Worldly Lil Twister Quilt Tutorial

Have you ever made a quilt using the Lil’ Twister template? It is so much fun and perfect for a baby quilt, I have a tutorial to share with you today and it has continued to be one of my most popular posts!

Updated: this originally was posted October 31, 2011

Worldly Lil’ Twister Quilt Tutorial

40 inches x 45 inches

This tutorial will show you how to easily make an Trip Around the World using my Worldly Lil’ Twister Quilt Tutorial.

There is now a PDF of this tutorial that you can download, keep reading.

Download a PDF of this tutorial – if you already subscribe to my newsletter you can just sign in to my resource library and you’ll find it.

Last month I shared a tutorial for a mini Trip Around the World quilt and also a tutorial showing you how to use the X Block Basix template. This tutorial uses the Lil’ Twister template.

Many times I try and keep quilts that I know I have done a tutorial or pattern on in case I want to update a post and take new photos. Below you see little Sadie, obviously, we didn’t have her back in 2011 and it was fun to pull out this baby quilt for some new photos.

Last week I said I was taking little Sadie in for a puppy cut but the groomer only does a close shave so we decided to just keep her hair long for now. We then talked to another groomer who does a puppy cut and Sadie is scheduled to get it in about 6 weeks! She looked so much younger with short hair.

This Lil’ Twister quilt is called Worldly Twister. I used fabrics with blues, pinks and greens in them and it would make a perfect baby quilt.

Tutorial

Fabrics:

• Six Fat Quarters assorted colors
• 1½ yard white print
• 1½ yard border print
• Backing – 1½ yard
• Scraps of dark pink and green for applique
• Heat n Bond lite

I used 4 different blues, a light and dark pink and a green plus the white dot background. You probably won’t be able to find the same fabrics but the collection was from Me & My Sister Designs and many of their collections are in colors similar to this.

Cut the following 5-inch squares:

• A – Blue print – 12
• B – Blue print – 9
• C – Darker blue print – 10
• D – White – 24
• E – Light pink – 12
• F – Green – 12
• G – Dark Pink – 12
• H – Blue for the border – 8

Use a ¼” seam allowance – sew your 5″ squares together using the diagram below.

I find it best if I lay the whole quilt out before I start piecing the rows together.

Sew all of the 5-inch blocks together.

Add the white print border:

• Cut 2 – 3″ x 55 ½” strips for the long borders and 2 – 3″ x 50½” for the short borders.

Lil’ Twister Template

Now it is time to pull out your Lil Twister template. The template size is 3 ½” x 3 ½” and designed to work with 5″ squares.

Follow the directions that are included with the Lil Twister template. You can see how I laid the template on the seams. You start cutting the first square with part of the border.

This photo will also show you how to use the Lil Twister template.

Shrinkage – I cut and pieced my blocks so you could see the size before using the Lil Twister template and then after being cut and pieced back together.

The original size was 46″ x 56″ before cutting with the Lil Twister template. The finished size now was 31″ x 36″ inches, as you can see there is a lot of shrinkage.

Your finished twister quilt will be about 2/3 of the size of the original.

Measure your quilt top before cutting your blue print border, adjust if necessary.

Always measure the quilt before cutting the borders as your measurements might be a little different – measure both sides and also measure through the center to find the approximate measurement.

• Cut 2 – 5″ x 31 ½” for the top and bottom
• Cut 2 – 5″ x 45″ for the sides

Applique: I have a template below that you can download as part of the PDF.

• Cut out 5 flowers and centers from the scraps of dark pink and green after applying Heat n Bond to the fabric.
• Place a flower in the center blue pinwheel and in each of the blue pinwheels in the corners. Applique in your favorite method.
• I did a raw-edge free-motion applique.

I forgot to take a closeup of the free-motion applique that I did before I quilted the baby quilt. My old Singer sewing machine only does a straight stitch. There are new sewing machines that are designed for quilters that are straight stitch only machines also. If you have one it is still possible to add applique using this method.

Layer your quilt top, batting and backing – quilt as desired. I used my vintage 15-91 Singer sewing machine with a darning foot on it. You are able to drop the feed dogs on most sewing machines so you can free-motion quilt. Always turn the stitch length to zero also.

Bind your quilt. I used 5 – 2½” strips and sewed it to the quilt by machine. I have a machine binding tutorial to show you how I sew binding on my quilts.

This would make a beautiful gift for a baby shower!

If you like videos, be sure and watch this video from the Quarter Shop showing you how to use the template.

I hope you have enjoyed this Worldly  Lil Twister Quilt Tutorial.

Here are a couple of other Lil Twister tutorials.

• Lil’ Twister Dots tutorial
• Twisting Heart tutorial

Be sure and PIN this for later.