that, the hardest part is done.
The project: a wall hanging quilt
We're making a simple whole-cloth wall hanging. One piece for the front, the same print for the back, batting in the middle, and binding all around.
Finished size is about 36 by 48 inches. Big enough to notice, small enough for a weekend. Super duper fun.
Why this fabric? The print wants room to move. Cut it small and you lose that sweep. Keep it whole and the movement becomes the design.
My preference is gentle wavy quilting lines that follow the print. Straight lines 3 to 4 inches apart work too, and they look clean and modern. Completely up to you.
We will add a simple hanging sleeve on the back. A wooden dowel slides right in. Easy up, easy down.
Materials list
- 1 1/2 yards of this 108-inch wideback — enough for the front, the back, and the hanging sleeve, with room for squaring up
- Batting cut about 40 by 52 inches — low to medium loft keeps it hanging flat
- 1/2 yard of coordinating cotton for binding — 5 strips at 2 1/2 inches wide
- Thread to blend — a medium grey disappears nicely
- A wooden dowel about 34 inches long, a walking foot, pins or basting spray, ruler, rotary cutter, and an iron
Cut math: cut two pieces, each about 40 by 52 inches. Side by side across the 108-inch width — 40 plus 40 is 80, with room for your sleeve. The 52-inch length fits inside 1 1/2 yards (54 inches). Trim after quilting to 36 by 48 inches.
Brief steps
- Press the fabric well. Smooth fabric cuts straighter. Take your time — it's not a race.
- Cut your two 40 by 52 inch pieces, print direction running the same way on both.
- Layer it up: back piece face down, batting centered, front piece face up. Smooth from the middle out.
- Baste well. Pin every 6 to 8 inches, or use spray baste.
- Quilt from the center out. I use a stitch length around 3.0 and a walking foot, hands flat — guiding, not pulling.
- Square up to 36 by 48 inches.
- Make the sleeve: cut a strip about 9 by 34 inches from your leftover wideback, hem the short ends, fold it lengthwise, and stitch it along the top of the back, raw edges up.
- Join your binding strips, press in half, and sew around with a 1/4-inch seam. Fold to the back and stitch in the ditch, or finish by hand. Tie off and press.
- Slide the dowel through the sleeve and hang it up.
Slow down at the binding corners, folks. That is where layers love to bunch. Pivot with the needle down, fold a neat miter, and keep going.
Practical tips for a flat, happy hanging
First, block it before you bind it. Lay it flat, mist it lightly, and let it dry square. Really really simple, and it hangs so much straighter.
Second, keep your quilting even across the whole piece. Uneven quilting will pull it out of shape.
Third, leave about an inch of ease in that sleeve. A too-tight sleeve makes the top edge curl.
And here's the permission part. It does not have to be perfect. You're your own worst critic. If a wavy line wanders a bit, that is the print doing its job — movement, remember?
If I can do this, y'all can do this. We're not reinventing the wheel here. One wideback, a little batting, and a blank wall gets a whole new mood.
Thanks for sewing along with me today. We'll see you next time. Bye.
Shop the 108" Vitality Chic Grey Cotton Wideback Fabric per yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
