Quilt Blocks and Quilts from Your Favorite Fabrics: Recycling Fabrics as You Learn to Quilt (Easy Singer Style)

114 Pages·2008·24.1 MB·English

by  Kate Perri

Recycle your old favorites!
Quilting is a great way to recycle T-shirts, blue jeans, neckties, p.j.’s, and even prom QQ
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dresses. Give a quick and cozy makeover to the clothes you won’t wear, but couldn’t
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These fi fteen projects will teach you three of the most basic quilting techniques:
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patchwork piecing, foundation piecing, and appliqué. You’ll learn how to “deconstruct” aanndd
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your favorite garments and then reconstruct the pieces to form the small blocks that kk FFaavvoorriittee FFaabbrriiccss
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are stitched together to form a quilt. Make multiple blocks with the same technique—
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Step by step, you’ll learn how to make quilt “sandwiches” and decoratively stitch their
ii Recycling Fabrics as You Learn to Quilt
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surfaces by machine with straight lines and free-motion techniques. You’ll also learn tt
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how to assemble blocks to make three sampler quilts, adding sashing, binding, and
your own designer labels! youryour fromfrom
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Work with new and favorite fabrics to make quilts with special meaning. aa
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You can sew it, one block at a time!
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Kate Perri loves to quilt and sew—and she loves to teach others how to do it, too.

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She teaches private classes to adults and children and also teaches in after-school
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programs, camp programs, and workshops. Kate is also the author of Easy Singer bb
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Style: Pattern-Free Fashions & Accessories (Creative Publishing international, 2006). ii
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She lives in White Plains, New York. ss
Also available
◗ Easy SINGER Style™ ◗ SINGER Simple™
Pattern-Free Home Accents Sewing Guide
978-1-58923-320-1 978-1-58923-313-3
◗ Easy SINGER Style™ ◗ SINGER Simple™ K
a
Pattern-Free Fashions & Accessories Decorative Machine Stitching t
e
978-1-58923-312-6 978-1-58923-341-6
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ISBN-13: 978-1-58923-390-4
Craft/Sewing ISBN-10: 1-58923-390-5
$21.99 US
PC £14.99 UK AN Kate Perri
U $23.95 CAN E
www.creativepub.com
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Recycling Fabrics as You Learn to Quilt
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contents
5 Welcome to Quilting!
7 elements of a quilt
8 The Quilt Top
9 What Size Is It?
10 Batting
11 Backing
11 Making the Sandwich
12 Stitching
15 Binding
15 The Finishing Touch
17 fabrics for quilts
18 A Few Things about Fabrics
18 Finding Fabrics
19 Who Are You Calling Fat?
21 Cleaning Fabrics
21 Cutting Fabrics
25 tools and notions
26 Know Your Machine
27 Quilting Feet
28 Quilter’s Tool Kit
30 What Color Thread?
31 Making a Design Wall
33 Before You Sew
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35 patchwork piecing 81 appliqué
37 Project: Five Easy Pieces Block 83 Project: Holes-in-Your-Clothes Block
39 Perfect Piecing 85 Harvesting Jeans
41 Project: Bandana Fofanna Nine-Patch Block 87 Project: Brand-New Underwear Block
43 Matching Seams 88 Making a Practice Appliqué
45 Project: Night-and-Day Pinwheel Block 89 Satin-Stitch Secrets
47 Half-Square Triangle Units 91 Project: All My Favorite T-shirts Block
49 Project: Button-Down Sawtooth Star Block 93 Working with Curved Shapes
51 Harvesting Shirts and Blouses 95 Project: In-My-Pocket Block
51 Chain Piecing 97 Printing on Fabric
53 Project: Dress Casual Quilt 99 Project: Laundry Bag Explosion Quilt
59 foundation piecing
102 Templates
61 Project: Crazy for You Block
109 Suppliers
63 Harvesting Fancy Dresses
110 Acknowledgments
65 Project: Peek-a-Boo Block
111 About the Author
67 Washing Silk Neckties
112 Index
67 Harvesting Men’s Ties
69 Project: Squares without Tears Block
71 Underpiecing
73 Project: Fussy Daisies Block
75 Fussy Cutting
77 Project: Garden Party Quilt
79 Setting on the Diagonal
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welcome to quilting!
To create a quilt,you follow a simple,step-by-step
process. It’s a lot like putting together a jigsaw puzzle!
In this book,you’ll learn how to make a dozen simple
block projects and three quilt-sampler projects,working
with three quiltmaking techniques:patchwork piecing,
working with foundation materials,and appliqué. Each
project teaches you a different way to put the blocks
together (known as setting) and you’ll learn how to
finish them,too. You’ll stitch everything on the sewing
machine,so you’ll be done in no time!
Work with colorful cotton fabrics—or with fabrics
harvested from shirts,ties,T-shirts,and jeans. While
you’re digging in the closet,you might also want to pull
out old bridesmaid or prom dresses,vintage linens,and
trims. You can turn these one-of-a-kind favorites into
fabulous quilts with a look all their own. Mix and match
blocks,fabrics,and settings to give your quilts your own
signature style.
Have fun! You can quilt it!
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elements of
a quilt
Once you understand the parts (elements) that
make up every quilt,you’ll find that making a quilt
is a lot easier than you think! No matter how com-
plex the design or how large the finished quilt,the
parts of a quilt and the process of assembling it are
more or less the same.
A quilt is made up of the quilt top,the batting,
and the backing. When you put these three layers
together,they become the quilt “sandwich.”The
edges of the sandwich are bound with fabric so that
there are no raw edges. The stitching together of
these layers is the technique known as quilting. You
can quilt simple or very intricate designs in many
different ways.
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The Quilt Top
and more intricate blocks to form an You can also make blocks that
Most quilt tops are made up of rows overall pattern. There are hundreds have a fabric or paper foundation.
of blocks. The blocks and rows are of traditional and nontraditional The foundation stabilizes lightweight
sewn together to make the top of block patterns. or slippery fabrics to help you piece
the quilt. The simplest block, called To make pieced blocks, sew the block pattern accurately. After
a plain block, is just a square of fab- together two or more fabrics to form you construct the block, you then
ric. Many quilt designs are made up units or groups of units. The sewing remove the paper foundation.
of only plain blocks. Other styles of sequence and the placement of the
quilts might combine plain blocks units create the block pattern.
8 Quilt Blocks and Quilts from Your Favorite Fabrics
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what size is it?
A quilt is like a puzzle. It is very important that you from the fabrics. The finished size is the measure-
cut and sew accurately so the pieces fit together to ment of the unit, from seam to seam, after it is sewn
form the desired pattern. No matter how many into the quilt top.
seams you have in the quilt, you must always allow Determine the cut size of the units before cut-
for seam allowances. The seam allowance is the ting any fabric. The cut size of the block projects in
amount of fabric between the line of stitching and this book is 121⁄" (31.5 cm). After you have sewn
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the cut edge of the fabric. the block into a quilt top—with 1⁄" (6 mm) seam
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The standard seam allowance in quiltmaking is allowances—the finished size of the block will be
1⁄" (6 mm). To allow for the seam allowance, quilt 12" (30.5 cm) square.
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patterns refer to two different sizes: the cut size and Every element of a quilt—from the smallest unit
the finished size. The cut size is the size of each unit in an intricate block to the quilt binding—relies on
that makes up the block, including the 1⁄" (6 mm) the principles of cut size and finished size. Always
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seam allowance added to eachside of the unit. The consider these measurements carefully when making
cut size determines the size of the pieces you will cut a quilt.
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elements of a quilt
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