Test Tubes Quilt Tutorial

Way back in January when I saw the first pictures of Supernova by Rae Ritchie for Dear Stella Fabrics, I knew it would make the perfect quilt for my youngest daughter. It's been only a year or so since Mouse decided that she wants to be a scientist when she grows up. Looking forward to her science lessons in school, doing experiments with her Daddy, and trips to the Witte Museum in San Antonio make her even more excited about it. But when I showed her this fabric and told her I was going to make a science quilt for her bed, she was over the moon.

The Test Tubes Quilt is one of the most beginner friendly quilt patterns I've ever designed. These blocks come together like lightning, and the result is both modern and colorful. Dear Stella Basics paired with prints from the Supernova collection gave me a full spectrum of colors to work with for the "liquids" in the test tubes.

For the quilting, I used a wavy stitch setting on my machine. It reminds me of DNA strands, and it made the quilting process go so quickly. The binding is a fantastic solar system print which gives little pops of color on a navy background.

I backed the quilt in this lab print full of wonderful scientific illustrations. There are so many great details in this collection.

Just in case you'd like to make a Test Tubes Quilt for a future (or current!) scientist of your own, here's a simple tutorial...

Test Tubes Quilt Tutorial

Finished size: 45 x 69”

Fabric	For	Cutting
1 yard White Night Sky	Tube A Tube B Tube C Tube D Tube E Tube F Tube G Tube H Tube I Tube J	1 rectangle 4.5 x 12.5” 1 rectangle 4.5 x 8.5” 1 rectangle 4.5 x 15.5” 1 rectangle 4.5 x 5.5” 1 rectangle 4.5 x 19.5” 1 rectangle 4.5 x 12.5” 1 rectangle 4.5 x 9.5” 1 rectangle 4.5 x 5.5” 1 rectangle 4.5 x 11.5” 1 rectangle 4.5 x 8.5”
.25 yard Cranberry Scallop Dot	Tube A	1 rectangle 4.5 x 16.5”
.25 yard Coral Triangle Dot	Tube B	1 rectangle 4.5 x 20.5”
.25 yard Eggshell Scallop Dot	Tube C	1 rectangle 4.5 x 13.5
.25 yard Solar Spectacles	Tube D	1 rectangle 4.5 x 23.5”
.25 yard Corn Scallop Dot	Tube E	1 rectangle 4.5 x 9.5”
.25 yard Celery Scallop Dot	Tube F	1 rectangle 4.5 x 16.5”
.25 yard Lawn Pencils	Tube G	1 rectangle 4.5 x 19.5”
.25 yard Pine Scallop Dot	Tube H	1 rectangle 4.5 x 23.5”
.25 yard Opal Scallop Dot	Tube I	1 rectangle 4.5 x 17.5”
.25 yard Navy Chalkboard	Tube J	1 rectangle 4.5 x 20.5”
1.5 yard Nickel Scallop Dot	Lower corners of tubes Background between tubes Horizontal background strips	20 squares 1.75 x 1.75” 12 rectangles 4.5 x 28.5 3 rectangles 4.5 x 44.5”
Batting	Quilt batting	1 rectangle 51 x 75”
4.25 yards Yucca Laboratory	Quilt backing	1 rectangle WOF x 75” 1 rectangle WOF x 11” (piece together to make 1 rectangle approximately 55 x 75”)
.75 yard Navy Supernova	Binding	6 strips 2 1/4 x WOF

Notes:

All seams are a quarter of an inch.

Press seams open or toward the darker fabric.

RST = right sides together

Pair up the white and colored pieces for each test tube block according to their letters. Sew them together along the lower 4.5” edge for the white piece and the upper 4.5” edge for the colored piece.

Take one test tube block and 2 of the 1.75 x 1.75” gray background squares. Place the squares RST in the lower colored corners of the block and use a pencil to draw a line on the wrong side of the fabric that goes from the upper outer corner of each square to the lower inner corner of each square. Stitch on that line, trim off a 1/4” seam, and press open. Repeat with the remaining test tube blocks and squares.

Arrange the test tube blocks into two rows according to the diagram above. Sew a 4.5 x 28.5” gray background strip between each of the test tubes and at either end of each row. You should end up with 2 pieced rows that measure approximately 28.5 x 52.5”.

Sew a 4.5 x 52.5” gray background strip above the upper test tube block unit, between the two units, and below the lower unit, creating the quilt top.

Quilt, back, and bind the quilt as desired.

If you make one of these, be sure to use the hashtag #testtubesquilt and tag me @fabricmutt!

Happy sewing, my friends!