Part II: Kris Kross Quilt Sew Along – Tips

Make this modern lattice quilt pattern using these helpful tips! suzyquilts.com

Welcome back! Now that we've chosen some beautiful fabric for our Kris Kross quilts, let's talk over some tips and tricks that can help you complete your quilt top! Whether you are using the given fabric requirements or using Part I as a guide to make your own, the following can help your quilt top to come together with ease.

Kris Kross Sew Along Part II: Tips

Anytime I make a quilt, I love finding little tips and tricks to make the process just a little easier or quicker. Check out these 4 tips for Kris Kross!

Make this modern lattice quilt pattern using these helpful tips! suzyquilts.com

Tip #1: Check out my chain piecing hack!

Most likely, you already know that one of the best sewing tips is chain piecing. However, when chain piecing this quilt, I took a little side detour to avoid sewing an unnecessary line to the bottom of the rectangle. This way I was still saving time, but not wasting thread. 

Do you see in the picture below how I sewed off to the side so I could keep my chaining threads in tack?

Tip #2: Find the center of each unit.

When making a block, you will sew side units onto a center rectangular unit. Because these aren't sewn end to end, you will need to find the center of your units before sewing. A quick way to do this is to fold each piece in half to mark it with a crease. Then simply line up your creases, pin, and sew.

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Tip #3: Trim the blocks.

Once your blocks are made, it's time to trim them. This can be a little tricky since you also want the sides of the blocks to line up. Using this Creative Grids 6.5" square ruler was the most helpful for me. This ruler is actually one of my most used rulers and just happened to be the right size for this quilt.

As you can see, there are two white lines that divide the square ruler in half both vertically and horizontally. I lined those up with the corner seams of the "X" fabric and came out with nearly perfectly trimmed blocks.

Tip 4: Use bias edges to line up the blocks.

Now for the good and the bad news. Bad news first: the edges of these Kris Kross blocks are cut on the bias, so they are a little stretchy. The good news? The edges of your blocks are cut on the bias, so they are a little stretchy!

Wait? What? That's right. Because they are cut on the bias, you have to handle them with care. But because they are a little stretchy, you have some wiggle room when it comes to lining up your blocks.

Using pins, line up the fabric on the blocks so that the coordinating fabric lines up. If the coordinating fabrics are a little off, just give a gentle pull and pin before sewing. This video from the pattern will help.

It is definitely worth mentioning that if your blocks don't all line up perfectly, that is ok too! This pattern gives an overall design that isn't affected when some of the fabrics are slightly off. Trust me, both of my quilts have imperfect seams and you probably can't even tell. 

Both of the cool Kris Kross quilt kits and warm Kris Kross quilt kits below are available now.

Make this modern lattice quilt pattern using these helpful tips! suzyquilts.com
Make this modern lattice quilt pattern using these helpful tips! suzyquilts.com

Both of my quilts were longarm quilted by Lilo of Trace Creek Quilting using the Easy Clamshell Echo design.

8 thoughts on “Part II: Kris Kross Quilt Sew Along – Tips

    • Sarah Holst says:

      Hi Melissa! For the cool quilt, we used the fabric in the following combination:
      Zambia Stone – 14 blocks
      Swimming Pool – 13 blocks
      Ocean – 13 blocks
      Fresh Sage – 13 blocks
      Patina Green – 13 blocks
      Eucalyptus – 14 blocks
      Happy Sewing!

  1. seibertwork says:

    I am also makin g the cool version of Kris Kross and have the pattern. Could you tell me how much yardage if making the ombre of each of the six colors in a twin? I don’t see that mentioned in the pattern-just total yardage. Thanks so much.

    • Jessica Schunke says:

      For Color 1 in the Twin, if you’re using 6 colors, you’ll need to cut (60) 3″ x 3 3/4″ rectangles of each color. Cut (6) 3″ x WOF strips of each color, then sub-cut the 60 rectangles from these strips (you can get 11 per WOF strip). You’ll need exactly 18″ of each of the 6 fabrics you’re using for “Color 1,” so that’s technically a half yard of each, but you might want to round up to 5/8 yard.

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