Hey everyone. Today you will learn how to let one beautiful fabric do all the talking in a whole-cloth quilt.
Here we go.
The fabric is the 108" Quilt Back Flower of Life Orange Crush Cotton Wideback Fabric per yard, from Windham Fabrics.
That title tells you a lot. So let us break it down slow.
First, it is cotton. Second, it is a wideback. The width of fabric is 108 inches.
That is really, really wide, y'all.
Third, look at that name. Flower of Life. Orange Crush.
The product tags call out floral, flowers, geometric, abstract, orange, and multicolor. So this is not a quiet little print hiding in the corner.
It has a pattern worth showing off. And it has color worth showing off.
It was made by Windham Fabrics by Marcia Derse.
We are going to use it for a quilt. A whole quilt top. No piecing required.
If I can do this, y'all can do it.
Why a whole-cloth quilt suits this fabric
A whole-cloth quilt uses one piece of fabric for the top. You do not cut it into blocks. You do not sew it back together.
You just let the print shine. Just like that.
That is perfect here. The Flower of Life design does not need help from a busy block pattern.
And that 108-inch width is the real helper. A throw quilt at 60 by 72 inches fits across that width with room to spare.
No seam down the middle. No piecing a back together. We are not reinventing the wheel here.
You can quilt it by hand. You can quilt it on your home machine. Or you can quilt it with freehand, meander, echo, or ruler work.
Completely up to you.
Materials list
- 2 yards of this 108-inch cotton wideback for the top — that gives you 108 by 72 inches before trimming
- One more piece of fabric for the back, or use more of this wideback if you love the print on both sides
- Batting cut about 64 by 76 inches, so it extends past the top on all sides
- Thread you like for quilting — I reach for a smooth quilting thread and test my tension first
- Binding: about 7 strips cut 2.5 inches wide, joined for roughly 280 inches of binding for a 60 by 72 inch quilt
- Safety pins or basting spray, a walking foot if you have one, and a fresh needle in the size your machine and thread call for
Brief steps
Step 1: Press and square. Press the fabric well. Lay it flat. Trim it to your working size, keeping the design centered where you can.
Step 2: Make the sandwich. Lay the backing wrong side up. Center the batting. Center the top right side up. Smooth from the middle out.
Step 3: Baste. Pin every 4 to 6 inches, or use basting spray lightly. Take your time here. Good basting saves you puckers later.
Step 4: Quilt it. Start in the center. Work out. Try echo quilting around the floral and geometric shapes. Or do a simple meander across the whole top.
Keep your quilting lines about 2 to 4 inches apart unless your batting says otherwise. Always check your batting package for its own quilting distance.
Slow down on thick spots. Slow down or the needle snaps — and nobody needs that excitement.
Step 5: Trim and bind. Trim the sandwich square. Sew your 2.5-inch binding strips around the edge with a quarter-inch seam. Fold to the back and finish by hand or machine.
Practical tips from my table
Test first. Always. Use a scrap sandwich and check your stitches per inch and your tension before you touch the real quilt.
If your echo lines wander a little, please hear me. It does not have to be perfect.
You are your own worst critic. Folks who love you will see a warm quilt in a joyful orange print. They will not bring a ruler to dinner.
Take your time. It is not a race.
And here is my honest mistake to save you one. I have rushed the basting before. Oh my goodness. The back shifted, and I had to take stitches out.
Now I baste, then I walk away for ten minutes. I come back and smooth it one more time. Super duper simple. It works.
One more option. Make it smaller, at 40 by 50 inches, for a friendly first try.
Completely up to you.
Thank you so much for sewing along with me today. We will see you next time. Bye.
Shop the 108" Quilt Back Flower of Life Orange Crush Cotton Wideback Fabric per yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
