← Alana Martin

Have Fun Outside

Your first quilt, rewritten to actually follow. Finished size 54" × 72". Check boxes as you go, they save automatically.

TL;DR

You're making 12 blocks (4 of each type: X, Y, Z), and every block is built the exact same way. So you learn the recipe once, then repeat it. The whole thing is really just: make a pile of little squares, group them into sections, group sections into blocks, sew the blocks together. That's it.

The one thing that unlocks this pattern

The magazine makes it look like 15 different steps. It isn't. It's one recipe done 12 times (once per fabric), then some grouping. Here's the whole quilt from big to small:

Quilt = 12 blocks, laid out 4 rows × 3

Block = 4 sections in a 2×2 square. Measures 18½"

Section = a 3×3 grid of 3½" squares (a "nine-patch"). Measures 9½"

The nine squares = 4 corner units + 4 plain white squares + 1 plain colour square in the middle

Corner unit = one band segment + one colour rectangle. Measures 3½"

The repeating recipe (read this once)

For one colour fabric, you always do these four moves:

Band it. Sew 1 white strip (2"×20") to 1 colour strip (2"×20") along the long side. Make 2 bands. Press.
Slice it. Cut the bands into 2"-wide segments. You need 16. (The pattern calls these little segments a "Unit".)
Add a tab. Sew one colour rectangle (2"×3½", the "A" patch) onto each segment. Now you have 16 corner units, each a 3½" square with a white notch. 📏 each = 3½"
Build 4 sections. Lay out 4 corner units (the corners) + 4 white squares (the sides) + 1 colour square (the centre) in a 3×3 grid. Sew into rows, rows into a section. 16 corner units make 4 sections. 📏 each = 9½"

Do that for all 12 colours and you've made 48 sections. Then you just group them into blocks and sew the blocks together. The checklists below walk you through it colour by colour.

Picture it: making one corner unit

The white bit is a slice of your band. The solid bit is the rectangle you add. Together = one 3½" corner unit.

How the pieces nest, small to big

colour fabric white / background Corner units: the white notch always points to the section's centre.

Before you touch the fabric

The ¼" seam is the whole game. If it drifts, nothing lines up later. Sew two scrap pieces, press, and measure before you start for real. A ¼" foot or a strip of tape as a guide helps a lot.
Press, don't iron. Lift and press straight down, no dragging (dragging stretches things wonky). Press after every seam.
Chain piece. Feed units through one after another without snipping the thread between them. When you're making 16 or 192 of something, this saves your sanity.
Checkpoints. I've added the target size after each stage (the little green pills). If you're off by more than ⅛", stop and check your seam before you make 15 more of the wrong thing.
Shorthand: RST = right sides together. WOF = width of fabric.

Your palette is a custom mix, not a literal rainbow (on purpose)

You mapped your own fabrics to the pattern's colour slots by position, not by matching the colour names. So the "medium green" slot is your magenta (2), "purple" is your turquoise (3), and so on. All intentional.

The one rule that matters: at the cutting table, match by fabric number, never by the colour word. The whole guide is keyed to your numbers, so you're set. Expect a rich, scrappy quilt rather than the magazine's tidy rainbow glow, which suits these vintage prints.

⚑ Worth a 2-minute check before cutting: light fabrics vs your background

Each block only "reads" because the colour contrasts with the pale background. A few of your fabrics are light or busy on cream grounds, so they may melt into the background and blur the pattern:

9 cream with teal & gold fans
5 ivory with teal fish
4 purple & lavender (has pale areas)

Not a problem, just a choice. Lay a scrap of each on your background fabric and step back. If it vanishes and you want the pattern crisper, move that fabric to a spot where it matters less, or keep the softer look on purpose. Either is fine, and I can help you re-map if you want.

⚑ One shopping decision: binding

The pattern wants ⅝ yard of dark blue for the binding, listed separately from the fat quarters. Your "dark blue" is fabric 6, but a fat quarter isn't enough to also bind. So either buy ⅝ yd of a dark fabric just for binding, or pick another fabric you have enough of. Binding is the frame around the quilt, so something dark or high-contrast usually looks crispest.

Your fabric key

This is the only place the colour words matter. Match by number at the cutting table. Colours shown are approximate.

Cutting checklist

From your background / white fabric

24 strips, 2"×20" (for the bands)

192 squares, 3½"×3½" (patch B, the plain white squares. Keep in one big pile, you'll grab from it constantly.)

From each colour fabric (one fabric per group — tick off each cut as you make it)

💡 Tip: bag or clip each fabric's cut pieces with a sticky note showing its number. Twelve small piles beats one big confusing one.

Build the blocks

Each block below is the same four-move recipe repeated for its four fabrics. The pattern's own Unit and Section numbers are noted so you can cross-check the magazine diagrams. Make 4 of each block.

Put the quilt together

Lay out all 12 blocks, 4 rows down × 3 across. The magazine order shifts each row so the block types run on a diagonal:
Row 1: X Y Z Row 2: Z X Y Row 3: Y Z X Row 4: X Y Z
Or just move blocks around on the floor until you like it, snap a photo, then sew. That counts.

Sew each row (3 blocks). Press the seams in row 1 one direction, row 2 the other, and so on. Alternating lets the seams nest when you join rows.

Sew the rows together into the finished top. 📏 54½"×72½"

Layer and baste: backing (3¾ yds), then batting (62"×80"), then your top. Smooth and pin or spray baste.

Quilt it. For a first quilt, straight lines or stitch-in-the-ditch are friendly and forgiving. (The original maker did a fancy diamond motif, no pressure.)

Bind it with 2½"-wide strips (7 strips × WOF). Done. Go outside with it.

Built from the Fons & Porter "Have Fun Outside" pattern (Summer 2026), reorganized for a first-timer. Your progress saves in this browser. Print it if you'd rather have paper by the machine (everything expands automatically when printed).