Bird's Eye View Quilt - Free Pattern

BIRD'S EYE VIEW

Designed by Theresa Litz c2015

Lap Quilt 50" x 62"

SUPPLIES:
20 - 8 1/2" squares of a mixture of focal fabrics (equals approx. 1 yard)
9 - 2 1/2" x WOF strips of solid Black (equals approx. 3/4 yard)
                            (5 strips will be used in the quilt block assemble and 4 strips will be used in the                                       inner border)
5 - 2 1/2" x WOF strips of solid Grey (equals approx. 1/2 yard)
6 - 4 1/2" x WOF strips of Border Fabric (equals approx. 1 yard)

My quilting buddy Marianne gave me a gift for Christmas that contained 20 pre-cut  8 1/2" squares of five different Bird prints (4 of each print).....

Using one of the 2 1/2" x WOF Grey strips and one of the 2 1/2" x WOF Black strips, placed together face to face and using an Easy Angle Ruler, cut 20 sets of triangles....

First cut....  line up your ruler on the 2 1/2" markings.....

Second cut....   flip your ruler for the second cut and line up once again on the 2 1/2" markings.... continue until you have the needed 20 sets

Using four of your BLACK - 2 1/2" x WOF strips and the remaining four GREY - 2 1/2" x WOF strips....cut a total of 20 - 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangles of EACH COLOR.....

Using a 1/4" seam, sew one black triangle and one grey triangle together.  Your finished black & grey HST block should measure 2 1/2" square at this point.  Trim the dog ears.....

To get an idea of how your blocks will go together and keep everything in order, you may want to arrange your work area as I have below.....

Sew one Black 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangle to the LEFT side of your 8 1/2" square focal block, right sides together......this is a perfect "chain sewing" project....go ahead and sew all of the black rectangles to the left side of all 20 focal fabric squares....

Press seams toward the black rectangles....

Now sew one Black & Grey 2 1/2" square to the LEFT end of the Grey 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangle. Once again go ahead and sew all of the Black & Grey 2 1/2" squares to the Grey rectangles.

Make sure the GREY side of the TRIANGLE block is sewn to the left side of the GREY rectangle....see below....

Press seams toward the grey rectangles....

Now, sew the grey section to the bottom edge of your focal fabric black...right sides together.

Nest your seams together where the black/gray HST block meets the black rectangle.....

Lay your blocks out 4 across x 5 down....sew blocks to form the rows....then sew rows together to complete the center section of your quilt top.

Attach black inner border to RIGHT Side ONLY....

NOTE THAT THE BLOCKS HAVE ALREADY FORMED THE APPEARANCE OF A LEFT BLACK INNER BORDER.

Attach black inner border to TOP and BOTTOM

Attach outer border to both the LEFT and RIGHT Sides...

Last but not least, attach outer border to both the TOP and BOTTOM....

I apologize for taking longer than anticipated to share this pattern with you.  If you like this and decide to make one of your own, please share a photo of your project.  I'd love to see what you do with it! Use your imagination, especially concerning the focal fabrics you choose.  The possibilities are endless! 

In fact, I whipped up a new version of this over the weekend using Moda's new collection called 'On The Wing'.  The only thing I did different was to add a second inner border.  How do you like it?

Until next time!