Hugs and Kisses Quilt Tutorial

I'm a big fan of Moda fabrics and *especially* of their Bake Shop. It has inspired me to write my own little tutorial for this Hugs and Kisses Quilt that I made from a Moda charm pack. So here goes my very first tutorial! Please forgive my crumby camera skills.

You will need:

   25 Charm Squares (5" x 5") (I used the darker fabrics from Lakeside Resort, I believe)
   25 squares 5" x 5" in a contrasting color (think white or cream)
   1/4 yd. for small inner border
   3/4 yd. for large outer border
   1/3 yd. for binding
   1 yd. for backing
   [1/4 yd. for casing if you plan to hang this on a wall]
   batting
   matching thread

Divide your 25 Charm squares (the darkish ones) into two groups (12 in the O stack, 13 in the X stack). Try your best to evenly distribute the colors, if there are several colors involved. Also, if you have any very large prints you want to show off, keep those fabrics in the X stack.

Cutting the X Block

Take your X stack and line up four squares perfectly on top of each other. Do this for all the fabrics, resulting in 2 stacks of 4 squares and 1 stack with 5 squares. Make sure they are perfectly lined up, like they came when you opened that beautiful little package from the quilt shop.

Cut each stack like so. Now you have a 3" x 5" and a 2" x 5" :

Set the 2" x 5" aside. Take your 3" x 5" and cut into a 3" square like below. This is the center of your X Block.

Now use the remaining pieces to cut 5 sets of 1 1/2" squares. (You will only use four of the five for your blocks. You can save the other little squares for a creative border or something if you wish.) Do this for all 13 fabrics in the X Stack!

Now the O Blocks. Again, cut your little 5" square into  3" and 2" strips. From your 3" x 5" strip, cut three rectangles measuring 3" x 1 1/2". From the 2" x 5" strip, cut one rectangle measuring 3" x 1 1/2" and you will also have a spare 1 1/2" square that is not really necessary. Do what you want with it.

Great, you now have cut out the dark fabrics for both your X and O Blocks. Now do the same with your lighter fabric, but you will need 13 O Blocks and 12 X blocks. Now you're ready to start sewing!

I hope this part is pretty self-explanatory. Set out a square like a nine-patch and sew into three little tiny "rows" using 1/4" seam. Iron away from the light and towards the dark. Always. Then sew your three rows together, being careful to nest your previous seams close together. Your blocks should measure 5" unfinished.

Once you've finished your blocks, carefully arrange them on the floor (5 blocks wide, 5 blocks down) and then sew into rows, again using a 1/4" seam. Iron these seems all in one direction for Row One (say, to the Left) and all in the other direction for Row Two (to the Right), alternating for each row. Then sew your rows together, once again remembering to nestle those ironed seams nice and close together for that crisp clean look. Now iron the whole thing nice and flat. 

For borders, cut 4 strips of the inner border fabric at 1 1/2" wide. You will need 4 strips of outer border fabric at 5" wide. For an excellent binding tutorial, visit this website. Cheers!