Today I have a quilt block tutorial showing you how to sew up one of these Adori quilt blocks. Sound good? Let’s get to it!
Adori is a log cabin-based quilt block and is made from 3 main fabrics and a background fabric. So first of all, you need to choose your fabrics! Will you go for a monochrome palette, or something neutral and very grown-up looking?
Or perhaps like me you’ll go super-colourful* (I’ve chosen some Tula Pink prints here).
I recommend using fabrics that are either solid or have a non-directional print so you won’t have to worry about fabrics appearing “upside down”.
Once you have your 3 main fabrics and a background fabric, the next big decision is what order you’ll put them in. I will say that this is the part that takes me the longest to decide on.
They all look great, right? So which to choose? Sigh.
Not only that, but then there’s the colours and layout of the whole quilt:
If you use a 5 x 7 block layout, this will give you a quilt that finishes 60″ x 84″ (Twin size).
Don’t forget to consider different background colours too. That will make it even harder/longer to choose. You’re welcome. 🙂
If you’re like me and spend a lot of time umming and ahhing over colour placement, it may be helpful to get your colour pencils out and experiment a little. I have a colour-in sheet printable if you’d like to do just that.
If you put your email address in the boxes below you’ll get a PDF download that you can print out and colour to your heart’s content. You’ll also be put on my newsletter list which lets you know whenever I publish tutorials like this one. In fact, if you were already on my newsletter list you would have received this printable download in your inbox. Handy! (And of course, if you don’t think it’s handy and you don’t want me in your inbox, it’s very easy to unsubscribe with a single click.)
This quilt block would also make a great scrappy quilt, too. You could have fun mixing and matching your favourite left-overs into pretty colour combinations for each block.
Right, let’s get on with sewing this quilt block! Firstly, you’ll need to cut the following pieces for each quilt block (C1 = colour 1, etc, and the white is your background fabric):
We’re going to go through each colour group and sew the required components.
Please note that I will be pressing all seams outwards for this block. If you are going to be making a quilt without sashing (i.e. you’ll be joining these blocks directly together) then you’ll want to press the seams for alternate blocks in different directions [outwards AND inwards]. That way your seams will nest when you sew your blocks together. The best way to keep track of this is to mark it on your colour-in sheet PDF download.
Start with first 3 pieces of fabric in the C1 column. Sew the small background pieces to each of the short edges of the C1 rectangle, like this (the arrows show my outward pressing directions. Reverse direction if you’re making an inward pressed block):
Now take the last two pieces of fabric in the C1 column and sew them together, then cut in half to give two components, each 2″ wide:
OK, moving along to the next colour. Just like we did with the last two pieces, take the C2 and background fabrics and sew them together. Then cut them apart into four 2″ components each:
And finally, we do the same again with C3:
We’ll now sew the four log cabin corners for the block. Each log cabin will use a “short” and “long” component in C2 and C3, as well as a 2.75″ background square:
Sew the first round of the log cabin with the centre square, the short C2 component and then the long C2 component. Complete the log cabin with the second round using the short and long C3 components. (Remember to press your seams according to whether it’s an inward or outward block – mine are outward here):
We’re on the home stretch now. Take the two short C1 components and sew them in between 2 of the log cabins as seen below:
And now sew these two parts either side of the long C1 component to give the final block (measures 12.5′ x 12.5″ unfinished):
Wahoo! You’ve finished your Adori block.
Don’t forget, if you want the colour-in PDF be sure to put your details in below to get it by email.
I hope you find this tutorial useful, and if you do make something with this quilt block I’d love to see it. Drop me a line!
Cheers,
Kirsty
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