Download the free Glimmer quilt pattern PDF, designed by Darlene Zimmerman for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. Four pages, finished quilt 36 inches by 48 inches.
Most patterns that look this good have a catch somewhere. A set-in seam, a template, a row of triangles that has to line up. Glimmer has none of that. The whole quilt is squares and rectangles, and the block is three pieces.
Robert Kaufman rates it "Enthusiastic Novice", which the pattern glosses as "I am a total beginner and want to learn more". That is an honest label. There is nothing here you have not already done if you have sewn two pieces of fabric together, and there is still enough going on that you will want to keep laying the blocks out on the floor to look at them.
What I like most about it is the arithmetic, and I will show you why in a moment.
A patchwork quilt pattern built from two shapes
Glimmer is a patchwork quilt pattern in the oldest sense of the word: pieces of fabric, cut square and cut oblong, sewn back together into something larger. Squares and rectangles are where most quilters start, because they are easy to draw, easy to cut and easy to sew, and because they show off a print instead of chopping it into slivers.
The version in the pattern uses seventeen fat eighths from one Sparkle bundle. It does not have to. Any seventeen fabrics you like together will work, whether they come from a bundle of pre-cut fabric or from your own shelves. A quilt made from what you already own is very much in the spirit of the thing.
What one fat eighth gives you
This is the part that makes the pattern worth reading even if you never sew it. From each fat eighth you cut seven pieces, and nothing is wasted.
One 6 1/2 inch square. Four 3 1/2 inch squares. Two rectangles, 3 1/2 inches by 6 1/2 inches. That is it, and the pattern gives you a numbered cutting order so the cuts follow on from each other rather than sending you back to square up twice.
Now multiply. Seventeen fat eighths give you sixty eight small squares, which is exactly two each for thirty four blocks. They give you thirty four rectangles, which is exactly one each for thirty four blocks. They give you seventeen large squares, of which fourteen go into the quilt and three are left over. Thirty four blocks plus fourteen plain squares is forty eight, and forty eight is six across by eight down.
The pattern is cut to fit the bundle. Three squares over, and that is the entire surplus.
The block: two squares and a rectangle
Sew any two 3 1/2 inch squares together. Add one rectangle along the long edge. You have a 6 1/2 inch block, finishing at 6 inches once it is in the quilt.
Mix and match as you go, so the pairs vary in color and in value. Press the seams toward the darker fabric. Repeat thirty four times, which sounds like a lot until you realize it is two seams each. Sixty eight of those small squares go through your hands before the quilt is together, so a 6 inch square ruler earns its place here: every piece in the block is 3 1/2 inches on at least one side.
This is also the order machine piecing always wants: build the small unit first, then join units. Two squares into a strip, strip onto a rectangle. If you sew the rectangle on first you will find yourself setting a seam into a corner, and there is no reason to do that to yourself.
Seam allowances are 1/4 inch throughout, and the pattern asks you to press seam allowances open unless it says otherwise. The block is the exception, where it wants them toward the darker fabric.
Eight rows of six
Lay the blocks out six across and eight down, dropping the fourteen plain 6 1/2 inch squares in among the pieced blocks. The plain squares are what give the quilt its rhythm, because they let the eye rest between the busier blocks.
Then press with intent. Block seams go to the right in the even numbered rows and to the left in the odd numbered rows, so that when two rows meet, the seams lie in opposite directions and lock against each other. Sew the rows together and press those seams open.
That one instruction is the difference between corners that meet and corners that almost meet. It costs nothing at the ironing board and it is the only fussy thing in the whole pattern.
Backing, binding and the finish
You will need 1 1/2 yards for the backing and 1/4 yard for the binding, cut into five strips 2 1/2 inches by the width of fabric. The pattern assumes fabric at least 40 inches wide.
At 36 by 48 the quilt lands in useful territory: big enough for a cot or a pram, small enough to quilt on a domestic machine without wrestling it, and small enough to finish in a weekend if the weekend cooperates.
If your cutting has been drifting lately, it is worth reading the rotary cutter checks that actually matter before you start, because a pattern this simple has nowhere to hide a sixteenth of an inch. When you get to the end, binding in six steps covers those five strips.
For a quilt of a similar size built from strips instead of squares, there is Garden Fence, a rail fence at 32 by 42. And there are more of both in our free quilt patterns and beginner quilt patterns collections.
Marbelia
P.S. Those three leftover 6 1/2 inch squares are the start of something. Four of them and a bit of batting make a set of coasters, or you can put them on the back of the quilt in a row, which is my preference because then nothing from the bundle is left in the scrap bin at all.
