Quilt-Along: Cutting Fabrics

It has been great fun to hear about everyone’s fabric choices and now it is time to put in a new rotary blade and start cutting!

For the throw-sized quilt, I used a beautiful fat quarter bundle supplied by Moda Fabrics of Zen Chic’s Filigree plus yardage of white (Moda 9900-200) for the background.  I love the shades of gray with the golden yellow color.  The design on the fabrics were very fun too – the dandelion like flower is my favorite!

Pages 3 and 4 from the Loves Me, Loves Me Not pattern contain all the cutting instructions you need for the throw-sized quilt (page 3) and the baby-sized (page 4). The background fabric section includes the instructions for all the background units required for the blocks plus the units required for sashing and the outer borders. Likewise, for the 3 primary fabrics – dark gray, light gray, and gold – the instructions contain all the units you will need for all the blocks in the pattern.

If you are cutting from yardage, you can work directly from those pages depending on the size quilt you are making.

As the pattern designer, I truly enjoy seeing how a quilter brings their own personality and stash to a quilt so here are some tips if you aren’t working with yardage!

Using scraps? The individual block instructions (pages 5-13) each contain the units you will need to cut in order to make a single block along with how many blocks of that type you need to make for each of the quilt sizes. Use the instructions on pages 3 or 4 to cut your background units then use each of the individual block instruction pages to cut from your scraps.

Using fat quarters? The individual block instructions (pages 5-13) each contain the units you will need to cut in order to make a single block along with how many blocks of that type you need to make for each of the quilt sizes. Use the instructions on pages 3 or 4 to cut your background units. For primary fabric, cut strips from a fat quarter that matches the dimension of a specific unit in the first block and sub-cut that strip for the units you will need. (For best results, orient your fat quarter so the cut strips are 18″ long.) My quilt used four unique dark gray fat quarters, two unique light gray and three unique gold.

Unsure which size quilt you are making? Start with the cutting instructions for the baby-sized but do not cut the strips for sashing and for outer borders. Perhaps use a highlighter to mark those instructions to make it easier to find them when you come back to later.

Want to use one background fabric for sashing and borders and another for blocks? The cutting instructions clearly mark the units required for sashing and border so consider using a two different highlighters to help you remember which to cut in which background fabric. For throw-sized quilt, you will need 1 1/2 yards for sashing and border. For the baby-sized quilt, you will need 3/4 yard.

Yardage, fat quarters or scraps – leave a comment and let me know what you are sewing with!

Next Monday, February 6, we work on our first block – the Wedding Ring – and I will share a tip about the scant quarter inch plus tell you all about our next sponsor giveaway!

Don’t yet have the pattern? You can buy the pattern at the Quilt Fiction Shop.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or email qal@quiltfiction.com.

Quilt-Along: Color Options

We are thrilled with the interest for our Loves Me, Loves Me Not quilt-along. Make sure you grab your copy of the pattern before midnight EST January 30 for a chance to win a prize in our first quilt-along giveaway.  (More information on the giveaway below.)

You can buy the pattern at the Quilt Fiction Shop

Now, let’s talk about fabric and color!  (You can find the details on fabric requirements here.)

One of our sponsors, String & Story has kits available for the throw-sized quilt in two different colorways! One colorway mimics the coloring in our quilt while the other uses the color blackberry as the background with robins egg, Caribbean, and shortbread for a really unique look.

In last week’s post, I put the call out for color combinations.  Jean asked for options in purple.  For these options, I used swatches called purple, iris, pale iris and paired them with a white background and then with a citrus yellow. 

Lynn asked for pinks and greens. The first option uses mint, rose, and fuchsia paired and the second uses colors impatient, mist and gray. Both combinations would be lovely for a baby quilt, wouldn’t they?

Robin is thinking blues and greens so we’ve got an option with lapis, mint, and apple green. For a very different look using greens, wasabi, sulfur and flan with a background color blackberry.

Finally, an option I’d like to try – all blues using Monaco, artesian, and Danube against a white background or flan.

I enjoyed playing with different colorways and hope you’ve found something that inspires you to start pulling fabric.

Next Monday, we will start cutting fabric!  I’ll share tips on using fat quarters instead of yardage.  Not sure if you are making the baby-size or throw-size quilt?  We’ll talk about fabric cutting options so you can start sewing while you think about layout.

Have you picked out your fabrics yet?  Leave a comment and let me know what you’ve chosen!

And don’t forget about our very first sponsor giveaway.

Download a copy of the pattern before midnight EST January 30 for a chance to win a prize in the first sponsor giveaway for the quilt-along!   Two winners will be randomly chosen from those meeting the eligibility guidelines below.  One winner will receive a Felt Pressing Mat from Oliso.  (This prize can only be shipped to US or Canada addresses.)  One winner will receive two Quilt Fiction novels.  (Physical copies will be shipped to US addresses and digital copies will be available otherwise.)

Eligibility Guidelines

  • The participant must be a member of Story Guild (at any membership level, including free) and have downloaded a copy of the Loves Me, Loves Me Not pattern from the Quilt Fiction shop or the Quilt Fiction Etsy shop prior to midnight EST January 30, 2023.
  • Each winner will be chosen randomly and notified via email.  Winner will have 72 hours to claim their prize by responding to our email – if we don’t hear back, we may draw another name. Once all prizes for a specific giveaway have been claimed, the first names of the winners will be announced.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or email qal@quiltfiction.com.