- Hi there, it's Karen Brown of Just Get It Done Quilts.
I have a stash-buster block today that makes up
into a quilt so fast you'll be dazzled.
It's fast, it's simple, and it's fat-quarter friendly.
And if you stay to the end,
I'll show you where to download the pattern.
So stick with me and I'll show you how to do it.
Sometimes we just want to make a fast quilt,
either it's something sudden like a new baby
or a get-well gift or we just want to do something easy,
or we want to burn through some of our stash.
This block is going to satisfy all those things.
You can cut it this morning,
you can make the top this afternoon,
and you can quilt it tonight.
I'd like to give a quick thank you
to today's sponsor Skillshare.
I've been a member for about a year.
It's a great place to dabble in new skills.
So let's get going.
So I want you to go to your stash,
and I want you to find eight fat quarters.
I want you to find them in a variety of saturation
and a variety of value.
You might've bought a collection,
just pull eight or they can be totally random
from your stash.
The first thing you want to do is arrange your fat quarters
by value and here are my eight.
The line is Little Genius by Quilts for Kids.
I only had seven fat quarters in this collection,
so I threw in two fat eighths in solids.
So line them up, take a black and white photo,
rearrange them till you have four high-value
and four low-value fabrics.
Then give each fat quarter a good press.
Fat quarters have usually been in storage,
and they have some really sharp creases in them,
we need to flatten them out.
The last thing we need to check before we start cutting
is for directional fabrics.
This fabric is directional along the length of fabric,
and this one is the opposite,
this one's directional along the width of the fabric.
So if you can't remember the last time you changed the blade
in your rotary cutter, today's the day to do it.
You need a super-sharp blade.
We're going to stack our fat quarters on top of one another,
aligning the selvages on the bottom side,
and we are going to square up the pile along the bottom.
Then we're going to measure 18 inches
and trim the other side.
I'm pretty confident cutting four at once,
sometimes I've done eight,
but don't put any pressure on yourself.
Do what you're comfortable with.
So we're going to trim off the selvages,
then measure nine inches and cut another nine inches
and cut.
Then we're going to measure up from the bottom nine inches
and cut, and we won't separate the pieces
until the very last.
Always turn the mat or walk around the table,
so that your blade is always going away from you
which gives you the most accurate cutting
and don't be ashamed to check your measurements
before you cut.
Measure twice, cut once.
Now we're going to stack them, alternating the low values
with the high values and ensuring any directional fabrics
are facing the right way up.
Make four stacks of eight.
Now we're going to make a random cut parallel to the side
from the bottom to the top.
Then we're going to place the top piece
from the right side on the bottom.
Take the piece from the right side and pair it
with the piece from the left side
and repeat with all the other pairs in the stack.
Then repeat the process with the next stack,
choosing a different random spot parallel to the side,
but repeating the process of taking the top piece,
putting it on the bottom and then pairing the other pieces.
How simple was that?
Now we're going to chain pieces.
Make sure you have a sewing ledge in place.
If you haven't seen how to make one with masking tape,
I'll connect you to that video up here.
Don't worry about pinning.
Just tuck it up against the ledge and sew.
It took me just over 15 minutes
to chain piece all 32 blocks.
Now if you haven't seen my video on ironing,
I'm going to put a link up here.
Using the finger pressing method takes a little bit
of extra time, but the results are worth it.
All these ironed blocks nest perfectly together
and make the next step so simple.
Now we have a stack of 32 blocks.
Make four stacks of eight blocks
like you did in the first step.
Have the seam that you've just sewn go from left to right,
match up the corners so their line is square
with each other as possible.
Make sure all the directional fabrics
are going in one direction,
place your ruler randomly perpendicular to the side,
and cut.
This time you're going to take the top three layers
and put them on the bottom.
Then pair the right side with the left side
with right sides together.
See how nicely these seams nest?
Repeat with the other three stacks.
This time it took me a little over 16 minutes
to piece all 32 pieces, probably because I was just taking
it a little slower just to be sure
that those two little seams
were nesting against each other.
And time to press again.
These blocks are now eight1/2 inches square.
Now if yours are a little off, and you want to trim them down,
you can do that, but this is a fast and easy quilt,
so I'm not going to fuss over that.
So in an hour1/2 we have 32 blocks and better yet,
this is a low-waste quilt.
Look how little is left over.
And these pieces that were left over from the fat quarters
I'm just going to incorporate into the back.
Now we have to lay them out.
So we're laying out the blocks in six rows of five blocks.
Now I'll be honest, this is the spot
where I overthink it every single time.
I've got to just be calm.
I've put my timer on for 30 minutes max
and just lay them out, because I could seriously
be at this for two days.
And once the blocks are sewn together
it measures 40 1/2 inches by 48 1/2 inches.
Now before we talk about finishing the quilt,
I just want to talk about Skillshare for a moment.
Skillshare is an online community for creators
with over 25,000 online classes.
I've been a Skillshare subscriber for about a year now.
Personally, I use it for inspiration.
Classes on creative writing.
There's classes on creative lettering.
How to improve your Instagram feed.
How to get yourself together for a hundred-day project.
Or playing around with some macrame.
Premium membership gives you unlimited access,
so you can take the classes that you want to take.
So that at the beginning of the year
you might want to set some goals,
these classes can help ya get there.
If you're stuck in your quilting or your job or at home,
going online and taking some of these classes
can help you get over the hump.
Skillshare can fuel your curiosity, your creativeness,
your career to help you keep thriving and learning in 2019.
Skillshare is super affordable and an annual subscription
is less than $10 a month.
Join more than seven million creators,
learning with Skillshare.
And if you use the link below,
you'll get a two-month free trial, so check it out.
Take it for a test drive.
See if you can get as much out of it as I do.
Now I put a border on mine.
I just wanted to give it a little bit more size,
so I cut five strips the width of fabric
three1/2 inches wide.
From the strips I made two pieces
3 1/2 inches by 48 1/2 inches wide,
and I sewed them to the sides of the quilt top.
With the remaining fabric I made two strips
Three 1/2 inches by 46 1/2 inches wide
and sewed them to the top and the bottom of the quilt top.
The quilt top now measures
46 1/2 inches by 54 1/2 inches wide.
There is no question I hear asked more online
than "What colour of border do you put on?"
If you want to keep that balance of colours within the quilt,
choose a de-saturated colour like a grey,
but in a darker value.
So in my quilt I have chosen this taupe colour
which is a de-saturated red,
so the darker colour gives it a frame so your eye stays
in the middle of the quilt,
but the colour doesn't compete with the colours of the quilt.
It was my choice for this quilt,
you can choose whatever you want.
Now the quilting that I did on this is a very fast and easy
quilt pattern, and the good thing about this
is that you don't have to worry about keeping straight lines.
You don't have to stitch in the ditch.
You don't have to follow a line.
You don't have to worry if they stay straight.
All you do is just make a nice, big curve.
Make sure you have your walking foot on.
If you have the ability to decrease the pressure
on your presser foot, do so.
And then you just follow it for the next one
and if it gets closer or if it gets farther,
it doesn't matter.
It just adds to the swerve.
I love how fast and easy this quilt was.
Start to finish it took me about six hours to complete.
Now you can do this with as many fat quarters
as you want to.
Four fat quarters will make a 32-inch by 32-inch quilt.
Twenty fat quarters will make a 64-inch by 80-inch quilt.
You can download the pattern on my website
at Just Get It Done Quilts under "Stash Buster Quilts."
Well, I hope you've enjoyed this video.
Let me know if you'd like some more of these stash busters.
Share it if you like it, give it a thumbs-up.
Don't forget to subscribe.
Can you believe over 50% of the people
that watch my videos have not subscribed?
Anyways, take care and I'll see ya next time.