Small Wonders fabric + quilt block tutorial

I just finished sewing with a fun new bundle of fabric from a brand new collection by Mary Fons. This is Mary’s first fabric line she just debuted at Quilt Market. The collection is called Small Wonders – World Piece the fabrics are all small-scale prints, perfect for quilt making, and inspired by textiles from decades past.

Small Wonders focuses on those small-scale, classic prints that have been the staple of quilt-making for centuries. They were so fun to cut up and play with. This first collection – World Piece draws inspiration from countries around the world including the Netherlands, France, China, India, South America, and the USA. There is also a collection of 108″ backing pieces to look forward to! You can see more of these designs on Mary’s blog and the Springs Creative site.

I got to play with the France collection. (Formidable!) These prints are complete with french royal blue and Provencal gold, with crowns, fleurs de lys, and the cutest Eiffel Towers!

Because the prints and colors were so classic and traditional, I decided to go with a very traditional quilt design – a nine-patch block, set on point. But I kept the design scrappy and playful.

It’s such a fun, quick block to make – and a great way to show-off lots of colors and prints – that I thought I’d give a quick little tutorial for making this versatile block.

Fabric requirements for two finished 6 ¼” x 6 ¼” blocks:

• two contrasting sets of 3 strips 2” x 6”
• two different sets of 2 squares 4” x 4”

(starting top left) All seams are ¼”. Sew the 2” x 6” strips into two alternating strip sets. Press seams toward the darker fabrics. Cut strip sets into three sets of 2” x 6” units. Alternate the units and sew them together to create two different nine-patch blocks. Press seams toward the outside.

 To set the nine-patch blocks ‘on-point’: Cut all 4” x 4” squares once on the diagonal. You will now have two sets of four triangles – one set to go with each nine-patch block. Center the long edge of the triangle on one side of the nine-patch block and sew. Repeat with a second triangle on the opposite side. Press seams toward the outside triangles. Repeat with remaining coordinating triangles on other sides.

Carefully trim tags and square up edges, careful to leave a ¼” seam allowance at the corner of the nine-patch block.

Repeat with remaining nine-patch block and four remaining triangles.

For this 29″ x 29″ mini quilt, I made 8 of these sets, for 16 different quilt blocks. I added a 2″ finished border around the edges to finish the look. Make about 21 sets (fro 42 blocks) and lay them out 6 across by 7 down for a cute baby quilt.

I finished my quilt with simple cross-hatch quilting and a gold binding.     I really love classically inspired quilt prints – they just always look, well, classic. I’m really excited to get a few more of the novelty prints from the other countries in the Small Wonders line – including some cute bunnies, tulips and windmills, pagodas and rickshaws. Small Wonders will be available from fabric retailers in the months to come!