My DIY Rainbow Sierpinski Triangle Quilt

 

I'm probably supposed to tell you that the best thing I've ever made is my children. 

And don't get me wrong, because they're super great, but 1) I'm pretty sure that they actually made themselves out of nonsense, candy, and pig-headedness; and 2) they are NOT a completed rainbow Sierpinski triangle patchwork quilt!

I LOVE this thing. It's, like, the perfect distillation of most of my favorite things: colors lined up nice and orderly, sewing, math, and picky little details that it's almost but not quite possible to get absolutely perfect.

If only I could somehow combine it with reading, cats, and hot chocolate spiked with matcha and Bailey's, I'd be gone right now because I'd have reached Nirvana. Oh, and literal Nirvana would be there playing for me, too.

When you last left me thisclose to Nirvana, I had completed the beautiful rainbow quilt top. I was pretty pleased with myself for being so far ahead in my homemade Christmas gift game that I then complacently did other things for a month, then was all, "Crap! Christmas is this month and the Incompetent Narcissist in Chief has made a shambles of the post office! I should probably get my gifts in the mail so that I can start fretting about them being lost in the mail!"

To finish my rainbow Sierpinski triangle quilt, I sewed a .5" sash to the perimeter, added a cotton batting layer, and then backed it with one piece of black Kona cotton (I LOVE extra-wide fabric!). I added an extra 2" to the backing fabric on all sides so that I could make a back-to-front binding on the quilt. 

I really, really, REALLY struggled with what thread color to use for quilting--first-world problems, amiright? I consulted my teenagers, who were sarcastic and unhelpful--thanks a LOT, Kids!--and with Matt, who was probably helpful but I didn't like anything that he said. I finally decided to stitch-in-the-ditch around every triangle with white thread on the top and black thread on the bobbin...

...and now what I wish I'd ACTUALLY done was use black thread on the top and bottom and only stitch-in-the-ditch around the black triangles. The problem is that I don't super love the look of quilting--gasp, I know!--and I always want the lowest-profile, least-distracting-to-the-patchwork method. 

It might have worked if I wasn't shitty loose with my stitching in the ditch, but I don't like seeing the white thread breaking up my rainbow triangles:

Oh, well. It's done now. And I'd probably be a little sad if I didn't have an excuse to make another entire quilt just to have another go at one small and fiddly detail.

Anyway, what I actually feel is total love for the pretty quilt that I have accomplished! Here, have some more photos of it!

I am 100% going to make myself one of these now, both as an excuse to make it even more perfect this time, and because *I* want one! And then I'm probably going to list one in my Pumpkin+Bear etsy shop, because I quite enjoyed the challenge of sewing this and wouldn't mind making some more.

I think I want to play with different rainbow patterning to see if I can achieve true rotational symmetry, and I might see if I can come up with a more creative rainbow pattern than just rotational symmetry, as well. I also sort of want to buy this coloring book and try to recreate some of the mathematical patterns in it, because if Sierpinski triangles make an awesome quilt, then what else might?!?

And I am for SURE going to try quilting my next one with black thread on the top and bottom. My new rule of thumb is that whenever I'm debating between black thread or not-black thread, I should choose black thread.

How to Sew a Quilted Rainbow Mug Rug

I have been obsessed with sewing triangles lately, mainly because this WIP rainbow Sierpinski's Triangle quilt has taken over my thoughts and dreams:

The sewing on it has to be really precise so that all the nice points are nice and pointy and match all the other nice points, so first I practiced by sewing lots of other triangle projects.

And in the process, I came up with this quilted rainbow mug rug that I'm super into!

It's VERY good practice for the precise cutting and sewing required with triangle pieces, but at the same time it's a reasonably quick project to get through. It's apparently a fun project, as well, because as soon as I made one mug rug, I immediately pieced a second one.. and then a third... and then a fourth... and now I have a full rainbow set of six happily at my disposal.

Here's how YOU can sew a fun rainbow of your own!

You will need:

•  60-degree triangle ruler
• six different fabric prints in rainbow colors
• cotton batting
• cotton broadcloth in a single rainbow color
• thread that matches the broadcloth
• universal sewing needle. This one is a good size to handle the 2-5 layers of cotton that it will be sewing.
• small iron (optional). A regular iron can handle this project, but I LOVE this particular iron for ironing seams flat as I sew.

1. Measure and cut the triangles. For this mug rug, I think that 2.5" triangles result in the perfect finished size. Your 60-degree triangle ruler has printed lines that guide you to making the correct cuts, essentially having you cut a 3" triangle that you'll sew with a .25" seam allowance. For triangle sewing, your seam allowances have to be really, really precise (the fact that I keep emphasizing this means, I fear, that my sewing is not normally so precise...), so this is also a good time to get out your ruler and make sure you know what an exact .25" seam allowance looks like on your sewing machine.

All my photos are terrible because it's raining and it's going to rain forever and if I wait until I've got natural light to photograph things so they don't look terrible I, too, will wait forever.

After my triangles are cut out, I like to play with arranging them to make sure I like the aesthetic:

2. Piece the triangles into two rows of three. Piecing together three triangles, top points aligned, will give you a perfect 180-degree straight line. Your triangle ruler will have already had you cut each triangle with one notched point, and that notched point is the easiest place to align the triangles. Carefully align two triangles, right sides together, and sew them with a .25" seam allowance. Iron that seam open.

I had to practice and practice and practice before I could consistently sew this third triangle just right. I ripped out SO MANY seams, and walked away from my sewing machine to go do something else SO MANY times. 

So that you don't have to suffer the way that I did, here's how I double- and triple-check that I've got this last triangle lined up correctly:

See the triangle points that stick out because you ironed the seam open? Those points help you match the pieces! If you've matched the notched piece at the top and you match this triangle point at the bottom, your piece is perfectly aligned and you can sew it with a perfect .25" seam allowance.

Iron the seam open, and here's what your three triangles should look like on the back:

Here's what they look like from the front:

I took the photo at a weird angle, because taking it from directly above would have entirely blocked the small amount of light present in my study on this gloomy day, but if you look carefully, you should see that the middle triangle's bottom point does not extend all the way to the bottom of the piece. There should be .25" between the bottom point and the bottom raw edge.

If there's not, rip it out and try again. Lord knows I've done that many a hundred times in the past few weeks!

3. Piece the two rows together. Lining up the points when you piece the two rows together is also a little tricky, and also had me ripping out seams multiple times before I finally figured out a couple of tricks. First, check out the picture below:

In this picture (which is actually of my Sierpinski's triangle quilt in progress, mwa-ha-ha!), see how the back of the black triangle has a top point that meets the two blue pieces? Ignore the seam that goes off to the right to make a point, and just look at where the three quilt pieces meet at one point.

That point is also the triangle's point on the front side! If you can pin that point straight through to the point on the other piece of fabric, your points will match.

It also gives you a visual guide when you're sewing. Make sure you stitch directly over that point, and your triangle will look nice and pointy from the front:

Look at how tidy and pointy and almost exactly perfect the finished hexagon is!

4. Quilt the hexagon to the batting. For these mug rugs, I've decided that I prefer quilting the hexagon to the batting only, and adding the backing fabric later. So cut out a piece of batting that's a little bigger than your hexagon--

And then quilt the hexagon to it by stitching in the ditch with white thread.

5. NOW you can sew the backing fabric to your quilt! The backing is going to serve not just as a backing, but also as the back-to-front quilt binding for your mug rug. To that end, pin your quilt to the backing fabric, then enlarge the hexagon an extra .75" on all sides. A clear ruler makes this super easy:

Cut out the backing fabric.

Crease and pin the binding. Here's where that mini iron really comes in handy! For each side, fold the extra fabric in half and iron to crease, then fold it over again and pin it to the quilt. Here's a really great tutorial with clear illustrations for exactly how to do this back-to-front blanket binding.

And here's what it looks like in progress!

Now all you have to do is sew the binding to the quilt, using matching thread. It doesn't really matter if you use a straight or zigzag stitch, and I experimented with both, but eventually decided that I prefer the look of zigzag for my mug rugs:

And so that's what I did!

I like how clean the back looks, since it doesn't have any of the quilting:

And as you can see, it's the perfect size for a coffee mug!

I enjoy making these so much that I made a listing in my Pumpkin+Bear etsy shop so that I can keep on making them. 

You can order your own quilted mug rug in sets from one to six, with the backing fabric color of your choosing. I choose your print fabrics, but they'll always be a six-color rainbow:

Trust me when I tell you that a rainbow on your coffee table is a very cheery thing to have!

Six Months Ago: A DIY Binomial Cube/Trinomial Cube Manipulative

One Year Ago: 20+ Things to Do with Apples

Two Years Ago: Movement and Grace: Scenes from the Ballet Classroom

Three Years Ago: Montessori Pink Tower Extensions for a Sixth Grader

Four Years Ago: American Revolution Road Trip: Bay Front Park, Maryland

Five Years Ago: Hawaii with Kids: Luaus and Leis on the Big Island

Six Years Ago: La Maestra

Seven Years Ago: Trick-or-Treating with IU Basketball: Haunted Hoops!

Eight Years Ago: To Build a Fire: Junior Version

Nine Years Ago: Halloweening

Ten Years Ago: Willow Bakes Amelia Bedelia's Cake

Eleven Years Ago: One Deer Down, One Clown to Go

Twelve Years Ago: Illness and Ornaments and Perhaps a Psychotic Break

How to Sew a Nine-Patch Quilt for an American Girl Doll

I originally published this tutorial on Crafting a Green World.

A nine-patch quilt is the easiest type of quilt to sew, although I might be biased since as a child I first learned how to sew by back-stitching, under my grandmother's supervision, nine-patch quilt blocks of my very own.

A nine-patch quilt block is made from nine pieces in two different fabrics. The pieces are all square and are sewn together in alternating fabrics in three rows of three. This pattern works well with both a dedicated color scheme and layout or a seemingly random mishmash of color and contrast, which is another reason why it's such a favorite with sewers of all ages and levels--and their recipients!

Just as the nine-patch quilt is the easiest type of quilt to sew, I find a doll quilt to be the easiest size of quilt to make. There's nothing like a tiny quilt to give one instant gratification! An American Girl doll quilt, in particular, is a great size to start with--at just 12" x 18", you can make the whole thing in a single afternoon.

Here's what you'll need!

Supplies

• Fabric and cutting supplies
• Sewing machine and matching thread
• Double-fold bias tape
• 12" x 18" fleece piece

Directions

1. Measure and cut the fabric pieces

The most important thing that you can do to make a beautiful quilt is to cut the pieces completely accurately. Each piece in this quilt is a perfect square, 2.5" x 2.5". Each nine-patch quilt block uses two different fabrics and a total of nine pieces--four of one fabric and five of the other. You will need six total nine-patch quilt blocks for this quilt.

The nine-patch quilt lends itself to an easy hack if you'd like to make two at a time--for two children, say, or two dolls. All you have to do is cut nine of each fabric piece, and then you'll easily have two complementary, but NOT identical, nine-patch quilt blocks in the making:

2. Piece each nine-patch quilt block

Have your iron at hand, because you always want to iron every seam flat. To sew a complete nine-patch quilt block, first sew the three separate rows of three pieces--

--ironing each seam flat as you go, and then sew the three rows together to complete the block:

Repeat for each additional nine-patch quilt block until you have six completed blocks.

3. Piece the quilt

Arrange and rearrange all of the nine-patch quilt blocks until you're happy with the look of the quilt as a whole.

Use exactly the same method to piece the full quilt as you did to piece the individual blocks. First piece the quilt blocks together into rows, then piece the rows together until the quilt is complete.

4. Back the quilt with fleece

Because this is a doll quilt you get to skip some of the more fiddly steps involved in making a full-sized quilt. You don't have to sandwich batting between the front and back of your quilt, unless you really, really, really want to, and you won't actually have to quilt or tie this quilt--unless you really, really, really want to!

A neat trick to give a doll quilt a thicker, fluffier feel without bothering with batting is to back it with fleece, instead. If you simply must have three layers to your quilt, you can always use a double layer of fleece, but I promise that the quilt top plus one layer of fleece gives this doll quilt an authentic heft and feel.

5. Bind the quilt

Binding a full-sized quilt can also be time-consuming, so you're lucking out again with this doll-sized quilt. I use a lot of different methods to bind quilts (one of my all-time favorites is back-to-front blanket binding), but my go-to method for a quick-and-easy doll quilt is to use double-fold bias tape. Bias tape can be store-bought (although you should look for bias tape made from natural fabrics, not polyester--blech!) or handmade nearly as easily, and 10mm double-fold bias tape is absolutely perfect for this project.

Your completed nine-patch quilt is the perfect size and scale for an American Girl doll to snuggle up under. Size up the quilt blocks to 4.5" to make a matching quilt for that doll's favorite person, or size the blocks down to 1.5" to make a Barbie doll-sized quilt.

P.S. Want to know more about our adventures in learning, and the resources that we use to accomplish them? Check out my Craft Knife Facebook page!

Goodwill

The Goodwill 50%-off storewide sale is awesome. I look forward to it with such joy in my heart. I mark it on my calendar and gaze at it happily whenever I happen by. I memorize the date, so that I can say things like, "No, we can't go to Indy next Saturday. That's the Goodwill 50%-off storewide sale." I plan the night before so as to get to Goodwill as soon as it opens at 9 am on the day of the sale (this Saturday, we were 9 minutes late. As Matt dropped me off on his way to the hardware store with the girls, he said, "Nine minutes late? Oh, please." And yet? I had to wait by the cash registers for a cart, and then follow the person with the cart out to her car, and then help her load into her car the 5,000 deoderants she had bought---which weren't even 50% off, because they were NEW!). I follow a strict hierarchy of departments to visit, based on what I want most, how crowded an aisle is, and if my arm is tired from pushing through overcrowded T-shirt racks.

I adore the storewide sale for numerous reasons: for one, I don't do a lot of shopping, so going on an actual shopping spree once in a while is fun. I also buy all our clothes, all our books and toys, and most of our household items used, so, for instance, Matt actually needed work pants, and Willow needed shorts for the summer. And I buy a lot of the materials I use in my handiwork used, so I'm always looking for wool sweaters to felt and T-shirts to quilt. Here's what I bought this Saturday:

• dinosaur matching game, because the girls love dinosaurs



• dinosaur pop-up book, same rationale



• wading pool that must be tested and may or may not be returned, based on how massive it is and whether or not I decide it's actually an extravagance



• 6 pairs of shorts for Willow for the summer, one of which is identical to a pair of Matt's cargo shorts--awesome. I need now to make her some ribbon belts to hold them up, since they're a little roomy.



• flowery dress for Willow, unnecessary but very pretty



• 2 pairs of work pants for Matt



• one pair of jeans for me, one pair of brown pants, and one pair of brown pinstripe trousers--awesome. Only the jeans need to be hemmed, even.



• Sewing for Dummies--awesome.



• 3 wool sweaters for felting into stuffed animals or quilt blocks for some crib quilts I'm thinking about making



• one stripey shirt, two peasant tops for me.

• two hoodies for me, both brown, yet both different
• two ringer tees, for me and Matt


• half-dozen or so tie-dyed T-shirts for a quilt I'm making for us, to match one I donated to Willow's Montessori for an auction and really liked



• three dinosaur T-shirts for a quilt I'm making for the girls



• one Superman T-shirt for Matt



• three Star Wars T-shirts for a quilt



• one Captain America T-shirt for a quilt



• four or five pillowcases for summer dresses for the girls, including a couple that match--awesome



• one burgandy fleece blanket for a quilt backing



• one Christmas-themed T-shirt for a quilt



• one World's Best Mom T-shirt for a quilt



• The Mouse and the Motorcycle, a chapter book to read to Willow at bedtime

Whew. And for way less than a hundred bucks.

Easy Peasy Quilt Binding

I'm a fan of work that is unfussy, simple, and even a little rough. I like handmade things to look handmade, and sometimes I'm actually reluctant to learn proper techniques, because I'd rather figure it out for myself. Even though I'm growing much more skilled, I still like to think of myself as an outsider artist.

Quilt binding is something that I figured out for myself, and I think my work looks very nice while being unfussy and simple, although I'm sure there's no way I'm doing it the "right" way. I don't use batting because I like, instead, for one of my other elements--the pieced front, or the back--to be really thick. With a denim quilt, the denim is really thick and warm, and with a T-shirt quilt, I back it with a thick blanket, preferably fleece. I also don't quilt, because I tend to find even the most subtle quilting distracting from what I've sewn--I just haven't incorporated quilting into my designs, yet. I've tried several ways of binding my quilts--sewing it right sides together and turning it, using commercial or constructed quilt binding, etc.--but my very favorite way is to fold the quilt backing over to the front to bind the edges. I also really like to use non-ravel fabrics, like fleece, so that I don't have to fold over.

So here's my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles quilt laying on top of the orange fleece blanket I'm going to back and bind it with. For a really precise fit, you'd tape the blanket to the floor or pin it to the carpet, and pin the quilt to the blanket, but I don't tend to use slippery fabrics, and I find that just laying it and smoothing it still keeps it well-fitted.

And then I go around with my rotary cutter and my cutting mat and I trim the fleece pretty narrow--I fold over some of the quilt front with the back if there are any uneven spots.

The thing to really take the time on is to pin everything nice and stable. I pin about every five inches or so--it's kind of tedious, and it takes forever, but Willow likes to hand me the pins, and when I used to not even pin very much, the front and back really wouldn't turn out even.

I'm mostly working on other sewing projects--I've got my postage stamp quilt squares swap, and lots of clothes to mend--but the next quilts I'm making are for us. I plan to make a queen-sized and a full-sized denim quilt for our two family beds, and a dinosaur quilt, partly from T-shirts and partly from printed fabric, for the girls.