Christmas twister quilt and a bonus quilt!!

Remember when l made Harpers twister quilt here?

Many of you asked how? And l promised soon!!

Yesterday l had a free day, so l decided now was the time.

Out came some Xmas fabrics and l whipped this one up.

Here is a tutorial showing how!!

First, l chose 16 different fabrics, and cut 7 1/2"squares from each.

You don't need to use this many fabrics, but l did.

You can see l alternated red and green.

Sew your 16 squares together in a pattern that pleases you.

Press well.

l then added a red border. l cut these border strips at 4 1/2".

Measure your top, cut strips to suit, then adding a strip to each side.

Now comes the magic. There is a ruler available on the market called twister,

but l converted an existing 4 1/2"ruler.

l drew black lines from the 3/4"line on either side to the opposite 3/4"mark.

Once l had drawn these lines, l covered them with sticky tape,

 so they would not rub off. This does not affect the ruler.

Place the ruler, with the black lines lining up with your sewing seam lines,

 and cut on all four sides. This is best done on the corner of a table,

with the quilt spread out on the table in front of you.

It can be tricky to get to each side, but persevere.

l found l could cut 3 sides, then needed to swap where l was standing.

Continue cutting across the top row. You can see here how they will look.

You can see the pinwheel blades starting to form.

Then give the cut blocks a slight twist to their new position.

Continue cutting rows.

Remember, these squares are now on the bias, and need to be handled carefully.

Once l have cut a block, l add it to its new position. If you left this till the end,

it would be like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.

You can see here, how the 4 lines line up with the stitching lines.

As you cut your blocks, you will find there is some big

 chunks of fabric left over, but wait and see!!

Here are all the blocks cut and in their new positions.

Sew them together in rows, then sew the rows together.

l pressed each row in alternate directions to help with the seams nesting.

Now your centre is complete. Press well.

l decided to add a border.

l cut my strips at 4 1/2", adding to all 4 sides.

Now your top is complete. Quilt as desired.

Remember those left over scraps? l trimmed them up to 4 1/2"squares.

Again,  remember they are on the bias, so be careful.

l then sewed them all back together, which is where we all started,

 added a red border, then a larger 2nd border.

So from those 7 1/2"squares that you start with, you have 2 small Xmas quilts.

l hope this all makes sense, and you enjoy making a twister quilt and a bonus quilt.

Thanks for visiting.

Linda.