Northwest Quilt
~ Resource Page ~
Welcome
Welcome to the Northwest Quilt Resource Page!
Please note: this page no longer requires a password to access, so if your pattern states that you need a password, you can disregard.
I wanted to use this space to provide additional resources like tips and tricks for each section of the pattern to help make this project more approachable to quilters who are wanting to stretch their skill set. If that's you, kudos for taking on a new challenge!
If you have any questions after utilizing these resources, please reach out to me here or email hello@heckyessewco.com and I'll do my best to assist in any way I can!
Happy Sewing!
Heather
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Quilt Assembly
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Border Unit & Double Border Unit
General Tips
Fabric Selection:
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Northwest is available on PreQuilt! You can use PreQuilt to mockup different colors of your own version of Northwest. It's free to use and you can find it here.
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A cotton fabric or another sturdy fabric is likely your best bet for making this quilt.
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I loooove using woven fabrics; however, I chose not to use them when making this quilt. Sometimes, depending on the brand, wovens can be a bit squirrely because of the looser weave (again, depending on the brand). If you do use wovens, I recommend using starch or a spray like Best Press and shortening your stitch length. I shorten mine to 1.8 and have had good luck with not having any seams pop after multiple washings.
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Cutting Tips
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You will be cutting many strips that are 37" long.
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Prior to cutting, be sure that you have squared up your fabric edge, and that when you cut, your ruler is square/perpendicular to the fold of the fabric. This helps prevent bowing where the fabric was folded. The fabric requirements have at least 3.5" of excess fabric, so there *should* be enough fabric for you to square up your fabric before cutting (and while cutting if needed).​​​
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Matching Seams
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In the tips below, I outline lots of places where matching seams are important to maintain the illusion of the interconnectedness of the design, BUT, if taking time to match lots and lots of seams is not your thing, THAT IS PERFECTLY FINE! You do you, there are no quilt police here, and your quilt will still be beautiful....plus, everything quilts out in the end, right?!
Fabric Labels & Cutting Diagrams
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You can find links to download cutting diagrams and fabric labels below, scroll left or right to find your quilt size.
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While not necessary for every cut, it may be helpful to take a quick peek at the cutting diagrams before making your cuts.​​​​
Mini 1
Click on the image to download the Mini 1 cutting diagrams and fabric labels.
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Scant 1/4" Seam
Why a Scant 1/4" Seam Matters
A scant 1/4" seam is slightly narrower than a full 1/4" seam. You might wonder why this small difference is so important. Here are a few reasons:
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Accuracy: This pattern involves sewing many small pieces together. Even a small deviation in seam width can add up, causing blocks to be the wrong size or not align properly.
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Fabric Thickness: When you press your seams, the fabric folds over, taking up a tiny bit of space. A scant 1/4" seam compensates for this, ensuring your blocks measure correctly.
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Tips for Sewing a Scant 1/4" Seam
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Adjust Your Needle Position: If your machine allows it, move your needle slightly to the right of the 1/4" mark. This tiny adjustment can help you achieve a scant seam.
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Test and Measure: Sew a test seam and measure it. It should be just shy of 1/4". If it’s too wide, adjust your needle position or guide and try again until you get it right.
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Use a 1/4" Foot: Many sewing machines come with a 1/4" foot which has a guide to help you sew a consistent seam. Even with this foot, you might need to adjust your needle position for a scant seam.
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Washi Tape Guide: Place a strip of washi tape on your sewing machine needle plate to mark where your fabric edge should align. This visual guide can help you maintain a consistent seam allowance.
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Pressing Matters: Always press your seams carefully. Pressing to one side or open can affect the final size of your pieces, so be consistent with your pressing technique.
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Practice: Like any skill, achieving the perfect scant 1/4" seam takes practice. Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t happen right away. Keep practicing and adjusting until you find what works best for you.
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My friend Megan from Modern Moon Quilt Studio does a great job at explaining how to test for an accurate seam allowance. You can find her helpful blog post here.
A Triangle & B Triangle
Why Accurate Strip Sets Matter
Long strip sets are the foundation of the Northwest quilt. Since they can sometimes be tricky to sew accurately, check out the tips below before you start Step 1 to help prevent inaccurate seams or bowed strips so that your blocks come out accurately sized.
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Tips for Sewing Long Strip Sets
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Check Your Seam Allowance
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Check out the tips in the Scant 1/4" Seam section above to help ensure your strip sets come out exactly 9" wide. These are the foundation units for the main blocks so taking your time to get this part correct, will help everything else come together smoothly.
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Prevent Bowing
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Alternate Sewing Directions: When sewing multiple strips together, sew in one direction for the first seam and then reverse the direction for the next seam. This helps to balance out any stretching and helps prevent the strips from bowing.
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Pinning: Pinning your strips together at regular intervals can help keep them aligned and prevent shifting. I like putting one pin in the middle and one at the far end. Note: there is 1" of wiggle room built into the strips, so it should be okay if all of the ends don't align exactly since they will be trimmed.
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Pressing: Press your seams carefully using a pressing motion rather than an ironing motion to avoid stretching the fabric. The pattern recommends pressing to the side, but pressing open is okay too. Be mindful that you may have to adjust your seam allowance to account for any pressing differences.
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Starch: Lightly starching your fabric before cutting and sewing can add stability and help prevent bowing. Be sure to test the starch on a scrap piece first to ensure it doesn’t affect the fabric’s color or texture. I like using Best Press.
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Check Your Work As You Go
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Measure Regularly: After sewing a few strips together, measure the width of your strip set (see the measurements listed in the 2nd diagram in Step 1. If it’s off, recheck your seam allowance and adjust as needed.
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Lay Flat: Lay your strip set flat on your cutting mat or ironing board. If it bows or curves, gently stretch and manipulate it back into shape as you press.​​​
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Tips for Sewing Long Strip Sets
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For Step 3 when cutting the units from Step 2, make the first diagonal cut then, without moving the fabric, make the second cut. This will help keep everything square and help prevent your cuts being off, which could occur if the fabric is moved between diagonal cuts.
Corner Unit
This is our first real unit! It feels like we're making progress after sewing all those strip sets together!
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Tips for Sewing the Corner Unit​
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Each A Triangle should theoretically be the same size, but slight variations in the size of the strips sets or cutting can cause slight variations in the size. No need to trim them to square them up, that can be done in a later step if needed.
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One of the tips for Step 5 says to "prioritize aligning the bottom edges, but also do your best to have the A Triangle seams aligned (noted by colored dashes)."
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For this tip, I would align the bottom edges first, then use pins to align the seams. This is a technique that will be used many, many, many...many more times.
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This can be a tad tricky since the seams are separated by BG7, but doing this helps maintain the overall design effect. I like flipping the blocks over to the backside, which makes it easier to see the seams and align them.
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Note, the edges of the A Triangle that are sewn to BG7 are bias edges, so take care not to stretch them. I know not everyone loves pinning, but in addition to aligning the seams, it also helps to keep the bias edges from stretching.
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When trimming off the excess fabric (as shown in the photo below), try to keep the point of your ruler in the center of the BG7 piece, which will help keep everything square. It's okay if you have to trim a sliver of fabric from the sides to make the corner square, but ideally there shouldn't need to be much trimming.
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Border Unit & Double Border Unit
We're moving right along and making the border units and double border units!​
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Tips for Sewing the Border Unit
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Step 7 in the pattern has you cut a BG4 piece into 8 triangles. If you've ever made HSTs using the "magic 8" method, then you cut BG4 the exact same way. It's best not to move the fabric once you've started cutting, just move your ruler to make your cuts.
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​For Step 9 you can see in the photos below that the BG4 triangles will fit exactly on top of the B triangle. There won't be any overhang as is sometimes typical when sewing triangles. When trimming, try to leave as much of the A fabric (dark blue in the photo) as possible, but know it's okay and normal if the point is lost when trimming.​
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For Step 11 when you're sewing the HSTs, be mindful that the diagonal edges are on the bias and prone to stretching, you can help prevent any distortion or warping by not pulling or stretching the edges when sewing.
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In the untrimmed HST shown below, I moved my ruler as far left as it would go to keep as much of the B fabric (light blue) as possible which will help with alignment and matching seams in later steps. Another way to say it is that I try to trim the least amount possible from the left edge of the B fabric.
Tip for Sewing the Double Border Unit
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Like the tip mentions for Step 14, my main pointer for this step is to match your points. *pun intended*
C Triangle
This is a pretty straightforward block, yay!
​​Tips for Constructing the C Triangle
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Steps 15 - 19 are assembled like a log cabin block.
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With an accurate seam allowance everything should line up perfectly with no overlaps or short pieces.
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To check your seam allowance as you go:
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If your new piece is larger than the previous unit that you created, your previous seam allowance was too small.
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If your new piece is smaller than the unit that you created, your previous seam allowance was too big.
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For Step 21, aligning the BG10 pieces prior to sewing helps maintain the illusion that the BG10 pieces are one continuous piece.
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Tips for Cutting the C Triangle
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For Step 22, cut the unit from Step 21 diagonally in one direction, then cut it in the other direction without moving the fabric.
C Unit
The C Unit is one of the main blocks in the design! After making this unit, you'll have half of your blocks made!
​​Tips for Constructing the C Unit​
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For Step 24, after I've sewn BG14 and the Corner Unit together, I like double checking that everything is in alignment. To do this, I place the C Triangle on top of the Corner/BG14 Unit and fold back the C Triangle and make sure the BG10 pieces (skinny white strips shown in the photo) are aligned.
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Also, when trimming Step 24, ideally you shouldn't have to trim off more that the overhanging BG14 pieces and a few slivers on the edges here and there to square things up.
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For Steps 25 - 27, matching seams reigns supreme!
D Triangle
Here's another pretty straightforward block, yay!
​​Tips for Constructing the D Triangle
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Steps 29 - 32 are assembled like a courthouse step block.
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Similar to the log cabin blocks with the C Triangle, having an accurate seam allowance when constructing the D Triangle should make everything line up perfectly with no overlaps or short pieces.
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To check your seam allowance as you go:
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If your new piece is larger than the previous unit that you created, your previous seam allowance was too small.
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If your new piece is smaller than the unit that you created, your previous seam allowance was too big.
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Tips for Cutting the D Triangle
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For Step 33, remember not to move the block when you change cutting direction, just change the direction of your ruler.
D Unit
The D Unit is the other main block in the design and is constructed the same way as the C Unit.
​​Tips for Constructing the D Unit​​
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All of the tips for constructing the C Unit are applicable for constructing the D Unit.
Sashing Unit
This is the last unit!
​​Tips for Constructing the Sashing Unit​​
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Steps 40 - 42 are constructed like a courthouse step block.
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Remember, having an accurate seam allowance when constructing the D Triangle should make everything line up perfectly with no overlaps or short pieces.
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To check your seam allowance as you go:
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If your new piece is larger than the previous unit that you created, your previous seam allowance was too small.
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If your new piece is smaller than the unit that you created, your previous seam allowance was too big.
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Step 44 is assembled like a diamond-in-a-square block.
Mini 1 & Mini 2 Quilt Assembly
Almost done, last steps!
​​Tips for Assembling the Mini Size​
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You've done lots of work thus far making sure your seam allowance was accurate and your seams matched. This is where it all pays off!
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You can refer to the tip and the diagram under the Throw/Twin/Bed quilt assembly section which will show you which seams to match.​
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Congrats on completing your Northwest Mini Quilt!
Throw, Twin, & Bed Quilt Assembly
Almost done, last steps!
​​Tips for Assembling the Throw, Twin, & Bed Size​
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You've done lots of work thus far making sure your seam allowance was accurate and your seams matched. This is where it all pays off!
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Spending a little extra time making sure all of your seams match when you sew your blocks together will really help maintain the overall design.
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Congrats on completing your Northwest Quilt!
Thank You!