Riley Blake Apollo 11 - Downloadable PDF

Riley Blake Apollo 11 Panel Quilt – Free Downloadable PDF Pattern Summary

The Riley Blake Apollo 11 Panel Quilt is a finished 49" x 64" quilted throw that celebrates the iconic Apollo 11 mission through a bold, space-themed design. This free downloadable PDF pattern is rated intermediate difficulty and is produced by Riley Blake Designs. It centers on the P9044 Rocket Panel as its dramatic focal point, surrounded by pieced letter blocks, structured borders, and coordinating solid and printed fabrics from the Riley Blake fabric line.

What Is Being Made

This project produces a lap or throw-sized quilt measuring 49" x 64". The design features a large central panel cut to 35½" x 42½" from the Apollo 11 Rocket Panel (P9044), framed by pieced letter blocks that spell out a space-themed word or phrase using the Apollo 11 Block construction method. Two distinct border treatments — a narrow inner strip and a wider outer border — complete the structured, graphic layout. The finished quilt is ideal for a child's room, a themed display, or any space enthusiast's home.

Designs and Blocks Covered

The pattern includes two primary design elements:

• The Apollo 11 Panel Center: A single large rectangle cut from the P9044 Rocket Panel fabric, serving as the visual centerpiece of the quilt.
• The Apollo 11 Block: A pieced letter block construction that uses the flip corner technique to create angled units that form recognizable letterforms. The block is assembled from small squares and rectangles in Blue Solid (C120 Cobalt) and Red Solid (C120 Riley Red), producing crisp, geometric letter shapes.

Techniques Used

• Flip corners (also called stitch-and-flip): This is the primary piecing technique used to construct the Apollo 11 letter blocks. A small square is placed on the end of a rectangle with right sides together, sewn on a drawn diagonal line, then pressed back to form a triangular corner. The excess fabric is trimmed to a ¼" seam allowance. This technique eliminates the need for set-in seams or complex cutting and is a reliable intermediate-level method for creating diagonal elements within a block.
• Strip piecing and sub-cutting: Fabric is cut into strips across the width of fabric (WOF) and then sub-cut into specific rectangles and squares for efficient, accurate piecing.
• Border application: The quilt features multiple border rounds. A narrow strip border in Blue Solid frames the panel, and a wider Border 2 in Gray Badges (9040 Gray) is cut from 5½" x WOF strips to complete the outer frame. Quilters are instructed to measure through the center of the quilt before cutting border pieces to ensure accuracy.
• Binding: A double-fold binding is created from 7 strips of 2¼" x WOF sewn end to end and pressed in half, a standard quilting finishing technique.
• Right-sides-together sewing: All seams are sewn with right sides together unless otherwise noted, following standard quilting convention.

Stitches and Sewing Details

• Straight stitch is used throughout for all piecing seams.
• All measurements include a ¼" seam allowance, which is the standard seam allowance in quilting and must be maintained consistently for blocks and borders to align correctly.
• Diagonal stitching lines are drawn on the wrong side of small squares before sewing the flip corner units, ensuring precise placement.

Unit Construction Details

The Apollo 11 Block letter units are broken into two sub-units:

• Unit 1: A Red Solid 1½" x 3½" rectangle with a Blue Solid 1½" x 1½" flip corner sewn to both ends. Five of these units are constructed.