This modern half square rectangle quilt is a combination of fabrics, pattern and techniques.
The fabric: whites, grays & blues from many different Zen Chic collections by Brigitte Heitland and Kona white. Kona Ash is the binding and a grey dimple dot minky for the backing called Silver from Hawthorne Threads.
The pattern: Harlequin by Robin Pickens was my inspiration. I bought the pattern to help me figure out color placement and guide me towards a modern vibe.
The Technique: Deb Tucker's Split Rects template and video for assembly. I made a few blocks following the Harlequin pattern - but found I liked the consistent way Deb Tucker allows you to make over sized blocks and then trim down. This quilt block can be called "half rectangle", "split rectangle" or "split rects".
The way you cut your fabric makes a big difference. If you cut the fabric with all pieces right side up - the diagonal goes left to right. If you cut the fabric with the wrong side up - the diagonal goes right to left.
To achieve the mirror image or diamond look of this quilt - I cut the fabric both ways, right sides up AND wrong sides up.
It wasn't possible to follow exactly the Harlequin pattern for fabric placement - but it did give me a starting point. My objective was to balance the darks and lights and scatter the blues so they looked even.
I laid out the bulk of the pattern row by row using the unfinished, un-sewn half rectangles. I took a picture as I did each row in case anything fell off the design board. I put numbered pins on the left side of every 'unit' when I was ready to sew them together.
After sewing and still keeping the numbered pins on the left side - I trimmed them to their final size of 3.5" x 6.5" using the Split Rects ruler. Then I sewed a row together and put it back on the board. (above left is an unfinished unit - the right one is unfinished but trimmed)
You can see how much smaller the finished units all sewn together look next to the original cut pieces - but the accuracy and perfect matching up made it all worth while.
Last to do was layout the top, bottom and sides with a variety of whites. It was easier to sew together the 'inside' of this quilt and do the whites last because I ran out of room on my design board.
Quilting was done with a walking foot, straight lines 1/4" on either side of the seams. Lots of vertical, horizontal & diagonal lines in Aurifil Thread 50wt. #2311 (muslin) on the top and #2600 Dove for the bottom. Not the fanciest of quilting but I think it makes a nice 'modern' design for those of us who don't know how to free motion.
Final tips:
I did wash and starch all the fabric.
Trimming on a rotating mat was very helpful.
I am not a math wiz but: 1 yard of fabric yields around 90 separate half square rectangle pieces. There are 38 separate pieces per row across and there are 12 rows down. Total separate pieces: 456 for a quilt 58"x 73". That means over 5 yards total for this quilt.
Why did I over cut and have lots of extra fabric? I needed units that went 'right' and 'left' to create the diamond effect - and figuring out how many of each and in what colors was beyond me. This is someone's wedding quilt and needed to be pretty perfect. Good news is that I have enough left overs to make a more relaxed pattern where the diagonals can go any which way - whew!
Materials:
Zen Chic variety / Brigitte Heitland
Kona White and Ash
Warm & White batting
Silver (gray) minky / Hawthorne Threads
Aurifil Thread 50wt. #2600 & #2311
Deb Tucker's Split Rects Ruler
Pattern inspired: Harlequin by Robin Pickens
Size: 58" x 73"
February 2019
I love the colors you chose! What a beautiful quilt—I'm sure it will be a cherished gift. You've inspired me to try making some HRTs!
ReplyDeleteThank you Nancy - it is fun and so versatile. Trimming the block down is absolutely the way to go. I would love to see what you make :)
DeleteI am new to your site. I had purchased the Harlequin quilt pattern from Robin Pickens last year and really struggled to use her templates and get the quilt to come out correctly. I finally gave up. Since seeing your quilt, I'm going to try again. I think I was trying to get too many colors in my quilt and the balance was just off. I do love the pattern and I especially like your version of it. I think that ruler will help also. It had been years since I worked with making my own templates and I realized how much I hate it once I got started. I also found that starching the heck out of the fabric greatly increases your chance of success. Your color arrangement looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteDear Maxine - I am so happy that you are giving this pattern another go. This is one to really layout before hand and step back to see the 'diamonds' even though its assembled row by row. Make a copy of your pattern guide and draw a rectangle for the middle portion of the quilt and do that first. Then play with the outside and top edges to create that modern staggered look last. If you need any feedback or help please feel free to contact me - I would love to help.
DeleteWhat brand of ruler are you using?
ReplyDeleteI use Deb Tucker's Split Rects ruler, Here is another blog post using the same ruler and same sized units - but cut so that the units 'face left' instead of like a pyramid. Deb Tucker has a good video on how to cut fabric using this ruler and I watched it many times to help me with both quilts.
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