How to Make a Christmas Panel Quilt

Have you ever seen a really cute what I call pillow panel and thought "how would I make a quilt with that?" Now that Christmas has passed, I can show you how I made a Christmas Panel Quilt using a panel of six almost square scenes. I used the Divided by 3 pattern and the ever popular Disappearing Nine Patch by Eleanor Burns for inspiration. Of course, you can use whatever panel and coordinating fabrics you fancy to make your own quilt! This one finished at about 49" x 67".

Fabric Requirements for a Christmas Panel Quilt:

• I used two panels that had six scenes each so I could make 12 blocks.
• I used four coordinating Christmas prints to make the rectangles around the panel almost-square squares
• I also used an off-white tone on tone for the sashing and inner border.

Sewing Directions:

Step 1:

I cut the panel scenes out and trimmed them up to a 9.5" x 10.5" rectangle. I don't know why the fabric designers don't make these type of panel scenes square - it would be so much easier to work with! If your panel is a different size, then you will have to adjust the length of the rectangles for the coordinating fabrics and sashing.

Step 2:

Sew a 1.5" x 10.5" sashing strip to the left side of the panel square. Sew a 3.5" x 10.5" coordinating rectangle to the other side of the sashing as shown in the picture below. Press seam allowances. This piece should measure 10.5" x 13.5".

Step 3:

Now you can sew a 1.5" x 13.5" sashing strip and a 3.5" x 13.5" coordinating rectangle to the bottom of the Step 2 unit as shown below. Press seam allowances. The block measures 13.5" x 14.5". One block done!

Step 4:

Now you can make the rest of the blocks in the same manner but changing the sides that you put the sashing and coordinating rectangles on. This is when you really need to lay out the squares so you can see what goes where. If you have directional fabric (like in the pictures below), you'll want to cut your fabric pieces so the design runs the same direction. 

Step 5:

Here you can see how four of the blocks are going to go together and how each of them has a different orientation of the sashing and coordinating rectangles.

Step 6:

Here you can see how I laid out all of the blocks. It looks very random but is actually just 12 blocks with the same components - just different orientation and fabrics.

Putting It All Together:

Step 7:

Now you can sew 1" (1.5" cut) sashing strips in between the blocks in each row. Press the seam allowances. Then sew sashing strips between each row to complete the center of the top as shown in the picture below and press the seam allowances. When you sew the rows together, take care to match up the vertical sashing strips so they go in a straight line down the quilt. If you prefer, you could put a little cornerstone patch in where the sashings come together and that will keep them in line.

Step 8:

You can see the completed quilt in the picture below. I added a 1" (1.5" cut) inner border of the sashing fabric and then a 3" finished (3.5" cut) outer border. The quilt finished at about 49" x 67" - a nice throw size.

Conclusion:

I enjoyed making this Christmas Panel Quilt once I figured out what I was doing. It went together very quickly. I got a bit confused when deciding where to place the blocks so I did lay it all out on a design wall. 

I hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial! If you liked this post and want to see more quilting tutorials like this, simply click here to sign up for my newsletter and also receive a free PDF quilt pattern called Chained Weathervane.

Happy Quilting!

Elaine