A Herringbone Quilt {Tutorial}

After completing our Bedroom Redo Hubby said there was something missing. He wanted a blanket, or quilt for the foot of our bed. It's been a while since I made us a quilt, so I was happy to oblige. I have seen several herringbone quilts on Pinterest, and wanted to tackle one myself.

I wanted it to be a little more modern than an all-over herringbone pattern, so I went for a large strip of pattern down the middle, with clean white borders. And just for color (and to drive Hubby absolutely crazy),  I replaced two sets of gray blocks for navy blue.

 

While I was at it, I decided to take some photos and share with you how I put it together.

Materials:
1 yard solid color fabric (mine is gray)
3 yards white fabric
3 yards backing fabric
batting
binding
sewing things


You'll need to cut the following 6" squares:

22 white
22 solid color
(if mixing colors, just make sure you have 22 total)


Sew half-square triangles using your favorite method with a white half and a colored half.
This will give you 44 blocks of white/color.

Press all seams towards the colored side of your block. This will help align blocks and lock them into place later.

To make the herringbone pattern, you will need an "up" unit, and a "down" unit, each of two blocks.


This is an "up" unit.

 

This is a "down" unit.

(you could also call them left and right, just as long as you have two different directions)

 

To create the pattern, arrange an "up" set of blocks next to a "down" set. The blocks should be offset by one, and not directly side by side.

 

Lay out all of your blocks into four columns in this pattern. It helps me to take a picture and look at it to make sure the pattern is correct.

 

Sew your columns together, then your rows. Press your seams well after sewing.

 

Here's where you can play with the size of your quilt. I added a panel to each side of my herringbone strip. Make it slim or extra wide depending on how big you want your quilt.

Make your quilt sandwich with your backing fabric on bottom (right side down), then your batting, then your quilt top.

Baste the quilt sandwich using your favorite method, then hit the sewing machine!
You could do any kind of quilting on this piece. I opted for straight lines this time, outlining the vertical seams, then random lines on the white panels.

The quilt has great texture without being too quilted, and the straight lines are super modern.

Just for fun, I added a little strip of blue to my backing. I love it, Hubby thinks it's weird. The story of my life.

Most importantly, it looks great with our bedding, just as it was intended.

It's warm, modern, and beautiful. And with the large side panels, took very little time to put together. It was a great weekend project.