Summer Sun, Seas, and Sand Lap Quilt

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Create a scene of the setting summer sun against the evening sky while blue waves wash upon a sandy shore with this quilt pattern from Sujata Ryan. This throw quilt pattern is a dreamy scrapbusting quilt project in which color placement is key. Made using lightweight batting, this summer quilt pattern is ideal for breezy evenings.

Skill Level: Confident beginner or higher

Finished Size: 56 in. (inches) x 56 in. (inches)

Block Size: 7 in. x 7 in., 64 blocks in all (8 on each side)

Materials:

Fabrics: This quilt can be made using a variety of scraps in reds, oranges, yellows, pinks, blues and beiges, or by using 10 inch precut packs of these colors. Please see the section below called “Fabric Selection, Yardage and Cutting Directions” for precise requirements or yardages to purchase.
- Backing fabric – 4 yd. of 45 inch wide fabric, or 1-2/3 yd. of 60 inch wide fabric
- Binding fabric – 1/2 yd. of 45 inch wide fabric
PDF Templates – These are located at the bottom of this page. See printing instructions below.

Tools:

Standard sewing tools
Rotary cutter and mat, and optional rotating mat for trimming blocks
Optional: Free-motion foot
Optional: Walking foot

PRINTING INSTRUCTIONS:

To download the PDF templates, click on the download button at the bottom of the page. We recommend opening your download using Adobe Acrobat.

Piecing Instructions:

PREPARING THE PATTERN PIECES:

Each block consists of a large triangle A, a medium trapezoid B and a small triangle C.
Print out the PDF template pieces, which include 1/4 inch seam allowances and trimmed corners (for matching pieces together and for reducing bulk).
Cut each pattern piece out on the cutting lines. Trace or glue them onto cardboard or cardstock. Cut out the pattern pieces from the cardstock.

FABRIC SELECTION, YARDAGE, AND CUTTING DIRECTIONS:

The fabric pieces can be cut from a variety of scraps, from precuts like 10 inch squares or from yardage.
Tip: If using scraps or parts of precuts, place 6 to 8 pieces of fabric in a stack, making sure all of them are large enough to accommodate the pattern piece and are right side up.
Trace the pattern piece with a marker or chalk pencil onto the top fabric in the stack. Cut on the pattern pieces through all layers on the marked lines with a rotary cutter or scissors.
If using yardage instead of scraps, please use the information in the charts below to determine the yardage needed. The charts also show many of each piece to cut, whether from scraps or yardage. Fabrics can be stacked as described in the tip above to reduce cutting time.
1. For Piece A, choose bold, vibrant prints like batiks, bold geometrics or larger motif fabrics in each color as shown in the chart below.
  1. Piece A – Amount Needed for Each Color and Yardage Needed
2. For Piece B, a tone on tone or subtle print in a medium shade of the color should provide some contrast to Piece A.
  1. Piece B – Amount Needed for Each Color and Yardage Needed
3. For Piece C, a tone on tone or subtle print in a light shade of the color should provide some contrast to Piece B.
  1. Piece C – Amount Needed for Each Color and Yardage Needed
    
    Fabrics shown to the left have been cut and organized into their color groups, each group including Pieces A, B and C in each group.
Next, construct the 64 blocks for the quilt top.

SEWING THE BLOCKS:

For each color group: Match a B to an A, right sides together. Stitch using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
Tip: Chain-piece the B pieces to A pieces to save time and thread.

CREATING THE QUILT:

Stitch the C of each coordinating color to B, right sides together. Chain stitching can save time and thread.
Press the seams toward the C small triangle. Trim each block to be 7 1/2 inches on each side. (Due to small irregularities in cutting, seam width, etc. blocks may be slightly larger than 7 1/2 inches on each side. This was done on purpose to allow for accurate trimming and to avoid pulling or stretching the blocks to make them fit.

Trim the other edges at 7 1/2 inches long and wide.

A rotating cutting mat is very useful for trimming the blocks so the block can be turned smoothly and trimmed without moving it.
1. Make 64 blocks in total, from these color groups:
Lay out the blocks in 4 quadrants as shown in the diagram below. The A should be in the bottom right corner of each block.
1. Variations in the shades for each color are included to show symmetry along the diagonal in Quadrants 1 and 2.
Organize the blocks for sewing.
1. Stack the 4 blocks for each row in a quadrant, ready for sewing together.
2. Tip: Pin a label to the first square in each row with the row number on it.
3. Rows 1 to 4 are in Quadrant 1, Rows 5 to 8 in Quadrant 2, Rows 9 to 12 are in Quadrant 3 and Rows 13 to 16 are in Quadrant 4.
4. Pinning a label on makes it easy to distinguish one row from another.
Sew each row of 4 squares together using 1/4 in. seams.
1. Press the seams of ODD number rows to the left. Press the seams of EVEN number rows to the right.
  
  Alternating the direction will help match the seams when sewing rows together.
2. Tip: Re-pin the row label to the first square in each row to keep the rows organized.
Sew the 4 rows of each quadrant together.
1. Press the seams of Quadrants 1 and 3 up.
2. Press the seams of Quadrants 2 and 4 down to assist in matching seams when sewing quadrants together.
  
  Quadrant 1
  
  Quadrant 2
  
  Quadrant 3
  
  Quadrant 4
Sew the quadrants together to complete the quilt top.
1. Sew Quadrant 1 to Quadrant 2, pressing the seam to the left.
2. Sew Quadrant 3 to Quadrant 4, pressing the seam to the right.
3. Sew the top half (Quadrants 1 and 2) to the bottom half (Quadrants 3 and 4).
Layer and baste the quilt.
1. Lay out the backing wrong side up. Place the batting over it. Place the quilt top, right side up, at the top.
2. Baste the three layers together using safety pins, spray glue or any other basting method.
Quilt as desired. In the example, the quilting done includes:
1. Stitch in the ditch – Stitch in the ditch of all horizontal and vertical seams, and along the diagonals formed between Pieces B and A.
2. Radiating sun circles – Stitch a quarter circle in the top left. Stitch echoing circles around it 1/2 inch apart for about 15 inches.
3. Radiating sunbeam lines – Mark long lines in radiating angles spreading out from the largest circle. This can be done by “eyeballing it”. Or a protractor or circle ruler can be used to mark the lines at 45 degrees, 22 1/2 degrees and 67 1/2 degrees and each section divided into smaller sections at 1 inch intervals.
4. Water wave curves – Set up the sewing machine for free-motion quilting (drop or cover the feed-dogs and use a free-motion foot).
  1. Do ruler quilting with a wavy ruler through some of the blue blocks.
  2. Create wavy swirls in the rest of the blue blocks and the teal blocks.
    
    Water waves done by ruler quilting in Pieces C and B, with free-motion swirls in A.
    
    Sea form swirls in B and swirls following the fabric print in A.
5. Pebbles, striations and stippling – Do free-motion quilting in the beige blocks to create striation lines at the edge of the sand where it meets the water, pebbles along these lines, then stippling, vertical or horizontal striations and/or swirls in the sand for the beige blocks.
  
  Pebbles and swirls
  
  Sand striations
Bind the quilt using any standard binding method.
Create a label with your name, place and date of completion.