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.

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 3—Stitch column lengths

Step 4—Stitch the patchy center columns

Step 5—Create the columns

Step 6—Piece the quilt top

Step 7—Audition borders

Step 8—Add borders

Step 9—Layer and quilt your creation

Step 10—Binding and labeling

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!

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