America’s quilting darling, Sunbonnet Sue, continues with her sewing adventures, as she discovers that even the kitchen offers quilting help for the dedicated stitcher. Freezer paper, usually found in the kitchen, is a wonderful tool for making pattern pieces for the Sunbonnet Sue quilt pattern.

The coated paper is the best choice because it has a wax side that can be used to iron on fabric and it helps to keep the paper in place while you are stitching the pieces together. Freezer paper is durable, easy to fold and cut, easy to see through for tracing, and makes sewing applique pieces a delight.

Here are the steps you need to use to make freezer paper appliques for the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt pattern.

Materials needed for the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Pattern:

• heavy-duty freezer paper with a wax side
• paper cutting scissors
• heavy cardboard
• pencil
• iron
• fabric cutting scissors
• needle, thread, thimble
• fabric

Cutting Instructions for the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Pattern:

1. Cut off the amount of paper needed to make your pattern.
2. Trace around the pattern pieces on the dull side of the paper.Note: This pattern has no seam allowance. It will be your master pattern.
3. Cut out your master pattern carefully on the lines.
4. Make enough master patterns for the design you plan to applique.

Preparing the Sunbonnet Sue pieces for applique:

1. Place the freezer paper on your fabric, shiny side up.
2. Trace around the freezer paper pattern with your pencil on the wrong side of the appropriate color fabric.
3. Cut out, adding 1/4″ seam allowance to fabric as you cut.
4. Place the heavy cardboard on your ironing board to make a firm ironing surface. With the iron set on the cotton heat setting, turn the seam allowances to the shiny side of the freezer paper and press the seam allowances in place. If sticking doesn’t occur, increase the heat a bit until a good bonding is achieved.
5. When you come to an inner turn in the design, snip the seam allowance in a little and use the pressure of the tip of the iron to push the seam allowance into the inner turns. It is not necessary to snip the outer seams.

Instructions for sewing Sunbonnet Sue Applique pieces:

1. Position the applique piece on the background fabric.
2. Fuse in place with your iron to prevent movement as you stitch the piece in place.
3. Stitch around the edges of the applique piece to secure it to the background fabric.
4. Use matching thread color to applique piece and a blind hem stitch. The freezer paper will not interfere with your stitching and if you accidentally stitch through it, you can take care of it when you remove the freezer paper later.
5. Turn your block over. You will see the outline stithcing all the way around your applique. Use sharp-pointed scissors to snip a slit in the inside of the back of the applique.
6. Cut out inner background fabric, leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance. Be careful not to snip the applique.
7. Remove the freezer paper and trim any ragged seam allowances. If the applique is too small to provide a 1/4″ seam allowance, just slit the back of the background fabric enough to remove the freezer paper without trimming.
8. Iron the applique on both front and back.

The Monkey Wrench quilt is made with 14″ quilt squares. Make sure you wash and iron your fabric before cutting. Transfer pattern pieces to the template material and cut out adding a 1/4″seam allowance.

To make this quilt square you will need the following pieces:

• 8 triangles
• 9 squares

Using the pattern below cut the following pieces from dark and light fabric:

• 4 dark triangles (pattern A)
• 4 medium triangles (pattern A)
• 5 medium squares (pattern B)
• 4 light squares (pattern B)

How to sew the pieces you just cut out to create the Monkey Wrench block.

Sew Triangles together: Put 1 dark and 1 medium triangle right sides together and sew on long side using 1/4″ seam. Sew the other 3 triangle sets together. Iron.

Sew Squares together: Sew 1 medium, 1 light, 1 medium, 1 light, and 1 medium square together to create the center row. Iron.

Sew 1 medium and 1 light square together and set aside. Iron. Then sew another set. Iron.

Following the diagram sew a triangle set and a 2-piece square set together. Sew another triangle set to the other side. Make two of these rows. Iron.

Following the diagram sew rows together and iron.

Download the full-size pattern pieces here. Monkey-Wrench-Pattern-Pieces (PDF document)

Here are some great examples of the Monkey Wrench pattern being used in a full quilt. It is always helpful to see a finished quilt in color to give you inspiration and ideas for what you can do.

From Delaware Quilts

From Ain’t That Sweet