Riley Blake Sail Away - Downloadable PDF

Riley Blake Sail Away Quilt Pattern – Free Downloadable PDF by Samantha Walker

The Sail Away quilt pattern is a free downloadable PDF designed by Samantha Walker for Riley Blake Designs. It produces a charming, nautical-themed quilt with a finished size of 38" x 42", making it an ideal lap quilt, baby quilt, or decorative throw. The design is built around a signature Sail Away Block with a finished block size of 6" x 6", and the pattern calls for a total of 15 Sail Away Blocks arranged into a cohesive quilt center. The maritime theme is carried beautifully through the fabric selection, featuring boats, waves, flags, lobsters, lures, and circles in a coordinated palette of blues, grays, yellows, teals, and reds.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a single quilted throw measuring 38 inches by 42 inches. The finished quilt is composed of pieced blocks arranged in columns, surrounded by sashing and borders. The overall aesthetic is nautical and playful, making it well suited for a child's room, a coastal-themed home, or as a gift for anyone who loves the sea. Because the quilt and block diagrams in the PDF are described as virtual images, the final appearance may vary slightly depending on the actual fabrics chosen.

Techniques Used

• Half Square Triangles (HSTs): The foundational technique in this pattern. Sets of four Half Square Triangles are sewn together to create Unit A, and sets of two Half Square Triangles are combined with a rectangle to form Unit C. Accurate HST construction is essential for the blocks to lie flat and align properly.
• Unit Assembly: The pattern uses a structured, step-by-step unit-building approach. Unit A is extended with snow white shade rectangles to create Unit B, and then Units B and C are joined with an assorted print rectangle to complete the full Sail Away Block.
• Strip Cutting: Snow white shade fabric is cut into strips 2" x WOF (width of fabric) and then sub-cut into rectangles and squares, a standard quilting efficiency technique that reduces waste and speeds up cutting.
• Column Assembly: Five Sail Away Blocks are sewn together to form a column, and multiple columns are then joined to build the quilt center — a classic quilt-as-you-go column construction approach.
• Sashing and Borders: The pattern instructs quilters to measure through the center of the quilt before cutting sashing and border pieces, a best practice that compensates for any slight variations in seam allowances and ensures a flat, square finished quilt.
• Binding: A separate binding fabric is included in the requirements, indicating a traditional applied binding finish around the quilt's edges.

Stitches and Piecing Details

• Quarter-inch seam allowance (¼"): All measurements in the pattern include a standard ¼" seam allowance, which is the universal standard for quilting piecing.
• Right sides together: All seams are sewn with right sides of fabric facing each other unless the pattern specifically states otherwise — another fundamental quilting convention.
• Straight-stitch machine sewing is implied throughout, consistent with standard quilting piecing practice.

Materials – Fabric Requirements

This pattern is specifically designed to coordinate with Riley Blake Designs fabrics. The primary fabric bundle is:

• 1 Fly Aweigh 2.5-inch Rolie Polie (RP-3870-21) — a pre-cut roll of 2.5-inch fabric strips featuring an assortment of nautical prints
• 7/8 yard (85 cm) of blue boat (C3870 Blue)
• ¾ yard (70 cm) of snow white shade (C200-03 Snow White) — used for the sashing rectangles and squares that frame each block unit
• 5/8 yard (60 cm) of binding fabric
• 1⅓ yards (1.25 m) of backing fabric