Granny Patch Quilt- Using the Heirloom Bundle

Written by Brittany Lloyd

It's finally time to share about the third of five quilts that I made with my "Heirloom" bundle with Robert Kaufman! If you haven’t yet read about this bundle or seen all of the pretty fabric combinations you can make with it, be sure to check out this blog post.

Granny Patch is a modern patchwork take on the traditional crocheted granny square. If sewing all of those little squares are giving you some anxiety, have no fear. One thing that I love about Granny Patch (if I do say so myself) is that the blocks are strip pieced, meaning you are NOT dealing with individual squares of fabric. Instead, you're sewing strips together in a certain order then cutting them apart to create the rows of your blocks. (Can I get an amen??) There are also nesting seams so you don't have to fuss or stress about everything perfectly lining up as you are sewing. It really is a fun block to assemble!

The Granny Patch quilt pattern includes four sizes: Baby, Small Throw, Large Throw and Queen. Since the quilt is block based, you can add and subtract blocks as desired. You can also choose from using fat quarters, quarter yards, or half yards for this quilt...so there are lots of options!

For this Heirloom sample, I made it in the large throw size which is 3 x 4 blocks and measures at 56" x 74" finished.

Since this bundle has several different textures of fabric, for the background, I wanted to add to that and use something that had some extra texture as well. I landed on Robert Kaufman's Essex (which is a mix of cotton and linen) in the color Mauve.

For this quilt, I used the following fabrics:

Heirloom FQ Bundle (I used 12 of the 24 fabrics)
Background: Essex E064-1219 Mauve
Backing: SRK-17586-2 Black
Binding: Kona Gold K001-1154

Since this quilt uses half of the fabrics that are in the Heirloom FQ bundle, we decided to make seperate quilt kits that include the 12 fabrics that I used + the mauve Background fabric. We also have optional backing and binding if you'd like!

One thing to note is that many of these fabrics are slightly thicker than traditional quilting cotton. Granny Patch uses a scant 1/4" seam, so you before you begin, make sure you practice getting that seam allowance perfect with some scraps of these fabrics. If a scant 1/4" seam has you slightly nervous, be sure to read this blog post so you'll never have trouble again!

For the backing, I chose the striped Essex Yarn Dyed Woven in Black from the bundle. In the bundle, there are two black striped fabrics & this is the wider of the black stripes. *love* Since this quilt has a thicker background fabric AND a thicker backing fabric, overall, it's slightly thicker than your average quilt... I think it'd make a great quilt for picnics because of that. Overall, it has a beautiful, non-traditional texture that will only get better with time!

I sent it off to Sara of Stitch Lab Quilting and we both searched for the perfect floral. Something about Granny Patch just calls for a floral pantograph & we landed on Spring by Mistletoe Quilting. I love how the small curves of the flowers complement the small blocks of the Granny Squares! Sara knows that I love dense quilting, so she really scaled down the design to give such a pretty, bubbly texture. She used a mauve pink to match the background, which is nice and subtle, just how I like it.

I wanted to add a pop of color for the binding of the quilt, so I went with one of my favorites, Kona Gold. Since Kona Gold is also in the bundle, it seemed like the perfect complement to the Mauve Background & has a beautiful contrast against the black and white stripe on the back.