Lucky Charm
QUILTS
17 Delightful Patterns for Precut 5" Squares
Compiled by Lissa Alexander
Moda All-Stars
Lucky Charm Quilts: 17 Delightful Patterns for Precut 5" Squares
© 2017 by Martingale & Company®
Martingale®
19021 120th Ave. NE, Ste. 102
Bothell, WA 98011-9511 USA
ShopMartingale.com
eBook Edition: 2017
No part of this product may be reproduced in any form, unless otherwise stated, in which case reproduction is limited to the use of the purchaser. The written instructions, photographs, designs, projects, and patterns are intended for the personal, noncommercial use of the retail purchaser and are under federal copyright laws; they are not to be reproduced by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, including informational storage or retrieval systems, for commercial use. Permission is granted to photocopy patterns for the personal use of the retail purchaser. Attention teachers: Martingale encourages you to use this book for teaching, subject to the restrictions stated above.
The information in this book is presented in good faith, but no warranty is given nor results guaranteed. Since Martingale has no control over choice of materials or procedures, the company assumes no responsibility for the use of this information.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
eISBN: 978-1-60468-847-4
Original Source ISBN: 978-1-60468-846-7
SPECIAL THANKS
Thanks to Suzie and Bernhard Bauer of Snohomish, Washington, and Lynn Austin of Kirkland, Washington, for allowing the photography for this book to take place in their homes.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
One Charm Pack
Teatime Quilt by Laurie Simpson
Forever Friends by Lisa Bongean
Simply Charmed by Sherri McConnell
Holiday Charm by Lynne Hagmeier
Hexagon Braid by Jenny Doan
Two Charm Packs
Two-Pack Buzz by Barbara Groves and Mary Jacobson
Scrappy Christmas by Anne Sutton
Sweet Stripes by Karla Eisenach
Heading West by Pat Sloan
Prairie Nights by Kathy Schmitz
Spring Mosaic by Sandy Gervais
Three Charm Packs
Three Times a Charm by Sandy Klop
Tire Tracks by Carrie Nelson and Tammy Vonderschmitt
Spinning Tops by Jen Kingwell
Beehive by Deb Strain
Flying Geese by Bonnie Olaveson
Little Village, Big Woods by Janet Clare
MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS
Introduction
Everyone loves a charm pack. What quilter can resist the delightful little bundles of 5" squares that include at least one square (sometimes two!) of every fabric in a collection? Shops often keep these impulse-worthy bundles near the checkout stand. It’s so easy to toss another charm pack on the pile!
But let’s be real. Sometimes our enthusiasm to acquire outpaces our plan to sew these little bundles. What to do? Stop collecting? Never! It’s time to turn those charm squares into fabulous quilts.
You’re in luck! Enter the talented, creative, and always-charming Moda All-Stars designers. This time, they’ve got you covered with projects as easy as 1, 2, 3—one, two, or three charm packs, that is! Every project in this book begins with charm packs. Add some background fabric and you’re all set.
And best of all, know that your purchase of this book makes you a lucky charm, of sorts, for children with cancer. All royalties for the book are being donated to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (AlexsLemonade.org), an organization dedicated to raising funds for research into new treatments and cures for all children battling cancer. Together, let’s do good and quilt an end to this disease forever.
~Lissa Alexander
Teatime Quilt by Laurie Simpson
FINISHED QUILT: 21¾" x 26¾"
FINISHED BLOCKS: 3¾" x 3¾" and 3¾" x 5"
CHARM PACKS NEEDED:
Dress up a table or wall with a cheerful checkered quilt in a classic combination of red, cream, and blue. Use a charm pack that includes a variety of red on cream prints to add a scrappy touch.
Materials
Yardage is based on 42"-wide fabric. Charm squares are 5" x 5".
32 cream print charm squares for blocks
3 red print charm squares for accent squares
⅔ yard of red print for blocks and binding
¼ yard of blue plaid linen/cotton for rectangles*
⅔ yard of fabric for backing
26" x 31" piece of batting
*Depending on your fabric, more yardage might be needed to fussy-cut the rectangles to center the plaid motif.
Cutting
All measurements include ¼"-wide seam allowances.
From each cream print charm square, cut:
2 strips, 1¾" x 5" (64 total)
From each red print charm square, cut:
1 square, 4¼" x 4¼" (3 total)
From the red print for blocks and binding, cut:
3 strips, 5" x 42"; crosscut the strips into 65 strips, 1¾" x 5"
3 strips, 2" x 42"*
*Feel free to cut wider binding strips if desired.
From the blue plaid, cut:
6 rectangles, 4¼" x 5½"**
**Laurie fussy-cut the blue plaid, centering the intersecting blue lines in each rectangle.
Assembling the Blocks
Press the seam allowances as indicated by the arrows.
1 Sew one cream strip between two red strips to make strip set A. Make 22. From each strip set, crosscut two 1¾"-wide segments for a total of 44 A segments.
2 Sew one red strip between two cream strips to make strip set B. Make 21. From each strip set, crosscut two 1¾"-wide segments for a total of 42 B segments.
3 To make block A, arrange two A segments and one B segment in three rows as shown. Join the rows. Make 10 A blocks measuring 4¼" square.
4 To make block B, arrange two B segments and one A segment in three rows as shown. Join the rows. Make eight B blocks measuring 4¼" square.
5 To make block C, arrange two A segments and two B segments in four rows as shown. Join the rows. Make eight C blocks measuring 4¼" x 5½".
Assembling the Quilt
Press the seam allowances as indicated by the arrows. Lay out the A, B, and C blocks with the red squares and plaid rectangles in seven rows as shown. Join the units in each row, and then join the rows. The quilt should measure 21¾" x 26¾".
Finishing the Quilt
Go to ShopMartingale.com/HowtoQuilt for more details on quilting and finishing.
1 Layer the backing, batting, and quilt top; baste the layers together. Quilt as desired. The quilt shown was hand quilted in diagonal parallel lines placed 1¾" apart.
2 Use the red 2"-wide strips to make the binding and attach it to the quilt.
Charmed, I’m Sure!
from LAURIE SIMPSON
If Laurie Simpson’s charm oozed out in colors, it would be red, white, and blue all over! She’s the quilty half of the Minick and Simpson fabric design team (MinickandSimpson.blogspot.com).
What charms me most about charm packs is rifling through them like a deck of cards. It’s fabric magic!
Same or different? If you’re making a project with multiple charm packs, are you more likely to use two or three from the same collection or from different collections? Always different. The more the merrier.
This works like a charm for me every time: Starching the fabric and, if the pattern allows it, trimming the p
inked edges.
About those pinked edges, here’s my advice for taking them into account when you sew: If possible, I trim them. If the pattern calls for a full 5" square, then I close my eyes and wing it.
Besides a 5" charm-square, my other go-to precut shape is a fat quarter.
If I taught at Quilters’ Finishing School, I’d teach the students to hand quilt—preferably with your feet up, sitting in a comfy chair, and watching something nice on TV.
If I had to pick a “lucky” charm out of a charm pack, I’d choose one that was either red, white, or blue.
Forever Friends by Lisa Bongean
FINISHED QUILTS: 17" square each
FINISHED BLOCK: 3" x 3"
CHARM PACKS NEEDED:
Just one charm pack is all it takes to make a pair of coordinating mini-quilts—one to keep and one to give to a treasured friend. Embellish the corner of the quilt with a touch of wool appliqué and a sweet embroidered sentiment.
Materials
The supplies listed are enough to make 2 mini-quilts. Yardage is based on 42"-wide fabric. Charm squares are 5" x 5".
1 charm pack of tan, brown, and red prints for blocks (you’ll need 18 tan, 10 brown, and 9 red squares)
1 yard of tan solid for blocks, sashing, border, and binding
1 square, 5" x 5", of red wool for appliqué
⅝ yard of fabric for backing
2 squares, 21" x 21", of batting
Primitive Gatherings ¾" half-square-triangle charm paper*
Removable fabric marker
Fusible web (such as Lite Steam-A-Seam 2)
Coordinating pearl cotton and chenille needle for appliqué and embroidery
* This piecing paper is designed to efficiently and accurately make 18 tiny half-square-triangle units from charm squares.
Cutting
All measurements include ¼"-wide seam allowances.
From 1 of the brown charm squares, cut:
8 squares, 1¼" x 1¼"
From the tan solid, cut:
3 strips, 3½" x 42"; crosscut into:
4 strips, 3½" x 17"
4 strips, 3½" x 11"
24 rectangles, 1¼" x 3½"
4 strips, 1¼" x 42"*
*Lisa used 1¼"-wide strips to make a single-fold binding that fits the small scale of the quilts, but cut 2½"-wide strips if you prefer a double-fold binding.
Assembling the Blocks
Press the seam allowances as indicated by the arrows. Each block is made from one dark (red or brown) charm square and one tan charm square. Select nine red and nine brown charm squares. Pair each dark square with one tan square for a total of 18 pairs.
1 Place one dark and one tan square right sides together with the tan square on top. Center one triangle piecing paper on the tan square. Shorten the machine stitch length to approximately 1 mm. Sew along the marked lines on the piecing paper as indicated by the manufacturer’s instructions.
2 Cut through the layers along all of the solid lines as indicated by the manufacturer’s instructions. With the paper still in place, press the seam allowances of each half-square triangle. Remove the paper from each unit by bending it away from the fabric and then pulling it from the center close to the seam. Trim away the dog-ears. Each charm square pair will yield 18 half-square-triangle units that are 1¼" square, including seam allowances; 16 are needed for each block.
3 Lay out 16 matching half-square-triangle units in four rows of four as shown. Join the units in each row, and then join the rows. The block should measure 3½" square. Make nine brown blocks and nine red blocks.
Assembling the Quilt Tops
Press the seam allowances as indicated by the arrows.
1 Lay out the blocks for each quilt top in three rows of three, alternating the brown and red blocks as shown. One quilt top will have four red and five brown blocks, and the other will have five red blocks and four brown blocks.
2 Place a tan 1¼" x 3½" rectangle between the blocks in each row. For the two sashing rows in each quilt, lay out three tan 1¼" x 3½" rectangles alternating with two brown squares as shown in the quilt assembly diagram. Join the units in each row, and then join the rows. Each quilt center should measure 11" square.
3 Sew the tan 3½" x 11" border strips to the sides of each quilt top; press the seam allowances toward the border. Sew the 3½" x 17" strips to the top and bottom of each quilt top; press. Each quilt top should measure 17" square.
Embellishing the Quilts
1 Use a removable fabric marker and light box or your preferred transfer method to trace the forever friends embroidery design on page 15 onto each bottom border, referring to the photo on page 11 for placement. Embroider the design using a chenille needle, pearl cotton, and the stem stitch.
2 Trace the heart template on page 15 twice onto the paper side of a piece of fusible web. Fuse the web to the wrong side of the wool square, and then cut out two hearts along the drawn lines. Remove the paper backing, and then fuse one heart to each quilt, referring to the photo for placement. Hand stitch the edge of each heart using pearl cotton and a blanket stitch or whipstitch.
Finishing the Quilt
Go to ShopMartingale.com/HowtoQuilt for more details on quilting and finishing.
1 Layer the backing, batting, and quilt top; baste the layers together. Hand or machine quilt as desired. The quilts shown were machine quilted in the ditch, by Valerie Krueger, to outline the shapes of the blocks. The borders were quilted with large curving feathers and parallel lines.
2 Use the tan 1¼"-wide strips to make single-fold binding and attach it to the quilts.
Charmed, I’m Sure!
from LISA BONGEAN
Lisa Bongean (LisaBongean.com) packs a whole lot of charm into little bitty pieces with her signature patchwork style. She’s both the brains and the beauty behind the Primitive Gatherings fabric line.
What charms me most about charm packs is that these little goodies make it possible to collect every fabric from all my favorite lines!
Same or different? If you’re making a project with multiple charm packs are you more likely to use two or three from the same collection or from different collections? Different.
This works like a charm for me every time: Can I say looming deadline? No . . . lol! When I use charms, I am usually making small quilts. Pressing seam allowances open makes a huge difference in accuracy when piecing is little, along with a lot of starch.
About those pinked edges, here’s my advice for taking them into account when you sew: Rarely do I use the whole 5" charm as is, so those edges don’t bother me at all!
Besides a 5" charm-square, my other go-to precut shape is a fat quarter.
If I taught at Quilters’ Finishing School, I’d teach the students to put a sleeve on every quilt. What seems like a utilitarian quilt to some may be wall art to another; hanging sleeves are amazing for displaying quilts.
If I had to pick a “lucky” charm out of a charm pack, I’d choose one that has a tiny print. I love tiny prints, the smaller the better.
In Charm School, you learn the social graces. But in Quilter’s Charm School you learn that great things can happen when you team up with another person. Connecting is priceless and important to our well-being. So, in other words, something as small as one single charm paired with a background can turn into a whole quilt block!
To download and print a PDF of these patterns, go to www.epub.ShopMartingale.com/b1403
Simply Charmed by Sherri McConnell
FINISHED TABLE RUNNER: 16½" x 40½"
FINISHED BLOCK: 4" x 4"
CHARM PACKS NEEDED:
Make a quick and easy table runner using exactly 40 charm squares. Basic half-square triangles are all you need to create the striking diagonal striped design.
Materials
Yardage is based on 42"-wide fabric. Charm squares are 5" x 5".
1 charm pack of assorted navy, yellow, orange, teal, tan, and cream prints for quilt top (you’ll need 20 light and 2
0 dark squares)
¼ yard of navy print for binding
1⅓ yards of fabric for backing
21" x 45" piece of batting
Cutting
All measurements include ¼"-wide seam allowances.
From the navy print for binding, cut:
3 strips, 2½" x 42"
Assembling the Half-Square-Triangle Units
Press the seam allowances as indicated by the arrows.
1 Organize the charm squares into 20 light/dark pairs. Make sure there is a high contrast in the light and dark values of the two squares in each pair. Draw a diagonal line from corner to corner on the wrong side of the light squares.
2 Place one pair of squares right sides together with the light square on top. Sew ¼" from each side of the drawn line. Cut along the line to yield two half-square-triangle units. Press and trim the units to measure 4½" square. Make 40 half-square-triangle units.
LIKE A CHARM
“Pressing half-square-triangle seam allowances open works like a charm for me every time.”
~Sherri
Assembling the Table Runner
Press the seam allowances as indicated by the arrows. Lay out the half-square-triangle units in four rows of 10, orienting them as shown to create a diagonal striped pattern. Join the units in each row, and then join the rows. The runner top should be 16½" x 40½".
Moda All-Stars- Lucky Charm Quilts Page 1
