Dark Blue Rebekah Quilt And Why Pressing Is So Important
First, let me tell you a little about The Rebekah Quilt Pattern. It's kind of magical if you ask me. That sounds a little braggy since it's my pattern. But I say it's magical because it is jelly roll friendly, fat quarter friendly and yardage friendly. Oh, and the very best part, there is no trimming. Zero! It's super fast and easy.
See The Rebekah quilt pattern in my shop.
The Rebekah Pattern
First of all who is Rebekah? Well Rebekah is a good friend of mine. She is a loyal, kind, generous and funny friend. She's a bit quirky, loves nature and she is always just a little bit all over the place, like I'm not ever sure which direction our conversation will take next. And her 30 minute Macro Polos are legendary in our house. She can have me contemplating deep thoughts one second and laughing the next.
Rebekah's friendship is a treasure and so is she. After I designed this quilt I looked at it and thought, "Oh, my gosh, this reminds me of Rebekah!" It's a bit scrambled and all over the place in the best way.
When I wrote The Rebekah Pattern I did not list a background fabric, instead the fabrics are listed as A and B. This is because the fabrics can be swapped out as the focal point of the quilt. It just depends on which look you want.
Let me give you an example. The Rebekah in the image below is of two different versions of the pattern. In the quilt on the left Fabric A is main fabric of the quilt and Fabric B is the background fabric (I used a white jelly roll). The version on the right is the opposite. Fabric A is the background fabric and Fabric B is the printed fabric, which in this case was from yardage.
If you want to read the blogposts on these two quilts you can find them here and here.
Before you buy your fabric for the Rebekah, make sure you know which fabric you want as the focal point of the quilt and which fabric you want as the background.
The Rebekah modern quilt pattern has four sizes. So many of you had been emailing me asking for the measurements for making the quilt in a queen size. Because of this, a couple months ago I added the queen size to the baby, throw and twin sizes.
Earlier I mentioned The Rebekah doesn't have any trimming. That's correct! One gal who made the pattern said she loved it because it was just sew, sew, sew and no trimming to size.
This makes The Rebekah a fun pattern for all quilters. It can be finished very quick.
I do include instructions for trimming for beginner quilters. If you are a beginner quilter and you don't quite have the consistent 1/4 inch seam down then you might need to trim the blocks down by 1/4 inch so that the quilt can be easily assembled.
The Importance of a Good Press
One thing I have noticed when sewing The Rebekah Quilt, sometimes my blocks aren't completely square. They come out slightly rectangular. This happened when I was sewing this quilt. I thought maybe my 1/4 seam wasn't consistent, but I checked my seams and they were all correct. Then, I realized the problem wasn't my sewing, it was my pressing.
Pressing your seams well is very important when making this quilt. after sewing the strips together make sure to press good! But don't pull and stretch the fabric.
If you are sewing a quilt and your blocks are coming out slightly off a couple good things to do are:
- Check you seams. That's the first thing I did with these blocks. Make sure you are sewing a 1/4 inch seam consistently.
- Check the block construction. The Rebekah blocks have a slightly wider strip in the center than the outer strips. I have gotten them confused before and pieced the incorrect strips into the block.
- Press the blocks really well, but do not pull or stretch the fabric.
One thing that has made a huge difference in my pressing is buying a wool mat. I bought a small one a while ago after hearing people rave about it online. I absolutely love it and prefer to iron on it over my ironing board. I also love it because I can easily take it with me when I travel. I just tuck it behind my sewing machine in my travel case.
If you are a quilter I suggest trying out a wool mat or getting yourself one. In fact next time I am in the States I plan on purchasing a larger wool mat.
Why do I love it so much? It's magic. The wool in the mat reflects back the heat from the iron so the fabric is basically being pressed from the top and bottom.
After pressing the blocks for this quilt on my wool mat they were the correct measurements and square. A good press can make a huge difference when quilting.
You can see two of my blocks for this quilt below.
The Rebekah Quilt in this blogpost uses a nice dark blue for the Fabric B which I cut into strips, and then I pulled bright and cheerful fat quarters from my stash for Fabric A. You can see my fabric pull below.
So I said this quilt was fast. I think it took me a weekend to sew, and I have four kids and live in a developing country. However, I just realized it took me 6 months to then baste, quilt and bind it. LOL! Piecing a quilt is one thing, finishing a quilt is another thing all together.
For this quilt I decided to do something a bit different when quilting it. I sewed subtle lines which cross each other and don't follow a pattern. I like the natural look of it. You can see some of the quilting in the images below. I also liked that I could just eyeball it and go with the flow of the quilting and not stress about making sure my lines were straight.
I did make sure to keep the same number of lines in each area so one section wouldn't be more dense than the other. The end product was just what I wanted without the fuss.
This quilt turned out with the best drape on no stiffness. It's so soft!
If you haven't tried The Rebekah quilt pattern yet, it's waiting for you in the shop. I love it because it's easy and fun. Grab a copy and share your photos with me.