Evening Blooms quilt and tutorial

Happy Friday everyone!  Today I have a quilt tutorial to share with you!

I made this quilt using just the black and white prints from Carina Gardner's Evening Blooms fabric line.  I love the bold florals in Evening Blooms and when mixed with the geometric prints it’s the perfect combination.  It was so fun to design a quilt that focuses mainly on the value of a fabric (lightness / darkness).  This pattern works well with prints that have a high contrast to one another, and there’s just something so classic about black and white!

This quilt is made entirely from half square triangles (HSTs) but don't let that deter you!  I have a fast and easy way to make a ton of HSTs in no time at all.    If you'd prefer a handy printable version of this tutorial you can find it here (for personal use only please!)   Let's get started!


Here's what you'll need for this quilt:
1/4 yard each of 7 various dark prints (you can use 5, but 7 gives you more variety)
1/4 yard each of 5 various light prints (you can use 3, but 5 gives you more variety)
2 yards of white / background fabric
1/2 yard binding
3-1/2 yards backing fabric

From each of the prints (7 dark and 5 light) cut 3 squares that measure 8".  You'll need 36 total.

From the white / background fabric cut 8 strips that are 8" x width of fabric. Subcut those strips into 36 (8") squares

To create your half square triangles, pair up each print square with one white square.  Match edges, keeping right sides together.

Sew around all four outer edges using a consistent 1/4" seam.

Using your rotary cutter, cut diagonally through each block twice as shown in the photo.

 

Being careful not to stretch it, press each HST.  I prefer to press the seam allowance toward the print.  Trim the little tails off of each HST.

If you are consistent with your seam allowances and careful to not stretch the HSTs you should not need to square them up.  If you find your HSTs to be varying in size, then square them each up to the same size (either 5.25" or 5" each).

Create all of your HSTs and then move on to the block layout.

Layout all of the HSTs you need for one block.  Notice in the quilt layout diagram at the end of the tutorial that not all blocks are the same.  The dark and light prints are alternated for the main part of each block and the corner HSTs are different depending on where in the quilt the block will be located.

Sew HSTs together into rows using a 1/4" seam.  Then sew rows together, matching seams.  Press your block.

Your block is done!   Now use the layout diagram to make the next 8 blocks.


In the layout diagram I used just two prints - one dark and one light so you can clearly see the placement of each HST.   This quilt will measure about 57" x 57".

You can find a handy printable version of the tutorial here.  And if you make an Evening Blooms quilt I'd love to see it!  Tag me on Instagram (@abrightcorner) and use  #eveningbloomsquilt and #abrightcorner

Want to see more tutorials from A Bright Corner?  Check these out!  Click on the photo to view tutorial.