Tutorials | Missouri Star Blog

Hi there! I’m Amy Ellis, first a wife and mom to four kids, second a quilt and fabric designer, with five books to my name, most recently Modern Heritage Quilts! I learned to sew garments as a girl, and taught myself to quilt as I became a mom. By the time our fourth came, I realized how much I needed the creative outlet for my sanity, and was piecing and quilting on a daily basis! I’m so blessed to MAKE and inspire others everyday.

I had so much fun making the Square in a Square quilt, with my new Adventures fabric (get your’s HERE)! The colors are rich and take me back to where I grew up in the Pacific Northwest.

The Square in a Square tutorial is a fun and simple project, that I think most quilters would enjoy! I cut all of my pieces from the precuts to the size that I needed, then enjoyed the chain piecing marathon.

Mixing and matching the different prints from the charm pack and jelly roll is always fun, I try to stay organized as I work so that there’s no repeat or confusion in my blocks. I like to look for a contrasting color and a print that is different in scale from the center, for the most visually pleasing arrangement. That’s a bonus when working with a fabric collection, everything works together!

Are you “one with needle” while stitching, or do you like to listen to music/podcasts or watch tv? I do all of the above, it just depends on the day!

While piecing this one, I pretty much worked the same way as Jenny – she’s already so efficient! Working on the opposite sides, pressing, then working on the remaining sides for that round of piecing. I trimmed the edges as needed and once the blocks were complete to have nice square edges for quilt top construction.

This quilt block is very forgiving, meaning even if you sew too wide a seam, it will most likely work out, but one thing that always helps with any quilt construction is double checking your ¼” seam allowance. I like to verify every couple of weeks, so that I know I’m piecing accurately, while you are at it – change your needle. I typically change mine once a week, but occasionally will forget and this is the perfect time to get it done.

One of my favorite parts of the quilt making process, is layering texture over the top of my quilts. I love finding the pattern that works best and shows off the piecing too. For this quilt I added an arrow with circles, it fits the quilt, and is just the right amount of quilting to make it great for snuggling with.