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    Home » Sewing

    DIY Quilt Block Tea Towel Tutorial

    Last Updated: Jun 24, 2023 by Melissa Mortenson · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads · 7 Comments

    Stitch up a cute dish towel to add to your kitchen decor with our free “cheater” quilt block tea towel sewing tutorial! We made our tea towel in red, white, & blue fabrics for the 4th of July, but this project can easily be adapted to any time of the year.

    red white and blue star tea towel

    I’ve got a fun new blog post idea to share with you today. I’m always looking for simple red, white, and blue craft ideas perfect for the 4th of July, and these little tea towels fit the bill!

    Table of Contents
    • Cheater Quilt Block Dish Towel Tutorial

    In addition to the process of quilting, I also love the bold graphic shapes and motifs of quilt blocks.

    You could easily create this dish towel using traditional piecing methods, but I thought I’d try something different and create the decorative portions of the towel using raw edge applique.

    red white and blue star tea towel

    A simple Sawtooth Star quilt block inspired this towel. You could easily do this with any of your favorite quilt blocks.

    stack of red white and blue fabric on white table
    (this fabric stack is now out of print, but you should be able to find a red, white and blue precut stack with a similar look)

    The fabric on this towel is from a 10″ precut stack of fabric, sometimes called a Layer Cake. You only need 2 layer cake pieces for the project, which makes this the perfect project to sew if you have leftover precut squares from a larger quilt project.

    Cheater Quilt Block Dish Towel Tutorial

    red white and blue star tea towel

    Quilt Block Tea Towel

    Melissa Mortenson
    Turn a few leftover precut fabric pieces into an adorable "cheater" quilt block tea towel.
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    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Active Time 30 minutes mins
    Total Time 45 minutes mins

    Equipment

    • Sewing Machine (I recommend BERNINA or Bernette)
    • Rotary Cutter
    • Cutting Mat
    • Quilt Ruler

    supplies

    • 2 10" Squares Fabric I used Red, White, and Blue fabric. Mine is from a 10″ stacker from Riley Blake Fabrics. Fat Quarters would be perfect for this project as well.
    • 1 piece Heat N Bond Lite
    • 1 Dish Towel mine is from IKEA

    Instructions
     

    Step one:

    • Cut two pieces of heat n bond lite, each slightly smaller than 10" x 10.
    • Iron the heat n bond lite to the back of two of the 10″ x 10″ pieces of fabric.
    • Cut one piece of fabric down to a 5″ square; this is the center of the block.
    • Cut the second piece of fabric into 4, 2.5″ squares. Then cut each of these squares apart on the diagonal.
      cut fabric squares on white table
    • NOTE: Using this method, you can make four tea towels from two 10" squares.
    • Peel the heat n bond lite off the back of the fabric.

    Step Two

    • Arrange the pieces of fabric in the correct shape on the center of the dishtowel. Using an iron, press onto the dish towel to adhere.
      I recommend ironing down one piece of fabric at a time, starting with the center square. This will help you get a clean layout.
      red white and blue star tea towel
    • Since this is a kitchen dishtowel and is likely to get washed A LOT, I recommend stitching down the pieces.
      Just use a straight stitch on your sewing machine and stitch close to the edge of each piece.
      red white and blue star tea towel
    PRINT
    Love this tutorial? Get the behind the scenes on Instagram
    red white and blue star tea towel hanging on black rack

    That’s it! You’re done!! All you have left to do is to hang the towel in your kitchen!

    More DIY Dish Towel Tutorials

    Simple Hanging Tea Towel Tutorial

    Scrappy Embellished Dish Towel

    Hexie Christmas Tea Towel Pattern

    Scrap-Busting Halloween Tea Towels

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      Quilted Santa Hat Sewing Pattern; the Snowbound Hat
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      Four Ways to Finish the Edge of a Pillow

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    About Author

    Melissa Mortenson

    Melissa Mortenson is a blogger, designer, and content creator. She is the Polka Dot Chair blog founder and has been sharing fresh and creative ideas with readers since 2008. She is the author of “Project Teen, Handmade Gifts your Teen will Actually Love.” Her work and designs have been featured on HuffPost, TODAY, Pioneer Woman, HGTV, BuzzFeed, Better Homes & Gardens, and many other established publications. Her first fabric line, “Derby Style,” debuted in January 2015 through Riley Blake Designs.  Additional fabric collections have followed it in subsequent years. A mom of 3, she considers herself lucky to be living in Kentucky.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Tiffany says

      June 11, 2014 at 1:25 pm

      These are adorable! Learning to sew is on my “to do” list and I would LOVE to make something like this! Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
    2. Julie @ On the Dot Creations says

      June 11, 2014 at 2:58 pm

      Wow! So many festive links here! Thanks for sharing them with us. I really love the red, white, and blue graphic at the top of this post – did you create that?

      Reply
    3. Patti says

      June 11, 2014 at 4:25 pm

      Can you PLEASE PLEASE tell me the name of the Riley Blake line you used. I just love the whole idea. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
    4. Audrey says

      June 12, 2014 at 11:31 am

      We included your adorable dishtowel in our round up of projects to make with Red, White & Blue fabric! (http://skirtfixation.com/2014/06/red-white-and-blue-roundup/)

      Reply
    5. Vanessa says

      June 07, 2017 at 1:49 pm

      Very cute idea! All of the ideas are wonderful! Thank you for sharing! I found the fabric line, Star Spangled by Riley Blake on Etsy. Yay!

      Reply

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    I’m also a Mom and a Maker. I am like most of you, just trying to do my best every day. Some days I succeed, many days I fail.  I find joy in creating, if you do too, then I hope that you find something here bring a little “happy” to your life.  Find out more about me here.

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