Celebrate Life!42” x 42”

Designed by Abigail Dolinger, New Year’s Day 2015

What are you celebrating today? A new year? An anniversary or birthday? A new baby? To be alive on God’s green earth is such a blessing and reason enough for grateful rejoicing! Commemorate your celebration with a quick and easy quilt. Select bold fabrics to denote your exuberant mood. Use an orphan block for the center as I did, or make a 12 ½” patchwork block after cutting all the required squares, rectangles and strips listed below.

Fabrics12 ½” (unfinished) patchwork block, your choiceFat quarter of black and white Zigzag printFat quarter of black/blue Small Circles print½ yd. Aqua tone-on-tone3/8 yd. Royal Blue tone-on-tone5/8 yd. Large Circles print, medium to large scale1 3/8 yd. for backing3/8 yd. for binding

CuttingZigzag print – Cut 4 rectangles 4” x 14 ½”Small Circles print – Cut 4 rectangles 4” x 14 ½”Aqua tone-on-tone – Cut 8 squares, 7 ½” x 7 ½” Cut 2 strips 1 ½” x 12 ½” Cut 2 strips 1 ½” x 14 ½”Royal Blue tone-on-tone – Cut 4 strips 2 ½” x 28 ½”Large Circles print – Cut 4 strips 5 ½” x 28 ½”

SewingFrame the 12 ½” patchwork block: Sew the 1 ½” x 12 ½” Aqua strips to both sides of the patchwork block. Press seams toward the strips. Sew the 1 ½” x 14 ½” Aqua strips to top and bottom of the patchwork block. Press seams toward the strips.

First border: Sew the four 4” x 14 ½” Zigzag print rectangles to the four 4” x 14 ½” Small circles rectangles on one long side. Press seams toward darker fabric.Sew one unit to each side of the framed patchwork block. Press seams toward the center patchwork.Sew an aqua 7 ½” square to each end of the two remaining units. Press seams toward squares.Sew these units to the top and bottom of the framed patchwork block. Press seams toward the border.

Second border: Sew the four 2 ½” x 28 ½” Royal blue strips to the four 5 ½” x 28 ½” Large Circles strips. Press seams toward the Royal blue strips.Sew one unit to each side of the quilt project. Press seams toward the center patchwork.Sew an aqua 7 ½” square to each end of the two remaining units. Press seams toward squares.Sew these units to the top and bottom of the quilt project. Press seams toward the border.

FinishingUse scraps of fabric to increase the width of the backing fabric if necessary.Layer backing, batting, and quilt top. Quilt with either a modern geometric, linear design or with circles or spirals.

For Double French Fold Binding, cut 5 strips for binding, 2 ½” x width of fabric. Seam together with diagonal joins into one long strip. Press seams open. Press binding in half, wrong sides together. Attach binding to front of quilt by machine, aligning raw edges of binding with raw edges of trimmed quilt. Turn fold to back of quilt and hand stitch in place.