How to Create a Radiant Baby Quilt with GO! Dies

Hi, quilters! It's Bea Lee from Beaquilter. I'm here today to show you how I combined the GO! Chinese Lanterns-8" Finished Die and the GO! Qube Mix & Match 8" Block using solid fabrics to make a cute little baby quilt or table topper.

 

Fabrics Needed

• 1 1/4 yards of dark blue fabric (that includes binding)
• 3/4 yards of turquoise fabric
• 1/4 yard of light blue fabric
• 1/3 yard of white fabric

 

NOTE: Since I used solids, there's not up or down on the fabric. If you're using a print, pay attention to the Chinese Lantern blocks and make sure that they are NOT mirror imaged!

 

 

Cutting Instructions

1. With dark blue fabric, cut:

• Two 5 3/4" x Width of Fabric (WOF) strips. Then, subcut 20 of Shape 3 from the GO! Qube Mix & Match 8" Block.
• One 5 1/4" x WOF strip. Subcut 16 of Shape A from the GO! Chinese Lanterns-8" Finished Die (also using scraps from strip above).
• 12 strips at 2 1/2" x WOF (four of them are for the binding).

 

2. Using the turquoise fabric, cut:

• Two 5 1/2" x WOF strips. Subcut 16 of Shape 4 from the GO! Qube Mix & Match 8" Block.
• One 5 1/4" x WOF strip. Subcut eight of Shape B on the GO! Chinese Lanterns-8" Finished Die (also using scraps from above).
• One 5" x WOF strip. Subcut out eight of Shape C on the GO! Chinese Lanterns-8" Finished Die.
• Using the scraps from above, cut out four of Shape 5 from the GO! Qube Mix & Match 8" Block.

 

3. With the light blue fabric, cut:

• One 5 1/2" x WOF strip. Subcut eight of Shape 4 from the GO! Qube Mix & Match 8" Block.
• Use the scraps from above to cut out four of Shape 6 from the GO! Qube Mix & Match 8" Block.
• With the rest of these scraps, cut out eight of Shape C on the GO! Chinese Lanterns-8" Finished Die.

 

4. Using the white fabric, cut:

• One 5 1/4" x WOF strip. Subcut eight of Shape B on the GO! Chinese Lanterns-8" Finished Die.
• One 4" x WOF strip. Subcut 16 of Shape 5 from the GO! Qube Mix & Match 8" Block.
• With the scraps from above, cut one of Shape 6 from the GO! Qube Mix & Match 8" Block.

 

 

 

 

PRO TIP: No matter how experienced you are with quilting, you can still make mistakes! I originally thought that the Chinese Lanterns block finished at 9", so I had used the GO! Qube Mix & Match 9" Block to cut out the square on point shapes. I realized my mistake and instead of tossing the pieces aside, I fixed them easily! I just took out the same shapes from the GO! Qube Mix & Match 8" Block and laid the square on points on the correct die and trimmed off the excess. You'd never know that I made a mistake!

 

 

 

 

 

Assembly Instructions

I like to sew as much as possible at one time, so I worked on both the diamond blocks and the Chinese Lanterns blocks at the same time.

 

1. To make the Chinese Lanterns blocks, sew the white Shape B's to the turquoise Shape C's (eight times) as shown below. They are ALL the same, NOT half mirror-imaged!

 

 

 

 

2. Next to the Shape B sections, add the dark blue Shape A's on all eight sections.

 

3. Make eight mirror imaged units with the light blue Shape C's and turquoise Shape B's as shown below.

 

 

 

 

4. Sew two of each quadrant together into a block (pictured below). You will need four blocks total.

 

 

 

 

5. For the diamond blocks, sew four white Shape 5 half square triangles to the sides of a light blue Shape 6 square on point. You will need four of these.

 

6. For one of the diamond blocks, sew together four turquoise Shape 5 half square triangles to a white square on point Shape 6.

 

 

 

 

7. Then, add four turquoise Shape 4 quarter square triangles to the four blocks with the light blue centers.

 

8. Sew four light blue Shape 4 quarter square triangles to the block with the white center.

 

 

 

 

9. Add the remaining dark blue Shape 3 half square triangles to all five blocks, as shown below.

 

 

 

 

The blocks are now 8 1/2".

 

10. Trim two of the 2 1/2" strips to six 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" rectangles and sew between the diamond and Chinese Lanterns blocks as shown below. The top and bottom rows are the same with the diamond blocks with the light blue centers and a Chinese Lanterns block in the middle. The middle row has two Chinese Lanterns blocks (turned 90 degrees) and the diamond block with the white center in the middle.

 

 

 

 

11. Cut four of the remaining blue strips to 28 1/2" and sew one each to the middle and bottom rows (pictured below).

 

 

 

 

12. Then, sew the rows together.

 

PRO TIP: When sewing rows together with sashing strips like this, I pin the far edges together first,  eyeball where the middle is and lift the row on TOP back a little to see so that I can match up the sashing strips of both rows. The top row has the long sashing strip, so I can't line it up from the edge, but if I press down and feel with my fingers where the seam is on the bottom row, then it's easy enough to pin in place.

 

 

 

 

This is what the top looks like before adding the final outer borders. I added the remaining 28 1/2" strips to the top and bottom and trimmed the last two to 32 1/2" and added to the sides.

 

 

 

 

The quilt finishes 32" x 32" (32 1/2" x 32 1/2") once it is all quilt and bound.

 

Here it is all quilted and bound with the remaining four 2 1/2" dark blue strips.

 

 

 

 

 

How Will You Make This Your Own?

This is a fun quilt that will look great in many different color combinations! The GO! Chinese Lanterns-8" Finished Die is easy and great to work with. We can't wait to see how you make this baby quilt - or table topper - your own! So, please share the photo on social media using the hashtag #AccuQuiltBuilt and don't forget to tag @bealeequilter and @AccuQuilt so that we can see your fun creation!