What takes so long about making a quilt is, first, the measuring. Then there’s the cutting, and sewing all of those small blocks and other shapes together. Yes, going through that whole procedure makes a stunning quilt, worth a lot of money to some people. But don’t you ever just want a quilt that’s easy to make? Whether you’re still a beginner, or you’ve been making quilts for years, there’s one that is so fast that it can be made in a matter of hours. The quilt will be eye-popping, have a beautiful design, and make you look like a professional quilt maker. When you use a large-block technique, you can make a fabulous quilt in a fraction of the time it normally takes.
One easy way to make a large-block quilt is to start out with a “fat quarter”. A fat quarter is a yard of quilting fabric, cut into four equal-size squares. When you buy different colors and patterns, and sew the large pieces together, you have a gorgeous quilt, and lots of time left on your hands. After sewing the fat quarters together, lay them face-up on a table, cover with an equal-size piece of batting, and an equal-size piece of thin lining. Stitch around certain designs, or just make a stitch here and there, so that you attach the backing and batting to the quilt, at various places. If the fat quarters you buy already have the batting attached you can skip that step. Lay the actual quilt backing on the quilt squares, so that their right sides are facing each other. Sew almost all the way around but leave an opening for turning. After turning, sew the opening shut.
An even easier way to make a pretty design on a quilt is to start with a large piece of fabric – like a sheet. If you’re using yardage, and you can’t find it in a wide enough width, sew additional pieces on like this: lay the whole fabric piece on the bed and center it. Cut two additional pieces to be the same length as the first piece, and as wide as you need. Use the bed edge as a guide to pin the additions on. Pin them so that the seam will go right along the side edge of the bed. Sew the seam on each side of the large piece.
When you start out with a large piece of pretty fabric it’s not hard to turn it into a nice quilt. Just cut huge blocks of another color of fabric – or more than one color or design. Pin the big blocks on the large quilt piece. Make two rows, three rows, or more, aligning the large blocks evenly on the main quilt piece. Leave large spaces around the squares and it will require even fewer squares to cover it.
Sew the large blocks onto the quilt. To add even more interest, cut circles, triangles, or other shapes, and sew one onto each of the large blocks. Go even further by cutting yet another shape – not the same shape as you just did – and sew one onto each of the other shapes. When you stack different shapes on each quilt block you create a layered look with many visual elements. The sheet or other fabric, which is behind the large quilt blocks, serves as a frame around each quilt block design. Follow the steps above to add the batting, lining, and quilt back.
Reference:
- Fat quarters: www.joann.com
