Tumbler Patchwork Quilt Tutorial

A tumbler quilt is a one-block, patchwork design made from wedge or trapezoid-shaped pieces. This twist on a traditional patchwork-squares-design creates visual interest as the blocks are arranged in staggered rows, creating an interlocking pattern. This design looks more complex than traditional squares, but in application it is nearly as easy to piece. It's also a fun one for showing off a scrappy fabric palette. (Which is my favorite part.) In this post I'll give tips for working with tumbler blocks as well as talk about how to choose a "controlled-scrappy" fabric assortment.

How to Make a Tumbler Patchwork Quilt

Just like any one-block quilt (whether it's repeating simple squares, triangles, etc.) you will cut all of your pieces one, uniform size and you can make them any scale that you prefer! For this quilt I'm using a 4" high finished block. You can see a variation where I used a larger-scale block for a larger-scale quilt here.

Tumber Quilting Templates

I definitely recommend getting a template for cutting your tumbler blocks. There are lots of options available - in fact, check your rulers and templates - you may already have one in your stash!

I used Lori Holt's small "Thimble" template - a small, acrylic quilting ruler designed for creating precise tumbler-shaped fabric pieces. This one is 4 ½" high. You can find them from the Fat Quarter Shop or assorted Etsy shops here and here.

Some other Tumbler Template options include:

• Accuquilt GO Cutter Tumbler Dies
• Fat Quarter Shop Wedge Template
• Missouri Star Quilt Co Tumbler Template

Cutting Tumbler Blocks

The most efficient method for cutting tumbler blocks is to cut a fabric strip the same width as the height of the template. That way you only have to cut the sides.

For example, here I cut a 4 ½" strip of fabric. Lay the template near the selvage edges, aligning the template along the top and bottom edges of the strip.

Trim the selvage sides with a rotary cutter, then rotate the template 180 degrees for the next cut, minimizing fabric waste. Repeat the process for as many tumbler blocks as desired.

(Tip: You can get 13 Tumbler blocks from a 4 ½" strip of fabric using the Lori Holt Thimble template.)

Of course, you can also stack a set of 5" pre-cuts and cut a stack of scrappy blocks at once, or use the template to fussy cut individual blocks.

For this 41" x 52" crib quilt I cut 208 Tumbler blocks.

Sewing Tumbler Blocks Together

Sewing blocks together using diagonal angles might look intimidating, but once you've got the system down, they come together really quickly!

First of all, I like to lay out all of my blocks on a design wall (or a bed or the floor) to play with color and design.

I ended up laying out 13 rows of 16 Tumbler blocks per row.

Once you have the desired arrangement, you can stack your blocks into rows and bring them to your machine.

Here's how to sew tumbler quilt blocks together accurately so that you will end up with straight top and bottom edges. Align the angled edges by centering the narrower top of one piece with the wider bottom of the next, ensuring a small dog-ear overhang at each end.

One tip for helping you find that exact point where the ¼" seam allowance will intersect is to sew a few stitches ¼" away from the edge of your bottom piece. (See photo above.) Then carefully lay your top piece right-sides-together, getting the intersection of the two fabrics right at that ¼" line.

Stitch with a ¼-inch seam allowance, starting at the exact point where the fabric pieces intersect to maintain straight rows. Make sure the dog-ear of each fabric's overhang is the same size on the top and the bottom of the seam.

The first few tries might need some careful measureing, or even unpicking and re-stitching, but the more blocks you sew together, the faster you'll be able to eyeball the perfect placement.

Here's how your rows will start to come together:

Press the seam allowances to one side after each block addition.

Use alternating directions on different rows, for example press to the left on odd-numbered rowa and to the right on even-numberd rows.

When joining rows to each other, the alternating seam allowance directions with help the rows and the intersecting seams nest perfectly.

You can pin at intersections to keep the pattern aligned and achieve smooth, straight quilt edges with perfectly intersecting points of the tumbler blocks.

After sewing multiple rows together, press all of the long row seams in one direction.

After the rows are pieced together, trim the zig-zag sides of the pieced top to get straight edges. Use a long ruler if you have one.

To keep the outside edges square, line up the horizontal lines on your ruler along to horizontal straight seams

Carefully trim your outside edges.

*Of course you can leave them zig-zagging if you prefer! The look is fun. I just didn't want to add a binding to those zig-zag angled edges. 😉

And that's all there is to it to piecing a tumbler patchwork quilt.

For the step by step process of how to finish a quilt go here for all of the details.

Thoughts on Choosing a Scrappy Color Palette

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I chose to make my quilt with a "controlled-scrappy" color palette - meaning I chose a narrow number of colors as my palette (in this case green, orange/peach, gold, and cream).

I started with some pieces from a recent fabric collection, Garden Dreams, and then went to my stash to pull a bunch more fabrics in that palette.

Using various shades of the different colors as well as different scales of prints as well as a variety of stripes, florals, blenders, etc. creates a lot more visual interest for the quilt.

For more tips on choosing fabric to make a simple patchwork quilt more interesting check out these two posts.

• Tips for using your fabric stash to make quilts that pop
• How to use fabric with different scale prints to make quilts more interesting

This tutorial is sponsored by Baby Lock Sewing Machines. I have been a Baby Lock ambassador for 8 years and have loved every machine I've worked with!

For this project I am sewing with the Baby Lock Altair II sewing machine. It's perfect for any type of piecing and quilting with a large 11.25" workspace as well as machine embroidery capabilities.

If you're looking for recommendations for buying the right sewing machine for a beginner or ideas for upgrading your current machine,  I've got a post here on how to choose the perfect sewing machine, for any level or budget.

Have you ever made a Tumbler quilt? Or any kind of quilt with similar angles? I'd love to hear what you learned through that process!