Cricut and Easy Quilt Blocks
In my last post, hopefully I got you thinking about using your Cricut for doing more than cutting vinyl and yardstick where we made an easy rail fence quilt block using Cricut Maker to cut the fabric.
As I said before, Cricut can help you make lots of quilt blocks easier, faster, and more accurately.
If you missed it, you can read about how to make a Cricut friendly 6" rail fence quilt block.
Now that you've seen it, let's get going on making another easy quilt block.
To make our 6" Autumn Tints quilt block, we're going to need a few different sizes of squares. Contrasting colors really make this block stand out, but you can use any colors you like.
Once Cricut cuts the squares, we'll use them to make a 6 1/2" (6" finished) Autumn Tints quilt block.
Materials Needed
- (1) piece of fabric approximately 8" wide x 4" long.
- (1) piece of fabric approximately 9" wide x 3" long.
- (2) pieces of fabric approximately 5" wide x 3" long.
- Cricut pink fabric mat (I'm using 12"x12", but 12"x24" will work, too)
- Cricut rotary blade
- Cricut Maker
- Sewing machine (I'm using a machine, but feel free to hand piece them if you prefer)
- Thread
- Iron
Cricut Design Space Setup
Once you've launched Cricut Design Space, click on the green "New Project" button in the upper right of the page. The Canvas will open.
Click on the "Shapes" option on the left of the page. On my screen, it is the 4th option from the top on the lefthand side of the page. Then, click on the square shape.
We need 2" squares. Conveniently for us, Cricut Design Space automatically adds a 2" square in this case.
It added them in as black, so I clicked on the black square to the right of the Operation drop down box and changed the color to white since 1 need 4 of them. Separating them into colors will also help keep them organized for cutting.
You can see here the square is selected. Now, all we need to do is click on "Duplicate" 3 times. Now we have 4 white squares. If you know the command, you can also use copy and paste.
Next, we want to cut 4 more squares of the same size, but in different fabric color. We'll cut 2 of them in 1 color, then the remaining 2 in another color.
In this case, I made sure the last square was selected so that I could click on "Duplicate", then changed the color again. Then duplicated again to get the other square.
Then I repeated that for the other fabric.
Now we have a total of (8) 2" squares.
Next, we need (2) 3 1/2" squares.
You should now have all the squares you need. I've also saved my project to "6 inch Autumn Tints Quilt Block" so I can find it easily again next time I want to use it. At this point, we can click on the green "Make" button at the top right of the page.
When we do this, Cricut will open to the next screen where you'll notice that Cricut has automatically organized everything into separate colors.
Cutting Fabric with Cricut
Since I'm using a 12"x12" Cricut pink fabric grip mat, you can see that I've changed the Material Size" option to 12 in. x12 in, then click on the green "Continue" button. (If you're using a 12 in. x 24" in. mat, then you'll use that option.)
We'll set the Base Material option to "Cotton". This is Step 1 in the following image.
Now it's time to put the fabric on the pink mat and load it into the machine. Place the fabric you've chosen with the right side facing down onto the mat.
Put the fabric on the mat so that its width is going across the mat, while its length is going down the mat.
Make sure the fabric edges align with the top and left edges of the mat and smooth it down. A brayer is a nice thing to have for this, but of course, your hands work just fine, too, if you don't have a brayer.
Once you've got the fabric on the mat, press the "Load/Unload" button. It's the button below the blue power button. (Sorry it's blurry in the below photograph)
Make sure your Cricut Maker has the rotary blade loaded. I've already loaded mine and Cricut can see that. (See Step 2 below.) If you're not sure how to do this, just look at the Cricut software. It tends to prompt you on what to do next.
When Cricut is ready, the "Go" button will start flashing. (You'll recognize it as the button with the Cricut symbol on it in Step 3 below.) When the "Go" button starts flashing, press it, then Cricut will cut your fabric.
Once Cricut has finished cutting, press the "Load/Unload" button you pressed earlier to unload your mat.
Carefully removed the cut squares and put them aside. Continue to load the remaining pieces of fabric in the machine until all 4 pieces of fabric are cut.
When you're finished cutting, you should have a total of (8) 2" squares. In my case, I cut (4) white 2" squares, (2) white with red print 2" squares, (2) red with white print 2" squares, and (2) dark red with white print 3 1/2" squares.
Assembling the Autumn Tints Block
Now the fun part.....sewing!
Using a 1/4" seam, we'll put (2) of the 2" squares together. I pressed the seam to set it, then pressed it toward the red fabric.
Now. we'll repeat with 2 other squares. Again, pressing to set the seam, then pressing toward the white/red print square. This will make it easy to nest the seams when we sew the block together.
Now that we have 2 units, we'll make a 4 patch block out of them.
Then repeat so that we have (2) 4 patch blocks. Set them aside.
Then, we'll take a 3 1/2" block and attach it to one of the 4 patch blocks. Press the seam flat, then press toward the larger block. The unit should be 6 1/2" wide and 3 1/2" in length.
Repeat with the remaining 3 1/2" block, then join the 2 units together to complete the Autumn Tints quilt block. You should be able to see that it's really a variation of a bigger 4 patch block.
Using Cricut helps so much in accuracy when cutting blocks.
I can see the block appears distorted or uneven, especially on the left side. No worries. It isn't.
Unfortunately, my block isn't pressed completely flat which makes it look distorted on the one side since it's not flat against the surface. It could use one more pressing. I did choose to press the last seam open in this case.
You should now have a 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" Autumn Tints quilt block.
And that's my take on a 6 1/2" Cricut Friendly quick and easy Autumn Tints quilt block.
I love the rich red colors in this block.
Your turn! Show me what your block looks like.
Until next time, stay Quilty my friends,
Wendy