A year-long quilt project
Welcome to the ninth step in the 2024 quilt project. (You can find the first one here, the second one here, the third one here, the fourth one here, the fifth one here, the sixth one here, the seventh here and the eighth here . As I explained in the New Year’s post here, I’ll be making a quilt this year and inviting you to join with me, here on the blog. This is what to expect:
- a new appliqué block each month
- a new embroidery stitch each month
- cheerful bright colours (but of course you can choose your own colour palette!)
- a quilt celebrating the seaside
There will be instructions at the end of the year on how to put the different blocks together to make quilt measuring 72 x 72″. However, you are welcome just make the individual blocks each month and use them in a different way.
Please note: All the instructions are free and available for your personal use. They cannot be used for commercial purposes or for teaching. I do run a small business, so if you enjoy making the quilt please consider also purchasing one of my patterns from the Etsy shop (link below) and/or tell your quilting friends about Amanda Jane Textiles. Thank you!
September block: The Lighthouse
The block is lighthouse, looking a little like the lighthouse at the end of the harbour wall, here in Ramsgate. The building is grey and red and there is a blue sea behind it. The centre is framed by a yellow border. The featured embroidery stitch is Satin Stitch which will provide texture on the area below the light. The block measures 12½ x 14½” (12 x 14″ finished in the completed quilt).
Materials
You will need:
solid colours or low-volume prints in 100% cotton fabric: 3 x 9″ dark blue-grey, 5 x 7″ light grey ; 9 x 9″ blue; 5 x 11″ white; 7 x 9″ blue; 12 x 15″ yellow
2 x 2″ fusible web (such as Bondaweb)
stranded cotton for embroidery in black
light grey sewing thread for appliqué and piecing
Cutting
1 Download the templates for the central panel of the block using the button below. Set your printer to print at A4/letter with narrow margins.
2 Trace the outlines, including all the shapes, onto tracing paper.
3 Cut out a piece 2½ x 8½” from the dark grey fabric for the harbour wall at the bottom of the block.
4 Cut a piece 8½ x 8½” from the blue fabric for the sea in the background.
5 Cut out the paper template for the lighthouse. Fold in the parts of the platform under the light so they are out of the way. Pin template to the grey fabric and cut out.
6 Cut out the shapes for the two red sections of the lighthouse, using the bottom oblong from the template as your guide.
7 From the yellow fabric, cut two border strips 2½ x 10½” and two 2½ x 12½”. From the leftover fabric, bond the fusible web to the back of a piece 1½ x 1½” of the yellow fabric. Cut out the paper template for the lamp. Pin the template to the yellow fabric and cut it out.
Making the block
1 Begin by joining the dark grey harbour wall piece below the blue sea piece with a quarter inch seam.
2 Place the circle of yellow fabric at the top of the light grey lighthouse shape. Use a hot iron to bond the circle in place (making sure to protect your iron and ironing board). Pin the lighthouse in position on the background, checking against the template. Mark the position of the platform under the lamp with an erasable fabric marker.
3 Pin the red sections in place.
4 With grey thread in your machine and a regular machine foot, set your machine to zigzag, with a stitch width of 3 and a stitch length of 1.5. Stitch across, above and below each red stripe. Stitch round the lamp. Take the threads to the back and finish them off with a knot.
5 Stitch round the outside of the lighthouse shape. Finish off as before. Press.
6 Put the piece into an embroidery frame. Embroider the platform with two strands of grey stranded cotton using satin stitch. You can see a demonstration of how to do this stitch on the Amanda Jane Textiles YouTube channel here
7 Attach the two yellow side borders, pressing the seams outwards. Attach the top and bottom borders, pressing the seams outwards.
Press the block from the back.
The lighthouse block is complete. All the ‘picture’ blocks for the Seaside Album are now complete. In the remaining three months of the year, there will be instructions for additional decorative elements in the quilt, for piecing the quilt top and for layering up and finishing. Join me in October for the next instalment!
This pattern ‘She Sells Sea Shells’ – available here in my Etsy shop – makes a pretty seashell-themed throw-size quilt, which can also be used as a wall-hanging or a playmat:
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