The Modified Rebekah Quilt

Today I'm talking about a modified Rebekah quilt I recently made. I was thinking of designing a Rebekah #2 because people love the first one so much. However, after I made this quilt top and asked friends what they thought, they couldn't tell the difference between the two quilts. LOL!

This made me laugh, so obviously my attempt at a second version failed. But I still wanted to share the quilt with you and talk about how I modified the pattern.

Below you can see a picture of the original Rebekah design hanging and the modified Rebekah on the left side.

You can find a copy of The Rebekah Quilt Pattern in my shop.


As I said I started this quilt by taking the original Rebekah Quilt Pattern as a guide. Because I didn't want to do a ton of new math and change the look too much I kept the size of each block the same. The goal was to add an extra stripe into each segment in the quilt.

The original Rebekah modern quilt pattern is jelly roll friendly. By adding another stripe to each block, the fabric, which is usually compatible with a jelly roll (Fabric B), was no long compatible. This automatically makes the quilt not as appealing to all of you who have jelly rolls lying around waiting to use.

However, I do like the look of the smaller stripe in the modified version. Below you can see the modified Rebekah quilt top and the original Rebekah quilt top next to each other.

Modifying Quilt Patterns

As quilters we are creative creatures. We like to imagine quilts with different fabrics and different colors and make patterns our own. It's fun to tweak and change a pattern to fit our needs or design idea.

Just a couple thoughts about modifying other's quilt patterns. If you do modify someone's quilt pattern, make sure to give credit to the original creator. Also, make sure to share the ways you modified it, not necessarily the specifics, but just enough so people know your version is a bit different than the original.

About This Quilt

When I chose the fabrics for this quilt I wanted bright and cheery. That's generally what I choose for most of my quilts. However, for some reason this one just turned out extra cute. I think part of that is due to the background fabric.

I debated using this eye lash fabric for the background. I usually go with just plain because I am a bit of a chicken. But I am so glad I used it. This fabric is by Dear Stella. I'm not sure if it's in print still since I pulled it from my stash and I have had it for a bit.

The rest of the fabric for this quilt was also pulled from my stash. I pulled fat quarters together that made me happy. That was the only requirement. Well, that and I made sure each was a different color or version of the others. 

This quilt is a throw size. You can see I only needed 8 fat quarters. That's because each fat quarter is very efficiently used.

The fabric requirements didn't change between this modified version and the original Rebekah since they are still the same size quilt. The only real difference was the extra cutting and sewing the extra strip.

I've talked a lot about this modified Rebekah, since it's from the original Rebekah Quilt Pattern I thought I would share with you all about bit about the original.

The Rebekah Quilt Pattern

The Rebekah Quilt Pattern is a modern pattern designed for the beginner quilter. The quilt is strip pieced together which makes for a very fast quilt. The cutting is also easy since you are just cutting strips of fabric and there is no trimming. That's right! There is no trimming!

Pressing is very important in The Rebekah. Because there is no trimming a good press is crucial to getting a square block each time. If your pressing isn't done well your blocks will come out slightly rectangular. And ain't nobody got time for that!

The Rebekah Pattern has three sizes:

• Baby 32 in. x 40 in.
• Throw 48 in. x 64 in.
• Twin 72 in. x 96 in.
• Queen 96 in. x 104 in.

As I said before it is jelly roll and fat quarter friendly, or you can use yardage as well. It is important to know some quilting basics before starting this quilt. Also, it is important to have a consistent 1/4 in. seam. I suggest using a seam guide, especially if you are a beginner quilter. I am not a beginner quilter and still use one!

Finishing the Quilt

This Rebekah Quilt was straight stitched with lines 1 inch apart. I also pieced the backing with scraps I had from previous projects. This is a great way to keep that scrap bin from overflowing and to save money on backing fabric.



If you want to read some more ideas on saving money on backing fabric, read my blogpost here.

The binding fabric was from my stash as well. I used 2 1/2 inch strips and hand bound it. I have tried to machine bind a quilt before and it just never comes out as nice for me. So I decided to just stay with the hand binding.

Final Thoughts on This Quilt

 Am I glad I tried to modify the Rebekah quilt pattern? Yes!

Do I love this quilt? Yes!

Will I try and make another version of the Rebekah in the future? Yeah, probably.

Overall, modifying quilt patterns can be a fun exercise in creativity. It's important if you get ideas from other's patterns or change those patterns to give credit where credit is due.

I can see the difference between this version of the Rebekah and the original version, however, since my quilty friends couldn't I decided to not go ahead with writing the instructions to make it.

I am looking to gift this to a friend. I hope it will bring someone else the joy and happiness it brings me.

Happy quilting!