Moda Fabrics Tea Towel Quilt - Downloadable PDF

Moda Fabrics Tea Towel Quilt – Free Downloadable PDF Pattern Summary

The Moda Fabrics Tea Towel Quilt is a charming and practical quilting project that transforms a single Moda Home Tea Towel into the decorative centerpiece of a finished quilt measuring 41" x 50¼". This creative pattern is offered as a free downloadable PDF from Moda Fabrics and is rated as an intermediate quilting project. It makes an excellent gift, a decorative wall hanging, or a functional lap quilt, and is a wonderful way to showcase the beautiful printed designs found on Moda Home Tea Towels.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a bordered quilt measuring 41" x 50¼", built around a trimmed and prepared Moda Home Tea Towel as the quilt center. The tea towel panel is framed by three successive fabric borders that expand the piece into a full quilt top, which is then layered, quilted, and bound in the traditional manner. The result is a structured, polished quilt with a strong graphic center and coordinating fabric borders.

Design Structure and Layout

The quilt is constructed in a medallion-style format, with the tea towel serving as the central focal panel and three borders radiating outward. This approach is a classic quilting layout that emphasizes a single statement piece at the center. Each border is added in a specific sequence — sides first, then top and bottom — to ensure accurate sizing and clean corners throughout.

• Center Panel: One Moda Home Tea Towel, trimmed to 16½" x 25¾" after removing the hemming
• 1st Border: Narrow accent border cut at 1½" wide, with side strips measuring 1½" x 25¾" and top/bottom strips measuring 1½" x 18½"
• 2nd Border: A wider framing border cut at 3½" wide, with side strips at 3½" x 27¾" and top/bottom strips at 3½" x 24½"
• Final Border: A generous outer border at 9" wide, with side strips measuring 9" x 41½" and top/bottom strips measuring 9" x 33¾"

Techniques Used

This pattern introduces and reinforces several core quilting techniques that are well-suited to an intermediate quilter looking to build confidence with structured, bordered quilt construction.

• Panel preparation: Removing the hemming from the tea towel and trimming it to a precise measurement is the first step, requiring careful cutting and measurement. The pattern notes that tea towel sizes may vary and encourages quilters to measure their specific towel and adjust accordingly.
• Sequential border attachment: Each of the three borders is added sides-first, then top and bottom — a standard and reliable method for maintaining squareness and accurate dimensions throughout the quilt top construction.
• Pressing technique: The pattern specifies to always press away from the center of the quilt, a best practice that reduces bulk at seam intersections and keeps the quilt top flat and even.
• Binding construction: The binding strips are sewn together end-to-end using five 2½" x WOF (width of fabric) strips, then applied around the perimeter of the finished quilt in the traditional double-fold binding method.
• Layering and quilting: The pattern instructs the quilter to layer the quilt top, batting, and backing before quilting. The specific quilting design is left to the maker's discretion, allowing for free-motion quilting, straight-line quilting, or any preferred approach.

Stitches and Seam Allowances

All construction in the Moda Fabrics Tea Towel Quilt pattern uses a standard ¼" seam allowance throughout, which is the quilting industry standard. Accurate ¼" seams are especially important in this pattern because each border builds directly on the measurements of the previous one — any variation will affect the fit of subsequent borders.

Materials Required

The pattern