granny square quilt – Monday Morning Designs

Granny Square Quilt Finish

December 11, 2025December 11, 2025 Deb Gehringer

My granny square quilt is finally finished and in use; just in time for the cold weather.

A post in August showed the process of making this quilt, and now it’s time to show photos of the last making stages and then completed.

As always, I find that trimming the finished blocks (even if just the smallest amount) the quilt top lines up so much easier and more accurately. Even though it’s a time consuming task it’s worth it in the end.

Here’s a stack of freshly trimmed, pressed and starched blocks.

Here’s a partial layout on my floor before trimming threads off the back. There are 6 blocks per row, 7 rows total.

In keeping with a totally floral theme, I also choose a floral quilting motif. My longarmer, Carrie at Lovebug Longarming, is always kind enough to send me a shot or two from her machine. 🙂

I chose a yellow flower with a medium blue background for the binding, also from the Tilda Sunday Brunch collection. It’s kind of funny because I almost never incorporate blue into my quilts—Tilda fabrics have changed my mind!

Just a few other shots taken in my sewing room. I couldn’t resist including my latest addition of a 1957 Singer Featherweight! It’s a fun little machine and I just love the sound it makes…such a great piece of history.

All in all I really enjoyed making this quilt and I love the outcome! It only took me 11 years of quilting to finally make a quilt for myself. 😉

quilt blocks, quilting, Uncategorized

Making a Granny Square Quilt

August 25, 2025August 20, 2025 Deb Gehringer

For years, I’ve seen quilters rave about Tilda fabrics and it’s always been intriguing. With curiosity getting the best of me, I finally purchased a 10 fat quarter bundle of Sunday Brunch Tipsy Blenders. The collection is absolutely adorable; the print is the same petite flowers in a variety of muted colors.

I’d also recently purchased a 24 fat quarter bundle of Andover’s Pebbles by Laundry Basket Quilts consisting of beautiful petite prints with neutral backgrounds. Admittedly, I had no idea what I was going to do with either bundle.

After seeing a lovely IG post featuring a granny square quilt pattern, I had my inspiration; I’d make one with smaller blocks using those two bundles.

Because granny square quilts are historical and timeless, my idea was to make mine with modern fabrics that give a vintage vibe.

I committed to making this quilt as a ‘slow process quilt’ where I didn’t rush during any part of it—just enjoy what I was doing. I had no other projects going and didn’t have the need to finish in a hurry, and I’m happy to say goal accomplished.

To get started, I chose the Tilda prints for the inner and outer squares due to the darker colors and wanting block consistency. I chose the most heavily printed and darker toned Pebbles fat quarters for the middle squares. I decided on Meadows from the collection for the background (which was an expensive additional order!). I usually go with a solid background but I wanted something different for this one.

For cutting and sewing, I could’ve cut for strip-piecing to save time but I didn’t think of it, and had I, I wouldn’t have chosen it. I cut everything into 2 1/2″ squares and chain pieced accordingly. Again, to enjoy the process.

Another different choice was to not press open. I pressed to the dark side so nesting would give crisply joined seams.

To keep pieces organized, once pressed, I clipped same-fabric block strips together and stacked them together. I couldn’t go any further at that point because I didn’t have the background fabric yet.

To keep my mind organized, I’d sew one outer square color combination at a time. I made 3-5 blocks out of one color. I also tried to not repeat the exact same fabric combination for a nice variety of blocks.

Once I received my background fabric, I was able to sew blocks together.

Right now I’m still working on blocks and am loving the whole process. It’ll be a while until they’re done and the quilt top is put together, but I’ll post again once I finish.

If you’d like to make your own granny square quilt, take a look at my tutorial using this same pattern from my Quilting on a Whim post.

quilting, quilts, tutorials, Uncategorized

Quilting on a Whim (A Granny Square Quilt)

October 8, 2018December 29, 2018 Deb Gehringer

I admit, this is the first time I’ve ever made a quilt on impulse. It happened while scrolling Instagram and granny square posts kept showing up from the Moda Bake Shop. Almost instantly it clicked—I knew I wanted to make a granny square quilt and I had the perfect fabric for it. And since I recently finished a rather challenging and labor intensive queen size quilt, I needed something easy!

A while back I ordered a fat quarter bundle of Moda’s Chestnut Street for a fall quilt. While I cut what was needed for the pattern, I never made the quilt because I couldn’t decide on a background fabric. Since I had plenty of Chestnut Street left over, along with additional fabrics from other Fig Tree collections, I knew I had enough fabric and variety (plus I added two Dear Stella Mini Dots). I’d also been intent on stashing down, so it was definitely a go! I stopped what I was working on and started pulling fabric. And let me tell you, it was FUN. 🙂

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There were so many things about making this quilt that made it fun…for example, I had no plan, it was literally on a whim. I randomly mixed and matched fabric, whatever I felt went together got put together. I was using what I had, and of all cuts – an older charm pack, scraps, fat quarters, yardage…including the background fabric, Kona Cotton Snow. I truly enjoyed the entire process.

Once I finished 28 squares, I figured it was time for a plan. I decided on a throw quilt with six blocks per row, seven rows (42 squares total), 2″ sashing and a background border.

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Because it came out so lovely, I had it professionally quilted with the digital pattern Daisy Delight.

I did have to purchase binding fabric, luckily I found what I wanted from the Chestnut Street line. I also had to purchase the backing. Since the quilt has a lot of orange in it, I wanted to incorporate it onto the back as well. I decided on Tule Quietude in Sunset by Leah Duncan for Art Gallery Fabrics. I loved how this print blended nicely with the colors on the front.

My Granny Square quilt finished at 64 ½” x 74 ½”. And I just love it!

I mentioned that the granny squares popped up on IG from the Moda Bake Shop, so I visited their site for block instructions. Because I wanted to use scraps that I had already cut into 2 ½” squares, I had to do some recalculating for a more petite block. Also, this size block is great because it can be easily made with precuts, including 2 ½” strips, 5″ squares and 10″ squares.

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Here’s a quick tutorial on how to make a granny square block with the dimensions I used. My blocks finished at roughly 8 3/8″ square.

FROM COLOR/PRINT FABRIC, CUT:

(1) 2 ½” x 2 ½” square (center square)

(4) 2 ½” x 2 ½” squares (inner squares)

(8) 2 ½” x 2 ½” squares (outer squares)

FROM BACKGROUND FABRIC, CUT:

(2) 2 ½” x 2 ½” squares

*subcut diagonal once

(2) 4 ¼” x 4 ¼” squares

*subcut diagonal twice

Lay out fabric as illustrated below:

Sew pieces together into rows using ¼” seam allowance. I recommend pinning! Be sure to trim away dog ears. Pressed rows will look like this:

Because sewn pieces are relatively small, I pressed all my seams open to reduce bulk. It definitely helps the blocks to lay nice and flat.

Next, turn the block sideways, as shown. Place the remaining triangle pieces in the four corners. Sew and press.

The final step, trimming your block (and the remaining dog ears). Line up your ruler with the ¼” mark placed at the corners of the outer squares, as shown. Trim.

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Give your block one last press and you have a beautiful granny square!

I know it’s common for quilters to finish a quilt and say it’s their new favorite, but this one really is for me. It’s different from most of the quilts I’ve made, mainly because of the fabrics, many were soft and feminine floral prints.