So, I decided to go completely random with my new Boho Liberty Quilt. I have always wanted to make a quilt where I haven’t got the final picture in my head at the start but just want to go where I felt the fabric take me. This is my attempt at that – and I am super pleased with the result.
My original idea was to make a boho quilt which was a modern quilt and completely random but I do find it quite difficult to go completely off piste so I developed a little method to help me out. I started with 34 different fabric pieces, each scrap (or fat sixteenth) sized: 9″ x 13″ (but you can use however many you want to depending on how much pattern repeat you would like).
The fabric I’ve used is all from the Spring / Summer 2016 Liberty collection – ‘The Artist’ which takes its inspiration from the creative flare of artists across the world. It features florals, abstracts and textures which are colourfully curated in design stories such as The Painter’s Meadow and Fornasetti Forest. I just love the contrast in the colours and patterns in this collection.
This is the back of the Liberty Boho Quilt – I backed it in Posy Landscape C which looks really fresh and contemporary but is still so pretty, it almost looks like a patchwork itself.
My finished quilt size was: 42.5″ x 36″ but his method can be adapted to make any quilt size.
METHOD: There are only 3 types of block, Type 1: single strip, Type 2: 2 pieces combined to make one strip and Type 3: 3 pieces combined to make a strip.
STEP 1: Cut fabric for your Type 1, 2 and 3s.
Type 1: Take your (9″x 13″) scrap and cut a random width (1 to 6″) wide x 9″ tall.
Type 2: Cut one piece a random width by random height (eg 3″w x 4″h) and another piece the same width (3″w x 5.5″h). Once the 2 pieces are sewn together the strip must end up 9″ high. You will be using a seam allowance of 1/4″ so your cut heights must add up to 9.5″ total (to allow for 2 lots of 1/4″ seam allowance). So in the above example 4 + 5.5 = 9.5 wahay! Sew the 2 strips together (along the shortest 3″ edge) to give a strip 3″ x 9″h. This is a completed Type 2 strip.
Type 3: Same method as for a type 2 but you need to cut 3 pieces, the total of the cut heights must add up to 10″. Sew the 3 pieces together, this is a completed Type 3 strip.
Prepare a few types 1, 2 and 3 strips
STEP 2: Sew your Types 1, 2 and 3 together to form a row 36″ wide (or however wide you would like your quilt)
STEP 3: Repeat steps 2 and 3 four more times then sew all 5 rows together.
STEP 4: Lay backing fabric on table, then wadding, then quilt top. Use your preferred method to hold layers together (Safety pin or tack). Quilt all 3 layers together (I stitched straight rows 1.5″ apart across the quilt).
BINDING: I made the binding out of the leftover fabric by cutting 1.5″ strips of the different leftover fabrics (no matter what length they were), then sewing the ends of the strips together and binding as usual.
(Sorry this is not a super detailed tutorial, some quilt knowledge and techniques are presumed)
I hope that this inspires you to give a random quilt a go and to make your own version. This way, you can just choose the fabrics you love and go from there.
Happy sewing!
