Tutorial – How to Make Our Mantle Quilt

During the Christmas in July blog hop, we shared our finished mantle/chest quilt.  We had been working on a tutorial or pattern for how we completed this project, and we share it with you today.  Click Christmas in July Mantle Quilt to print the instructions.

EQ8 Mantle Quilt Design

Sue has been learning and working in EQ8 and I asked her if she could quantify our design so that it would be easy to share.  We used the sawtooth block and turned it on point for this pattern.

EQ8 Mantle

Finished Size: 45. 5” x 12” (plus 19” for the chest width)

Mantle Quilt Fabric Requirements:EQ8 Mantle Square

  • Burgundy:  1/3 yard
  • Cream:  1/3 yard
  • Green:  fat ¼ yard (plus additional for width of mantle/chest)

Mantle Quilt Cutting Directions:

Burgundy:

  • 16 – 2.5” squares
  • 16 – 3-3/8” squares for HSTs (half square triangles)

Cream:

  • 4 – 4.5” squares
  • 16 – 3 3/8 “squares for HSTs

Green:

  • 1 – 6 ½“ square cut in half diagonally
  • 1 – 12 ½” square cut in 4ths diagonally (only 3 are used)
  • **1 – 46″ x 19.5″ (**or the depth of your mantle plus .5″)

Mantle Quilt Assembly Directions:Mantle HSTs

Construct the four sawtooth star blocks:

Place 3-3/8” burgundy and cream squares right sides together. Draw a line diagonally corner to corner. Sew ¼” on BOTH sides of the line. Cut on the drawn line. Press seam open, then trim to 2.5” square.  Make 32.

Layout the squares for each sawtooth star as follows:

  • 1st Row: 5”, HST, HST, B2.5”
  • 2nd Row: HST, C4.5”, HST
  • 3rd Row: HST, (C4.5”), HST
  • 4th Row: 5”, HST, HST, B2.5”

B=Burgundy, C=Cream

***Be sure to place the HST the correct way!***

Sewing Suggestions:

  • Sew row 1 pieces together. Press seam open between HSTs, press other two seams toward burgundy.
  • Individually sew row 2 and 3 HSTs together on each side of C4.5” square. Press seam open.
  • Sew HSTs to each opposite side of C4.5” square. Press seam toward cream
  • Repeat the process for row 4 pieces, sewing together the same as row 1.
  • Finally, sew row 1 to row 2/3. Then add row 4 to rows 1/2/3.  Press as desired.

Bringing the Mantle Quilt to Life

Add the larger green triangles:

  • Layout a large triangle and two stars
  • On each of the larger green triangles mark ¼” in from the 90-degree corner on the wrong side
  • Line up one 90-degree edge to one side of a star, right sides together, starting at the ¼” mark – pin if desired (I did) and then stitch
  • A small point will extend past the edge of the star
  • Line up the other side of the 90-degree triangle on the second star. You will beMantle Star blocks starting ¼” away from the edge again (which is the seam from the first star block)
  • Continue these steps using only three of the triangles
  • Your two triangles should meet something like this with the star blocks on point

Add the small triangles to each end star

Mantle end triangle

  • Fold the triangle in half along the long edge, matching the points
  • Crease with your finger on the wrong side (I marked with a pin)
  • Match that center crease of the triangle with the seam between the two HSTs on the star (the center of the star block) putting right sides together
  • Tack with a pin so the triangle doesn’t move; add a few more pins if desired
  • Stitch – there will be triangle points hanging off each side
  • Press toward the green fabric
  • Repeat these steps on the other end star block

Determine the depth of your mantle

  • Our mantle depth is 7” but we chose to make this covering for a chest instead. The Mantle adding toppingchest was a hope chest that belonged to my mother and is almost 100 years old.  The depth of the chest is 19”.  We used that number plus ½” for seam allowances for our piece to add to the stars.
  • We cut a piece of the green fabric 46” x 19.5”
  • With right sides together, layer the star-pieced-green triangles with this rectangle
  • Sew the seam the length of the rectangle
  • I sewed with the star side on the top so that I could ensure the points were not cut off

Mantle topping piece

Finishing the Mantle Quilt

Here is our mantle quilt prior to quilting and layering.  We chose to add a binding as finishing, but you may choose an alternative method.

  • The next step is to layer and quilt as desired
  • We chose straight-line lengthwise on the green fabric, and in the opposite direction on the four stars
  • A matching green thread was used for quilting on the green fabric, while a light yellow was used on the stars
  • We added a green binding around the entire piece and hand tacked it to the wrong side
  • A tip for the interior corners on the binding is to clip the inside corner just less than ¼”. Then when you are stitching down the binding, pull the 90° angle straight.  You will need to gather the bulk of the quilt away from the pressor foot.  Then when you tack the binding down it will fold into a mitered corner like usual.

 Mantle quilt finished

Use and enjoy!  And please consider sharing a picture with us because we would love to see!

Our other Linky Parties can be found by clicking the link or along the sidebar on our website for more quilting fun – check out what our friends are up to.  Like/follow us on our Facebook page and you can share your photos of what you’re working on.  We would love to see them!

Sharing

You may also like...

9 Responses

  1. You did a wonderful job creating your mantle quilt. It should make a wonderful adornment to the holidays. 😊♥️

  2. Great tutorial! I hope you get to hear of plenty being made in the future and perhaps even being used as a new Christmas favourite. 🙂

  3. Brenda~Songbird Designs says:

    Thanks so much for the tutorial. I love your mantle quilt and may need to make one for my mantle!!

  4. Thank you for the tutorial and the tips on layout and binding a triangle edge. Wendy, great idea for a Piano. I have a piano looking a bit out of place in the dining room. A coordinating quilt may just be it!

  5. Brenda Ackerman says:

    Hello Roseanne and Sue; I am so excited to make this. Thank you so much for taking your precious time and creating this great pattern! I will try and get it done as soon as possible! A couple of items came up that have to happen first. Have a great day!

  6. Thank you Roseanne & Sue! I can’t wait to make one 🙂

  7. This is beautiful! I wish I had a mantel to drape it over. You gals write a very detailed and clear tutorial. Thank you!

  8. Shannon Fleming says:

    Great job ladies!

  9. Clever idea for a quilt. I don’t have a mantle, but I do have a piano, so I could make it for that. Fun!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.