Two Ways to Make a French Braid Quilt

Two Ways to Make a French Braid Quilt

For a quilt that looks wonderful but is so easy to make, the French Braid Quilt is the perfect choice. Inspired by the crossed threads of an old-time braid, the design makes a sophisticated woven appearance from simple fabric strips. Craftsy's Lindsay Conner provides a step-by-step tutorial outlining two ways to create this fantastic quilt—one using a standard ruler and one with a special binding tool.

Materials You Will Need:

For both methods, have the following supplies prepared:

• 3 or more of different color or print fabrics
• Rotary cutter
• Cutting mat
• Sewing pins

Also, select your preferred method:

• Method 1: Standard Ruler
• Method 2: Binding tool (a ruler designed for cutting angled strips)

Method 1: Using a Standard Ruler

Skill Level: Easy

Instructions:

• Cut Your Fabric: Cut your chosen fabrics into 2½" wide strips. Cut the strips into 7" lengths, making six strips each color. To make a wider block, use 10" lengths, making four strips each color.

• Arrange the Strips: Place the strips out in a staggered fashion, ensuring that no two of the same fabric are side by side. This will increase the braided appearance.

• Sew the Strips: Begin at the bottom of your design. Fold the bottom left strip over the tip of the bottom right strip, pin, and sew where the two meet. Press the seam to the bottom. Continue this, adding strips alternately to each side, always pressing seams downwards.

• Trim the Block: After sewing all strips, use your ruler to cut off the sides, clearing the sticking-out points to have flat edges. Square up the top and bottom to make a clean rectangle.

Pro Tip: To save time, try chain piecing several rows of braids at once. This technique reduces the amount of start-and-stop machine work.

Method 2: Using a Binding Tool

Skill Level: Easy

Instructions:

• Cutting Angled Strips: Place a 2½" wide piece of fabric on your cutting mat. The straight edge of the binding tool is against one of the short ends of the strip and cut at the specified angle. Turn the ruler over to the opposite angle and cut again. It will cut five angled pieces out of each strip.

• Align the Strips: Place the angled strips out, alternating them by fabric and making sure the angles are cohesive to form a braid pattern. Tweak as needed to create desired flow.

• Sew the Strips: Begin at the bottom, fold the bottom left piece over the tip of the bottom right piece, pin, and sew where they meet. Press the seam towards the bottom. Continue adding them like this, always pressing seams downwards.

• Trim the Block: After the braid is built, trim the top and bottom of the block to square it. Surprisingly, this method will frequently cut down on trimming the sides, which conserves fabric.

Design Considerations:

• Fabric Choice: Select contrasting color or pattern fabrics to create a braided look.
• Color Placement: Thoughtful placement of fabrics will produce gradients or other visual effects throughout the braid.

• Block Orientation: Experiment with rotating the finished blocks or making them in alternating styles to achieve varying overall quilt designs.

To view a complete step-by-step tutorial, including diagrams, visit Lindsay Conner's full tutorial on Craftsy: How to Make a French Braid Quilt: Two Ways

Final Thoughts!

The French Braid Quilt offers the ideal combination of simplicity and elegance. Whether a novice quilter or seasoned pro, this pattern offers you an opportunity to create a stunningly contrasting quilt with ease. With options to work using the standard ruler and binding tool techniques, you can use the technique best suited to work most conveniently for you and your requirements.

Happy quilting!