Yankee Puzzle Charity Quilt Tutorial

Written by Helen G
January 19, 2019

Project specifications:

Quilt size with 20 blocks: 61" x 74"       Unfinished block size: 13-3/4"          4 blocks x 5 rows
Quilt size with 24 blocks: 61" x 87"       Unfinished block size: 13-3/4"          4 blocks x 6 rows

Tools Needed:

• Rotary cutter and mat
• 24" long ruler
• 6-1/2" square
• Frixion pen or other fabric marker
• 14" square ruler
• Pins, seam ripper, scissors, etc
• Iron and ironing board

Making the Half Square Triangle Units:

This process is called the Easy 8 Method for making half square triangles.

• Place one 14" square of background fabric and one 14" square of focus fabric, right sides together. Be sure the straight of grain is going in the same direction for both squares. 
• Use a marking pen to draw a line diagonally from corner to corner in both directions.

• Stitch 1/4" on both sides of each line.

• Align your ruler on the background fabric and make a vertical cut exactly in the center of the X marking. Without moving any of the pieces, make a horizontal cut through the X marking. Then cut on each of the drawn diagonal lines. This will yield 8 half square triangle units, which will make 2 blocks. 

• With focus fabric side up, set the seams and press the units open.
• Square up each unit to 6-1/2".

Assembling the rows:

• Lay out 4 half square triangle units with 4 sashing strips (2" x 6-1/2") and one 2" center square as shown in the video.
• Sew block components together into rows.

Pressing the rows:

Press the seams in each row towards the sashing strips.

  Assembling the Block:

• Sew the top and middle rows together, nesting the seams. 
• Finger press, and then add the last row, again nesting the seams. 

• Press seams away from the middle row. 
• Square your block to 13-3/4".

Assembling the quilt top:

• When sewing the blocks together into rows, alternate the direction of each block to create the pattern. 
• Alternate the direction the seams are pressed in each row, i.e., left, right, left, etc. 
• Sew 4 blocks across and 5 or 6 rows down, depending on the size of the quilt top you choose to make.   

Borders:

• Cut eight 4" strips of border fabreic.
• Measure the sides of your quilt and cut borders accordingly. Do the same for the top and bottom borders.