I may be dating myself here, but how many of you remember the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland® and DisneyWorld®? When I was little, it was one of my very favorite attractions at the theme park. True, there was no whooshing around a snow covered mountainside or flying through deep space. You were just sitting there on a long wooden bench next to other sweaty tourists, but you were surrounded by talking, singing birds in every size and color imaginable. It was a riot of sound, a tropical kaleidoscope. This throw reminded us this experience, and is a wonderful way to use bold motifs. The patchwork is very easy, and the quilting is done with a 9mm decorative stitch at each seam line, adding an extra splash of color and texture and uniting all the floral blocks.

This throw is also a great exercise in how to mix and match dramatic motifs and colors to wonderful effect. This doesn’t mean you simply throw all the fabric pieces up in the air, then put them together as they fall. It takes planning and sometimes a little trial and error. For some of our favorite tried and true techniques, take a look at our article on: Ten Designer Tips for Blending Colors and Prints.

Our original fabric choices came from a 2012 collection by Philip Jacobs for the Kaffe Fassett Collective and FreeSpirit Fabrics.

Your finished throw should finish at approximately 50″ x 60″.

Sewing Tools You Need

• Sewing machine and standard presser foot
• Quarter Inch Seam foot; optional, but helpful since all seams are ¼”

Fabric and Other Supplies

Our quilted throw blends FIVE beautiful fabrics. As mentioned above, we originally used a 2012 collection by Philip Jacobs for the Kaffe Fassett Collective and FreeSpirit Fabrics. To make the steps easier to follow, we have number-coded the cuts on the layout diagram below. These same numbers are used within the supplies list. Follow these numbers, substituting your five favorite fabrics As with all our tutorials, we recommend reading through all the instructions at least once before you dive in.

• 1 yard of 44-45″ wide cotton fabric for all #1 blocks and binding strips; we originally used Banded Poppy in Carmine from the September 12 collection, part of the Kaffe Fassett Collective
• 1 yard of 44-45″ wide cotton fabric for all #2 blocks and binding strips; we originally used Floating Mums in Lime from the September 12 collection, part of the Kaffe Fassett Collective
• 1 yard of 44-45″ wide cotton fabric for all #3 blocks and binding strips; we originally used Begonia Leaves in Green from the September 12 collection, part of the Kaffe Fassett Collective
• 1 yard of 44-45″ wide cotton fabric for all #4 blocks and binding strips; we originally used Banded Poppy in Butter from the September 12 collection, part of the Kaffe Fassett Collective
• 1 yard of 44-45″ wide cotton fabric for all #5 blocks and binding strips; we originally used Painted Daisy in Citrus from the September 12 collection, part of the Kaffe Fassett Collective
• 1¾ yard of 54″+ wide décor weight cotton fabric for the back panel; we originally used a 60″ wide solid décor weight cotton in a rich espresso brown
  NOTE: Our binding is created from cuts of all our fabrics sewn together into one colorful strip. We used straight-cut strips for our binding. If you’d prefer to cut bias strips, get an extra ¼ yard of each fabric or purchase ¾ yard of a sixth coordinating fabric for a continuous binding. Check out our Bias Binding Tutorial for more information on this technique. 
• Lightweight batting (at least a 50″ x 60″ rectangle, although we recommend working with a slightly larger cut, we used a 54″ x 64″ cut, so you can trim to the finished top and back)
• All purpose thread to match fabrics
• All purpose thread in a contrasting color for the decorative stitching; we used purple
• See-through ruler
• Fabric pen or pencil
• Iron and ironing board
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
• Tape measure
• Seam gauge
• Seam ripper
• Straight pins
• Large safety pins to hold the layers together

Getting Started

NOTE: For all the blocks, take the time to fussy cut your fabric to center a pretty motif in each. This is especially important if you are working with fabric with a big and bold design, such as we used. If you are new to fussy cutting, check out our tutorial.

1. From the fabric for the #1 blocks and binding (Banded Poppy in Carmine in our sample), fussy cut the following:
   Row 1: ONE 6½” wide x 12½” high
   Row 2: ONE 15½” wide x 12½” high
   Row 3: No #1 blocks in this row
   Row 4: ONE 14½” wide x 6½” high
   Row 5: ONE 6½” wide x 12½” high
   Binding: FIVE 3½” x 10″ strips
2. From the fabric for the #2 blocks and binding (Floating Mums in Lime in our sample), fussy cut the following:
   Row 1: ONE 18½” wide x 12½” high
   Row 2: ONE 15½” wide x 6½” high
   Row 3: ONE 20½” wide x 12½” high
   Row 4: ONE 14½” wide x 6½” high
   Row 5: ONE 20½” wide x 12½” high
   Binding: FIVE 3½” x 10″ strips
3. From the fabric for the #3 blocks and binding (Begonia Leaves in Green in our sample), fussy cut the following:
   Row 1: ONE 6½” wide x 12½” high
   Row 2: No #3 blocks in this row
   Row 3: ONE 6½” wide x 12½” high and ONE 18½” wide x 12½” high
   Row 4: No #3 blocks in this row
   Row 5: ONE 18½” wide x 12½” high
   Binding: FIVE 3½” x 10″ strips
4. From the fabric for the #5 blocks and binding (Banded Poppy in Butter in our sample), fussy cut the following:
   Row 1: ONE 20½” wide x 12½” high
   Row 2: ONE 14½” wide x 12½” high
   Row 3: No #4 blocks in this row
   Row 4: ONE 15½” wide x 12½” high
   Row 5: No #4 blocks in this row
   Binding: FIVE 3½” x 10″ strips
5. From the fabric for the #5 blocks and binding (Painted Daisy in Citrus in our sample), fussy cut the following:
   Row 1: No #5 blocks in this row
   Row 2: ONE 6½” wide x 12½” high and ONE 15½” wide x 6½” high
   Row 3: ONE 6½” wide x 12½” high
   Row 4: ONE 6½” wide x 12½” high
   Row 5: ONE 6½” wide x 12½” high
   Binding: FIVE 3½” x 10″ strips
6. From the fabric for the back panel (décor weight espresso in our sample), cut ONE rectangle at least 54″ wide x 63″ high. We simply used our full yardage of 60″ x 63″.
7. From the batting, cut ONE 54″ x 63″ rectangle.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

Assemble the blocks to create the five rows

NOTE: Paying special attention to seam allowances is important in every project, but is essential in quilting, because your seams need to match up perfectly. Therefore, you need to be very careful to make sure all allowances are consistent. For this project ALL our seam allowances are ¼”. 

1. Using our diagram above as your guide, assemble the FIVE horizontal rows for the throw front. To do this, it’s best to work in order; we chose to work from left to right and from top to bottom.
2. It also helps to sort out the fabric cuts needed for each row and stack them in the order to be sewn. For example, for the top row in our sample we collected our four cuts in the following order:
   6½” wide x 12½” high Carmine Banded Poppy (Fabric #1 for Row #1)
   18½” wide x 12½” high Lime Floating Mums (Fabric #2 for Row #1)
   6½” wide x 12½” high Green Begonia Leaves (Fabric #3 for Row #1)
   20½” wide x 12½” high Butter Banded Poppy (Fabric #4 for Row #1)
   We did not use Fabric #5 in our first row.
   
3. Take the first pair (1 and 2) and pin them right sides together along one 12½” side. Stitch together (remember – all seams are ¼”).
   
4. Pin the next cut in the sequence (3) right sides together with the remaining 12½” raw edge of the 2 block. Stitch together.
   
5. Pin the next cut in the sequence (4) right sides together with the remaining 12½” raw edge of the 3 block. Stitch together.
   
6. Your first row in complete.
7. For Row #2, you’ll follow the same steps, except you first need to sew together the two 6½” high blocks.
   
8. Find block #5 and #2 for Row #2. Pin them right sides together along one 15½” side. Stitch together.
9. Assemble the row as above in this order (left to right): 4 to 5 to 1 and then the 5/2  block, making sure 5 is on top.
   
10. Follow these same steps to create the remaining three row. Rows 3 and 5 will assemble as done for Row 1. Row four has a double high block as Row 2 did, so follow that same method to complete Row 4.

Assemble the rows

1. Find your five finished rows.
2. Lay them in order on your work surface.
   
3. Working from top to bottom, pin the first two row right sides together, aligning the bottom or Row 1 and the top of Row 2.
   
4. Stitch together, using a ¼” seam allowance. We’re using our Janome Quarter Inch Seam foot for a precise seam every time.
   
5. Repeat to pin and stitch the remaining three rows in place.
6. When done, press well from the back.
   

Layering to make a quilt sandwich

1. Find your 54″ x 63″ batting piece.
2. Lay it out flat on your work surface.
3. Place your quilt top on top of the batting, right side up. The batting will extend beyond the quilt top on all sides by an inch or two.
   NOTE: You can trim the batting flush to the quilt top at this point if you’d like. We prefer to leave the excess and trim after the quilting stitches are complete.
4. Find your large safety pins. Place a pin in the middle of each block to secure the top to the batting.
   
5. Carefully move the quilt top to one side.
6. Find the back fabric piece. Lay it out flat on your work surface, wrong side up.
7. Carefully move the quilt top/batting layers back to your work surface and lay them on the quilt back. The quilt top should be right side up. The backing fabric will extend beyond the top layers on all sides.
   
8. Open up each safety pin and re-pin it through all three layers.

Quilting/decorative stitches

1. Thread your machine with contrasting thread (purple in our sample) in the top and bobbin.
2. Choose a decorative stitch, and following your machine’s instruction manual, set up your machine for decorative stitching. You want a stitch with a fairly wide pattern so it nicely crosses the seam line.
3. Increase your stitch width to its maximum. We were able to increase our width to 9mm.
4. Run a line of decorative stitching along each seam line both vertically and horizontally. Use the seam line as your center guide line to keep the swing of the decorative stitch even on both sides.
   
5. When the quilting/decorative stitching lines are done. Run a machine basting stitch around the entire outer edge of the quilt, staying about ¼” from the raw edge of the quilt top itself (not from the batting’s edge).
   
6. Trim the batting and back layers so they are flush all the way around with the top, making sure our corners are square.
   

Creating and attaching the binding

1. Rethread your machine with thread to match your fabric in the top and bobbin.
2. Find your five sets of 3½” x 10″ binding strips (one set of five strips from each of the five fabrics). Pin them together end to end (the 3½” ends) to create one long strip. Stitch together and press all seams open.
   
3. Press the finished binding length in half, wrong sides together.
   
4. Pin the binding strip to the back of the quilt so the raw edges of the binding are flush with the raw edge of the quilt layers.
   
5. Attach the quilt binding, using your favorite edge binding technique or follow our Complete Step-by-Step Tutorial for Binding Quilts & Throws.
   
6. Rethread your machine with the contrasting decorative stitching thread in the top and bobbin.
7. Secure the binding all around with the same decorative stitch you used for your quilting stitches.
   

Project Concept: Alicia Thommas
Sample Creation and Instructional Outline: Debbie Guild