Fat Quarters: Small Fabrics, More Than 50 Big Ideas

I wanted to let you know that Fat Quarters: Small Fabrics, More Than 50 Big Ideas, a collaborative book published by Lark Crafts, will be released in March. I know you all have lots of fat quarters in your stash! Hopefully this book will give you some new ideas to use them up. There are lots of familiar names in the contributor section: Maureen Cracknell, Beki Lambert, Kaye Prince, Abby Glassenberg, Malka Dubrawsky, Shannon Cook and more. Projects range from items to make for babies/kids, to bags, quilts, pillows, home decor, wearables and gifts. I have four projects in this collective and would like to share them with you today.

I might as well start with my Hothouse Pillow Set since one of my pillows is sitting pretty there on the cover!

The pillow pattern is an 18″ paper pieced block. It makes terrific pillows but I would also love to see a quilt made up using these blocks and some soft feminine colors. Wouldn’t that be pretty?

I created a First Aid Kit for the bag portion of the book. It’s a practical item that everyone can use. It would be perfect to hold some band aids, headache medicine, etc. in the car for those little emergencies that come up while traveling.

This is a small bag but it fits quite a bit! Someone on Instagram said that this would make a great teacher’s gift, filled with bandaids for the classroom. I think that is a great idea.

If you are a long time reader, you have seen this project before. But my patchwork sewing machine cover pattern is also included in the book. The patchwork was inspired by stitches; the cross stitch, straight stitch, and zig zag!

And finally, you will find my Groovy Vibes Quilt made from Pat Bravo’s Carnaby Street collection. I used the 8″ Sizzix Tumbler die which makes quick work of a fat quarter, cutting 4 perfect shapes from each. I love this project idea for a fat quarter stack, so much so that this is the second quilt I have made like this; the first using Splendor 1920 by Bari J.

In keeping with the lava lamp shape, and “groovy” feel of Pat Bravo’s collection, I chose to quilt in what I am calling lava lamp bubbles. I cut circles (also using the Sizzix) out of contact paper in 4 sizes and stuck them on the quilt. Then I free motion quilted a wavy line up each column and around the circles as I came to them. As I made the quilt, I kept thinking that it seemed most appropriate for a teenage girl. Happily, this quilt now lives with one who is enjoying it!

You can preorder the book right here