How to Make a Scrappy Trip Around the World Quilt Free Tutorial

This is not my first Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt block tutorial, but I do think it is better than the first.   I’ve been quilting for a long time, but I continue to improve.  I’ve been blogging for a short time, and I certainly hope that I’m getting better as I go.  Better with writing, better with photography, and better with making directions as clear as possible while keeping them simple.  That’s always the goal!

There are thousands of varieties of this quilt pattern out there, mine uses 2” strips, has six strips per set and my blocks finish at 9”.

A Variety of Quilt Block Options

You can vary any of those numbers to customize your quilt as you wish.

Use 2½” or 3” (or bigger!) strips.

Make strip sets with five, or seven or ten strips.

Really, the options are endless!  Here are a couple of examples of what five, six and seven strips could look like in a block.  I’m actually really happy with all of these color combinations, but especially that Halloween-inspired one.  I *might* need to make myself a Halloween quilt!

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Now, of course, your block size will vary based on the size of strips and numbers of strips involved.  Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the options.  Make sure to pin this for later.

This tutorial will have blocks made from six strips, that measure 2” by 12½”.  I made 20 blocks, so I had 120 strips to start with. 

Scrappy Trip Around the World Quilt Block

Sew strips into pairs, and then sew three pairs together into each strip set.

I made mine with a neutral fabric (although not always the same neutral fabric) along the top edge.

Trim the edge to make straight, and then cut one 2” unit off the edge of the strip set.

Sew the rest of the strip set into a tube, by sewing the free edge of the top strip to the free edge of the bottom strip.

Cut the tube into five 2” tubes.

I know, I know, it’s hard to see the tubes in the last two photos.  Here’s another look.

Now, do you see the purple circle highlighting the seam between the bottom two seams in the photo above?  Here it is again:

This is the seam that you are going to cut open (with scissors or with a seam ripper) from one tube.  This will be the second column in your block.  Check out the purple arrows, that seam that you cut open is now the top and bottom edge of the column.  Note, you are NOT cutting apart that circled seam from the column of 6 squares.  You are cutting that same seam, but from one of the tubes to open it up so that it becomes the next column.

Next up, the seam between the dark purple and light purple squares at the bottom of column two.  In each subsequent tube, you are cutting apart the seam that separates the two bottom squares from the previous column.  Repeat with all five tubes.

Pin, pin, pin every seam!

Pin every seam, and sew the columns into pairs.  Then sew the three pairs together.  Just pin every single seam, and go slowly.  And THAT is a Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt block.

Having a neutral fabric as the top strip in every group means that I’ll have a neutral square running through the center of every block.  Repeat to make as many blocks as needed.

Scrappy Trip Around the World Quilt

Again, there are lots of different options for what you do with your blocks.  All of your blocks will have the center diagonal squares angling down.  But, if you turn your block 90*, you’ll have a block with the center diagonal squares angling up.

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Twisting and turning your blocks throughout the quilt results in lots of different options.  Here are three of them:

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Now, I like all of these options, but I was limited in what I made with my blocks.  I made my strip sets one day, and set them aside to make my blocks several weeks later.  Apparently, I used a scant ¼” seam when I made the strip sets, but a full ¼” when I made the blocks.

My blocks aren’t square!  ☹

They’re close, it’s only about a ¼” of an inch difference total between length and width of the block, but with that many seams to match up, it just made sense to not turn any blocks sideways, and keep them all the same, so I have neutral squares running diagonally down my entire quilt.  And I really like how it turned out.

But, it’s a good reminder for me (and maybe for you too?) to be both accurate and consistent when sewing seams.  Little mistakes add up in a hurry!  You can check out a tutorial here for how to make your seam allowances as accurate as possible.

So, there you have it.  How to make a Scrappy Trip Around the World Quilt!  Which block size do you prefer? Here’s another copy of the size chart: