Outdoor Man Quilt (w/ Tutorial)

This Outdoor Man Quilt is for Brian.  I can finally share this post because I finally remembered to show it to him (Is that bad that I had it done for a couple weeks before remembering to show him?)  He has been asking when I would make him a quilt.  I decided now was the time.  Making a "man" quilt is sort of hard because I am drawn to all the pretty and girly fabrics at the quilt shop.  It is also tricky to decide on a pattern that looks "manish." 

So after some searching I decided there were enough outdoor/hunting/fishing fabrics that I liked and that the prints I liked would look good in what others online were calling a "Plain Spoken" quilt top.  I found pictures of this quilt top all over Pinterest and Google but no pattern.  Therefore, I was forced to wing it.  I figured I could wing it since the quilt appeared to be rectangles of fabric sewn all together...but there's more to it than that!  There is calculating and planning...

Here is a glimpse of the top.  I will get this quilted soon and bind it as soon as I get it back.  The "B" is on there because Brian requested it.  Perhaps that request indicates how desperately he has wanted his own quilt.

 

 

Here is how I went about making/winging this quilt.  It is 64 inches by 80 inches (because Brian says the other quilts I make aren't big enough). 

First:  I began with a rough estimate of how big I wanted it to be which was 66 inches by 84 inches; this turns out to be roughly 4.25 yards.  To be on the safe side and allow for seam allowances I bought a total of 5 yards of fabric.  I bought 10 pieces of fabric at a half yard each.

Second:  I like to maximize the use of fabric I buy and for this quilt I knew I wanted to cut the same number of skinny strips as fat strips.  Since a half yard of fabric is roughly 18 inches wide I was able to cut three 2 inch wide strips and three 4 inch wide strips from each half yard of fabric.

 

Third:  I randomly paired a 4 inch strip with a 2 inch strip and sewed the pair together.  When you sew the pair or any fabric together in this quilt, make sure to sew right (pretty) sides together. Once I had the strips sewn into pairs, I ironed the seams open.

Fourth:  Again, because I like to maximize, I cut the paired strips into 8 1/2 inch pieces; these pieces become the "blocks."  I was able to get five blocks from each pair.  To make this part go faster you can layer three pairs over top of one another and then cut through the three layers all at once.

Fifth:  To be sure I got all the blocks in a random enough order I laid every single block for the quilt top out over a queen size bed.  When I laid the blocks out, I laid them out with the skinny strip of the block on top.  The quilt ended up being 8 blocks wide by 16 blocks long.

*At this point, you'll want to come up with a method to keep your rows in order so that you can insure the same print does not end up next to itself in another block.  I put a piece of tape on the first block of each row and labeled the rows 1-16.

Sixth:  I sewed the blocks together by row; this means I sewed 8 blocks together end to end.  I did this for all 16 rows.  Then I ironed open all the seams; this took a while. 

Seventh:  Now keeping your rows in order, sew two rows together at a time.  You will end up with pairs:  1&2, 3&4, 5&6... Iron the seams open. Then sew one pair to another pair: 1&2 with 3&4, 5&6 with7&8... Keep sewing pairs together.  The pairs will keep getting larger.  Remember to iron seams open.  The last seam you will want to sew will be the one that attaches the bottom half of the quilt  with the top half.

*To keep seams lined up put a pin at every single spot two seams overlap. You will be pinning right sides together.  Do not pull the pin out until a stitch or two before the needle gets to it.  By doing this, your fabric will be less likely to slip and your seam lines will be smoother and straighter. 

It really only takes seven steps to make this quilt top.  I made this top over the course of just three days.  During those three days, I started and completed a pillow project, rode horses, and did chores in the yard.  It really is not a tough top and it offers a lot of variety.

For a different size quilt top:

If you want a smaller or larger quilt top, decide on the width and length you want.  Then find the area of the quilt top in yards.  Add a little extra for seam allowances.  Decide on how many prints you want and then get enough fabric in yards to slightly exceed the desired area of the quilt top in yards.  When it comes time to cutting strips, you may end up cutting skinner or wider strips than listed.  Just try to use the fabric you have paid for up as best you can and have even numbers of each strip size out of each print.  You may also end up with more or less columns or rows of blocks.  Good luck!