Ocean Waves Quilt Pattern (DIY TUTORIAL)

I decided to post the pattern to Craftsy there because one of my goals in 2014 is to start selling patterns and so familiarizing myself with the interface and getting a little traffic going into my shop on Craftsy seemed like a good idea!  (The pattern is also in my etsy shop, but etsy won’t let me sell it for free, which is why I’m directing you to Craftsy.)

Don’t worry, just because I’m posting free patterns in online shops and hoping to sell patterns later this year, no tutorials will be disappearing from this blog.  It’s just that since I’ve been writing patterns for magazines and those rights eventually revert to me (it’s part of how I choose which magazines to work with), I have an ever-growing file of already-written original patterns that I think I should keep out there in the world.  And I’m not averse to being paid!

As for the Ocean Waves, I know there are plenty of these patterns out there (it’s a traditional pattern), but mine is different because it uses the Accuquilt fabric cutter (either the Go! or the Baby) and it avoids Y-seams. Also, um, the price is right….this pattern is $0.00!!!!

A word about Accuquilt:  I NEVER would have guessed that I would love this tool as much as I do!  I only ever tried one because my friend Brenda (owner of Pink Castle Fabrics) had one and encouraged me to give it a try. And it was not like a lightening bolt went off that first time.  I thought, “oh, that’s rather nice,” but I wasn’t lusting after one. Then, I increasingly found myself wandering over to Pink Castle with some fabric…
“Alright if I use the Accuquilt?”
“Is the Accuquilt here?”
“I have a few more pieces if that’s alright?”
“You’re sure it’s okay if I just borrow this?”
“You’d tell me if this was annoying, right?”

And luckily, my realization that I should really just acquire an Accuquilt of my own happened right before fall quilt market.  At market, I met some of the lovely people of Accuquilt, who both knew who I was (this always surprises me when it happens) and had noticed via Instagram that I seemed to have a Accuquilt (a telltale sign is the missing corners on half-square triangles–see below) and wanted to send me one of my very own when they found out I did not have one myself but was using my friend’s (that’s some quality quilty swag! I was so grateful!)  I’ve already gotten quite a bit of use out of my Accuquilt even though I work improvisationally on most of my quilts.  My guess is that my new-found love for triangles is largely to blame (the Accuquilt is absolutely aces for half-square triangles.)

So, download my free pattern (Craftsy shows me a download count and I love watching those numbers tick up!)  and give an Accuquilt a try if you can (friends with fabric cutters are a fabulous thing! Ann Arbor locals are welcome to give mine a spin!)

This pattern uses only one die: AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutting Dies; Half Square; 3-inch Finished Triangle.  That die fits on either the Accuquilt Baby or the Accuquilt Go.

*Amazon links are affiliate links, which means I get a small monetary kickback if you purchase an item after using my link.   As mentioned above, Accuquilt compensates me with product for my loving promotion.  All opinions are my own and are genuine.