This blog starts the Quilt to Give lesson plan, where you’ll be able to make a great looking quilt from your fabric stash in 10 Easy Steps. The Quilt to Give project is designed for you to use your stash to create an attractive, easy bed-sized quilt and then give it away to those who have suffered loss. Making and giving needed bed quilts is a way of showing support and encouragement.
If you didn’t read the introductory letter about Quilt to Give, check out the link. You’ll get an overview of the community service and a listing of the 10 lessons to create a variation of the Column Quilt that I made on Sewing With Nancy.
Step One: Sort Your Fabric Stash!
Invite sewing and quilting friends to join you. Check out your collective fabric stashes! Or, you may have enough fabric in your own reserve to create a quilt.
When looking at my stash of fabric, my head was swimming!. Alas, I didn’t think I had enough leftover fabrics to create an attractive quilt. In the past, I might have left the stash just as I found it—unorganized.
The Quilt to Give project gave me the incentive to determine a way to organize and cull my fabric stash to create an attractive, well-planned quilt. Instead of creating a quilt of blocks, your Quilt to Give will have columns. This photo shows a column unit with solid strips of fabric on the outside, a patchy strip in the center.
How to sort your fabrics:
- Begin by selecting several prints that will be used as inspirational fabrics.
- Gather solid-clored fabrics that coordinate or match with each print. Choose as many solids or mottled fabrics (subtle prints that appear as solid colors from a distance) as possible for this project. The solid fabrics will be used for the outside columns.
- Create several stacks of fabric, placing the inspirational fabric on the top.
- Decide which fabric grouping will be the candidate for the Quilt to Give! It might be necessary to measure the fabric (next step) to determine which stack has enough yardage to complete a quilt.
- Measure the solid fabrics to make certain there is enough fabric colors to create one or two outside column units. (I pinned sticky notes to the fabrics and wrote the yardage or number of inches on the notes.)
- Yardage of solid fabric for each column unit is 10″.
Double quilt:
- A double will have 11 column units.
- Select six solid fabrics: five fabrics are used twice and the sixth fabric is used for the center column unit.
- Fabric needed: 20″ of five fabrics and 10″ of one fabric.
Queen quilt:
- A queen will have 13 column units.
- Select seven solid fabrics: six fabrics are used twice and the seventh fabric is used for the center column unit.
- Fabric needed: 20″ of six fabrics and 10″ of one fabric.
King quilt:
- A king will have 15 column units.
- Select eight solid fabrics: seven fabrics are used twice and the eighth fabric is used for the center column unit.
- Fabric needed: 20″ of seven fabrics and 10″ of one fabric.
Column Layout Options
You could also use two or three fabrics, alternating the colors of the column.
Or, select a different color for each column unit.
I look forward to seeing photos of your color combinations!
• Determine which fabrics will become the outside column strips. My choice was easy, I did not have enough yardage of the red and black fabrics. (It may be necessary to buy one or two fabrics to create an attractive color combination. Oh darn…go shopping!)
- Gather more prints and solid fabrics to be used for the patchy center strips. Notice the short yardage of the black and red is now in the patchy stack!
Click here for a Quilt to Give Cutting Worksheet–Twin Size
Click here for a Quilt to Give Cutting Worksheet–Twin, Double, Queen and King
The process of cutting my fabric took only about two hours. I solicited the help of my co-workers, asking advice. Ask your friends to join in the fun. Share photos of sorting your stash at the Sew Along with Nancy Zieman flickr site.
Step two is next. Here are links to all the steps:
Step 1—Sort out fabrics from several stashes
Step 2—Cut column strips and center patchy strips
Step 4—Stitch the patchy center columns
Step 9—Layer and quilt your creation
Quilt for Others with “Quilt to Give” Learn how to set-up and organize a Quilt to Give Event.
The gift is in the giving!
Thank you for this site. I have a hard time grouping fabrics for a quilt. This helps alot.
Hi Nancy,
This is a great tutorial. Lots of great information!
I have BC awareness blocks made, I may incorporate a column in the middle. Thanks so much.
Sandy in E. Texas
Would it be possible for you list this in a PDF version. I like having the printed version of instructions for quick reference.
Hi Cathy, Quilt to Give instructions are available exclusively at the blog and not in a PDF version.Thank you for your interest in Quilt to Give. http://www.quilttogive.com
Nancy,
When I was 5 years old, our house burned while we were in town on Sat night getting groceries and hair cuts. We lived on a farm and the volunteer fire dept couldn’t get there in time to save anything. My Mom’s club the LTC (Ladies Thimble Club) made each of us a quilt. This was in 1939.
O how I loved that red quilt. I hope to make one for another family. Thanks for your suggestions. Rita
I look forward to sorting my fabric stash and getting started with my quilt!
Marie, be sure to take photos of your progress on post the on the flickr site that we reference!
I like this idea and shared it on my Facebook page. I also emailed it to my sewing machine dealer, hoping they will take this on.
Thanks, Mardell! I appreciate the you sharing this information with others. I am hoping for a community of sewists and quilters who will Quilt to Give!
Very excellent encouragement, thank-you! My heart is willing to help others and you are so right in saying it could be one of us next, there seems to be tradegy at every quarter today. Thank-you for straight-forward and practical directions to help me past just being stunned by the disasters and actually do something to help bring a little relief. God bless you Nancy.
Rose, thank you for considering making a quilt to give to others. It’s a small way of helping, yet a new bed-sized quilt could really brighten someone’s day!