Quick+Easy Quilts

holiday gifts

As the year ends and the new year begins, I find myself in an interesting place. I am always weighing finishing the projects I did not complete versus the unbearable desire to start the new quilty gifts I got for Christmas. Do you find yourself in the same position? I know you can relate. It’s a constant battle. Since this issue bridges the gap between the holidays and the new year, I thought I would give a nod to last minute gifts you can finish quickly as well as your New Year’s resolutions to use up those scraps! Our cover girl, Abigail Dolinger shows us how to make a quilt-as-you-go String-Pieced Beverage Gift Bag. This bag is a joy to make and is a festive way to share a bottle of…

about our contributors

Stephanie Cunnyngham sissybellesews.com Stephanie lives in an old farmhouse on 2 acres with her husband and two sons. When not playing with her boys or working as a nurse, she is redecorating or sewing. She lives in Thorntown, Indiana. Abigail Dolinger abyquilts.wordpress.com Abigail is the Children’s Ministry Director at her church and enjoys sharing her love of sewing with the children. A lifelong quilter, Abigail is from Lillington, North Carolina. Carolyn Florence ucanquilt.com Carolyn started creating quilt kits when her mother began having difficulty cutting out patches. She has turned her adorable kits into a business with her husband who provides longarm services. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. Eileen Fowler quiltingdaily.com Eileen is the editor of Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting and a contributing editor to Fon & Porter’s Quick + Easy Quilts. She lives in Golden, Colorado. Mary Hertel madebymarney.com Mary…

beginner boot camp

Ten Top Tips for Pressing Pressing vs. Ironing. Always press toward the dark side. Always press the seams open. Use Steam. Never Use Steam. There are so many rules, and boy-oh-boy, quilters are opinionated when it comes to using an iron! Whatever your preference, below are some tips to assure the best-pressed seams so your quilts come out looking their best. Ironing vs. Pressing First things first, ironing is the back-and-forth motion of the iron on the fabric. Pressing is the motion of lowering and lifting the iron from the fabric surface. While ironing can pull and distort shapes, pressing allows you to avoid distorting or stretching the fabric. Press Before You Cut If your fabric is wrinkly, there is no way you will have accurate cuts. Iron your fabric before you cut for the…

scrappy steps

finished size: 72" × 84" finished blocks: 168 (6") BLOCKS Rail Fence blocks—and all the variations of them—are my go-to block for two reasons. The first reason is the blocks’ adaptability. They can make horizontal or vertical stripes or vertical zig zags. You can alternate them or arrange four in Pinwheel blocks. But my favorite is a diagonal zig zag. Which brings up my second reason for loving Rail Fence blocks—playing with all the beautiful fabric prints quilters have to choose from these days. This quilt can be a true, crazy busy scrappy quilt. You can make it using as many prints of the same color group as you can find. Each diagonal row can be its own group of colors. The rows can also fade from very dark to barely there pale…

binding a quilt

1. Cut number of 2½"-wide strips necessary to equal the perimeter of quilt plus 20". Join strips with diagonal seams into one continuous piece. Press seams open. 2. Press binding in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. 3. Begin in middle of one side of quilt. Leaving a 12" tail of binding free, match raw edges of binding strip to raw edge of quilt top. Use an even-feed or walking foot to sew through all layers with ¼" seam. 4. To miter corners, stop ¼" from corner, backstitch, and remove quilt from sewing machine. 5. Rotate quilt a quarter turn and fold binding straight up, away from the corner, forming a 450 angle fold. TIP: For a satisfying “plump“ binding, we recommend cutting the batting and backing a scant 1/8" larger all around than the quilt…

scrap happy stash buster

finished size: 64" × 80" finished blocks: 80 (8") BLOCKS I don’t make resolutions to clean and organize the studio—because it’s already clean and organized (although there’s always room for tweaking). After two water issues in the basement (thankfully, nothing had to be thrown away) and new flooring TWICE, I finally clued in that I needed to get my act together. Taking a look in the mirror and checking my birth certificate also drove that point home! Do I want my daughter to toss out all that stuff when I’m no longer able to enjoy sewing? My big thing for New Years is I go through the UFOs and select twelve for the year that I call the Dirty Dozen. I started this in 2017. I’m happy to report that all the UFOs…