Red, White, and Blue Table Topper- a Tutorial

Once again, I'm racing to get my little quilts and patterns out in time for the seasons. It's mid June already, so I whipped up a table topper for the Fourth of July, one that can be quickly made with time to spare. The patches are all made from squares, half square triangles and 1" strips. The finished size is 17" square.

"Red, White, and Blue", 17" x 17"

This takes only a few small pieces of fabrics. You need five main fabrics for the star and a few red and white pieces for the center square. 

Fabrics

• two blues, one dark, one a lighter print
• two reds, one dark, one a lighter print
• one white
• scraps of reds and whites for center square
• 1/8 yard white print for border
• 1/8 yard dark blue for binding
• one fat quarter for backing

Cutting

• From dark blue, cut eight squares, 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
• From lighter blue, cut four squares, 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
• From dark red, cut four squares, 3" x 3".
• From light red, cut four squares, 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
• From white, cut four squares 3" x 3" and eight squares 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".
• From red and white scraps, cut six strips, 1 1/2" x 8". 
• From white border print, cut two strips 1 1/2" x 15 1/2" and two strips 1 1/2" x 17 1/2".

Note: All seams are 1/4". For best results with this pattern, press seams open.

Make the Center Square:

1.  Sew the red and white strips of fabric together, side by side alternating darker fabrics with lighter fabrics. Press.

2. From this set, cut five strips, each 1 1/2" wide. 

 Note: I made a mistake in choosing fabrics. O thought the bottom row would present as a white, but he two fabrics on the ends were much too similar. As a result my finished center square has one edge that doesn't match up the way I'd like.

3. Turn every other strip 180 º. Align the strips in a checkerboard pattern. Remove an extra square from one end of each strip leaving five squares in each.

 4. Sew the five strips together to make one square, 5 1/2" x 5 1/2".

Even with more rearranging, I couldn't avoid having one end of the square with too little contrast.

Make the Half Square Triangle Patches

1. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of each 3 1/2" white square and each square of the lighter blue print.

2. With right sides together:
- Lay a 3 1/2" white square on each the four 3 1/2" lighter red squares.
- Lay a 3 1/2" white square on each of four 3 1/2" dark blue squares.
- Lay a lighter bue square on each of the remaining four dark blue squares.

 3. Sew 1/4" from either side of the lines drawn. Cut on the drawn line, open each half and press open to make half square triangle patches. You will have four patches of each combination. Trim each patch to 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".

Unit A
Make two

Unit A

1. Assemble top row as shown below. Sew all patches right sides together.
From left to right: white square, red and white half square triangle patch, blue and white half square triangle patch, blue and white half square triangle patch, red and white half square triangle patch, white square. Press.

Top row: make two

2. Assemble bottom row with patches right sides together as shown below.
From left to right: red and white patch, red square, dark blue and light blue patch, dark blue and light blue patch, red square, red and white patch.Press.

Bottom row: make two.

3. Sew the two rows right sides together, matching seams. Press.

Unit B
Make 2

1. For each unit, with right sides together, sew two dark blue and light blue patches together with the dark blue triangles together as shown. Then sew two dark blue and white patches together with the white triangles together as shown.

2. For each unit, sew a dark blue and light blue section and a blue and white section together with dark blue triangles together.

Assemble

1. Sew a unit B to each of two opposite sides of the center square.

2. Sew a unit A to the top and bottom of the center square and unit B strip.

3. Sew a 1 1/2" x 15 1/2" strip of white border fabric to each of two opposite sides of the completed star. Press to the border.

4. Sew a 1 1/2" x 17 1/2" strip of border fabric to the remaining two sides of the star. Press to the border.

 

 Add batting and backing. Quilt as desired. Attach binding.

Enjoy!!