Maureen NJ

I have had Wm Morris fabrics for a little over a year and have been trying to decide on a pattern where I can showcase the fabrics. They are green, blue, peach, tan, rusty red prints that I do not want to cut into small pieces as the large prints are beautiful. I have decided on the following pattern based on the purple one I saw here on the QB. Thanks so much for all your help.

My questions are:
1. Did I figure it correctly that a 9" square is 12.75" on diagonal? I want to make a king size quilt.
2. With all the solid blocks in the drawing being different colored prints, on the border 9 patch (made up of 3" squares), should I do the print blocks IN EACH BLOCK in one color or make it scrappy?
3. I was thinking of using an off-white or beige solid for the white blocks and using wool batting. Does wool batting come in just natural or can you get it white?

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Barb in Louisiana

Question 1: I used EQ to prove the 12.75 & it's actually 12.728" Not enough to make a difference but could on a king size quilt.
Question 2: That's a personal choice.
Question 3: Don't know about the wool batting. I mostly use Warm & Natural or Warm & White. I like being able to quilt up to 10" apart, although I almost never do that. I use Pantographs on my LA and I quilt much closer seams. The wool batting that I looked up using Yahoo says to quilt 4" apart. That's too close for me.

dunster

Your diagram comes out at about 114.5 x 101.8. A king bed (not CA king) is 76" wide x 80" long. Measure your mattress depth. If you want to use the 114.5 as the width of the quilt you have an overhang of 19.25" on the sides and 21.8" at the bottom or at the top (don't know how you want the quilt to lay on the bed - depends on whether you want a pillow tuck, whether you have a footboard, etc.) For question 2, I would wait until the rest of the quilt is put together and then make the decision. Generally I lean toward scrappier.

I don't usually design a quilt for a specific bed - might be better if I did - but since you are doing that, you might want to consider where the 9-patch blocks are going to be when the quilt is on the bed. It looks like they will be just off the edge on both sides. Their position top and bottom depends on how you place the quilt on the bed. Just something to think about...

Maureen NJ

Barb, thanks for checking in EQ for me. I usually use Dream cotton Select but I thought I 'd try wool, since so many people sing it's praises about not getting fold lines and it is a little poufier than the Select. Dunster, the mattress is 12" thick and then it is 8" from the bottom of the mattress to the bottom of the side rail. That's why I made it the 114"width. I find a dust ruffle annoying so I don't use them. I think you are right about waiting with # 2 until I get the center done. I appreciate both of your comments. It's been a UFO and has been bugging me. Fabric is so nice I don't want to screw it up.

Farm Quilter

If you are using an off-white/cream solid, the light cream of the wool batting won't change the color of the quilt. If you are concerned, you can use a double batting - a bleached white batting (like Warm and White) on top and wool on the bottom. I honestly don't think you would have a problem with just a wool batting. I love the way the quilting shows with wool, it is warm in the winter and yet cool enough for summer - breathes really well - and it doesn't hold wrinkles like cotton. However, when you wash wool, I have found it to shrink much more then cotton. If you don't want your quilt to shrink and crinkle, soak the batting in hot water, spin out water in washer, and dry in a dryer with some dryer balls or clean tennis balls for about 30 minutes.

ckcowl

I love, love, love wool battings! The color of Hobbs wool and dream wool is much lighter than cotton batting and I've used wool in an all White quilt, the batting did Not dim the whiteness. And, the Hobbs & dream wool battings do Not shrink anywhere near as much as cotton batting- they are preshrunk. Ready to use and a joy to use!

mea12

this is a really great pattern you have there especially if using lush fabric in the middle squares. I have now done 2 kings and one thing i really like about the first one is that the inner border (sashing) fell in the exact right spot. i also have a huge drop and the pattern i used was king but about 15" too short on both sides! i wound up getting very creative in making it wider but it worked really well. I could see you floating another row of the squares on the sides even if not the same size as your middle. i typically like things calming and serene in a master...which can still be scrappy depending on the fabrics used.

dunster

Is your bed a CA King? (They are 72x84; regular kings are 76x80.) If not CA king, then you need to make the quilt larger.

Bed width + 2*(mattress depth + distance to side tail)=76+2*(12+8)=76+40=116

You need at least 116 inches, and that's just touching the bed rail. You probably want to overlap it by just a little. Add in some shrinkage and you won't be reaching the bed rail at all.

If it's a CA King, you need only 112 inches to just touch the bed rail. 114 inches would be kind of skimpy - only 1 inch over on each side and nothing allowed for shrinkage.

Maureen NJ

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I have plenty of the Robert Morris fabric and will make sure I buy enough of the off white in case I need to add another row of the on point squares or decide to add a solid border to add to the width and length. I now thought of something else. Most of the Robert Morris fabric is directional so I will be cutting on the bias. Will it be ok to cut the off white squares on straight of grain or will I have to cut those on the bias too?

grann of 6

Having made several on point quilts, which is the same as making bias blocks, I would say adding your off white on grain would help stabilize all the bias. You just have to be very accurate in your cutting and your seams. When sewing a bias and an on grain together, I put the bias against the feed dogs and the on grain on top. The feed dogs will keep the bias from stretching and bubbling. BTW, I love your pattern. I have some William Morris jelly rolls I have been itching to use. But like you I hate to cut into them, they are so beautiful.