DIY Christmas Patchwork Throw Blanket

Hi guys! I am really excited to share my DIY blankie with you all today! I am going to share how to make a vintage patchwork Christmas throw blanket. Quilts are classic and even though I do not have a vintage magazine tutorial to share with you on how to quilt, I still had to include this diy in my Kitschmas series just for the fact that it is very retro looking and kitschy cute. I used a mix of vintage tablecloth scraps, vintage chenille scraps and some vintage style reproduction Christmas fabrics. The back is a super soft minky fabric and the binding is handmade. It is definitely a weekend project as it does take quite a bit of time, but the end results are totally worth it! Here is my how-to:

Here’s What You Need:

*Vintage Tablecloth Scraps

*Vintage Chenille Scraps

*Vintage Style Fabrics

* Fabric for binding. It took me less than a yard

*Fuzzy throw blanket, mine was 50×60″

*Warm and Natural Batting

*Safety Pins

*Iron

*Rotary Cutter and Self Healing Matt

*Quilting Ruler

*Sewing Machine and Thread

Instructions:

First you need to cut all your squares of fabrics. Cut each square to be 6×6″ You will need 10 squares across twelve rows, so 120 6″ squares to make this throw.

Lay out your squares on the floor and arrange them as you like them. Once you have the layout like you want, gather them up in rows of ten across.

Starting on what would be the left side of your blanket stitch the first square to the second at the side seam right sides together.

Now stitch the third square to the second square at the side seam.

Continue stitching the squares of that row across until you have the row of all ten squares stitched. Set aside.

Stitch your other eleven rows like you did the first keeping them in order. Iron open the seams on each row.

Now pin the top row to the second row with the bottom of the top row to the top of the second row together. Make sure the squares line up the best you can.Stitch across the rows stitching them together.

Now stitch the third row to the second with the bottom of the second row to the top of the third. Continue stitching your rows together until you have all your rows stitched. Iron open all seams. You should now have the top of your quilt.

Now you are ready to pin your layers. Lay the blanket on the floor right side down. Lay the batting down on top of the throw. Then, lay the patchwork topper on top of the batting. Smooth everything out.

Starting at the center of the quilt, pin the layers together with your safety pins. I pinned in the middle of every square and a little extra around the sides.

Now you are ready to sew. You will stitch in the ditch of each patchwork row. Stitch across the horizontal rows, then stitch across the vertical rows. You can roll up the sides of the quilt to help you feed it through your machine better. I start in the middle of my quilt and stitch the middle row, then stitch the rows to the left and then stitch the rows to the right. Then do the same in the other direction.

Once your layers are quilted you need to trim the outside edges. Trim them all flush and even. Round the corners using a bowl to mark your round corners.

Now you are ready to add your binding. Cut your binding fabric on the cross grain or on the bias. Cut your strips to be 2.5″ wide.

Sew your strips together at right angles with right sides together like you would if you were making bias tape. Trim and iron open seams. Make enough binding to go loosely around your quilt plus a good five to ten inches or so.

Fold your binding in half and iron flat.

Lay your strip onto the edge of your quilt raw sides lined up. leave a tail at the beginning before you start stitching.

Sew the binding to the quilt with a quarter inch seam. Sew all the way around leaving several inches between the end and beginning.

Lay your quilt flat. Smooth out the binding and overlap the binding. Mark the binding to overlap at about an inch. Open up the binding ends and stitch the ends together wrong sides together. Refold the binding and lay it flat down on the quilt with raw edges even and stitch the rest of the binding to the quilt.

Fold the binding over to the other side of the quilt and pin or clip with quilt clips.

The right way to stitch the binding is to stitch on the other side of the binding, stitching in the ditch and catching the open end of the binding. I stitched on the opposite side which is not as pretty since you can see the stitching on some parts of my binding. However my quilt was thick enough and I am not a great seamstress so I took the wrong way since I did not mind seeing stitching on my binding. Once you are done stitching your binding, clip excess threads and then you are ready to enjoy.

I absolutely adore my new patchwork throw! I think it is so cute and even though it is not perfect I know it will be a fixture in my home during the holidays for years to come! This is an easy enough project for an intermediate sewer and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to try their hand at quilting. Patchwork is easy and fun! I love seeing all my vintage tablecloth scraps in here! And I love all the different textures on my throw. The back is super soft and cozy. It is a good size for a throw, not too big, not too small, just big enough to cover your lap and snuggle up on the sofa. It also is a nice topper for a twin size bed. Are any of you guys into quilting? Do you have any tips for us novice quilters? I will be back tomorrow with another fun DIY. Until then…

Happy Crafting!