Seems Like Scrappy Preview: Shimmer

If there is one style that I gravitate towards when I'm designing quilts, it's probably star quilts. There are so many little adjustments you can make to change the personality of the block. With that kind of versatility, I find star quilts work great for anyone and any style. They're not gender, age or style specific so star quilts cater to a much broader audience. The quilt I'm about to show you fits into this category wonderfully!

Photo used with permission from Martingale. Photography by Brent Kane. All rights reserved.

Meet Shimmer! I love this quilt. It's a star quilt, there's no doubt about that, but it's interesting... I love the fact that every person I have shown this quilt to sees something different. Some people notice a lattice type effect, some pick out the secondary stars in the design, and some just gawk with their jaw on the floor (and that's perfectly fine with me, just don't drool on the quilt).

Shimmer is created with the Tonga Treats 6-Pack. The 6-Pack is a fairly new bundle that includes 20 strips that are each 6" wide x WOF. Some packs have 20 different fabrics and some have less fabrics (some duplicates may be in the pack), but this new bundle is a great way to still have a coordinated fabric group and still have a nice bit of fabric to play with.

Sometimes when I'm playing with a new design and I find a new fabric I like, I'll grab a charm pack... Then once I get into the project I fall in love even more with the fabric and wish I had more of it to play with... Sometimes I'd like a little more heft to satisfy my fabric craving. You can get that with the Tonga Treats 6-packs. Unlike a fat quarter bundle, the strips are still the width of fabric so it feels like yardage and it tricks your brain into thinking there is more fabric in there.

One of my favorite aspects of making scrappy quilts is when I can take a simple design and add extra pieces into it. It's part of my "the more the merrier" mentality. For instance, some of the triangles are whole, and some are pieced in this quilt. Part of the reasoning for that was to make it easier to sew the blocks together, and part of the reason was simply because I could. :)

The bundle I created this quilt with obviously had a simple fall-like color palette to it and I love how it turned out. However, don't forget that this whole new book is full of tips and tricks if you'd like to use your stash too! This would be amazing with a smattering of whatever fills your scrap bins thrown together. With a more eclectic color palette, parts of this design may stand out mare giving your quilt a totally new look from the original!

Shimmer and all of the other quilts I've shared each Monday are patterns in my new book, Seems Like Scrappy, due out this June. Come back each Monday to see a new quilt from the book and I'll keep you posted on when you too can get a copy! I know June is still a bit away, but I have that feeling that if I blink, it'll be here in an instant! I can't wait to share the book with all of you!

Seems Like Scrappy Preview: Patch Stack

I know I should've written this post over the weekend and scheduled it... I should've and I didn't. And now it's late-ish morning because Daylight Savings Time didn't hit me until this morning when it was still pitch black at 7am and the dogs and I didn't want to get up... Oh well, better late than never!

Today I want to introduce you to Patch Stack:

Photo provided by Martingale, Photography by Brent Kane

There are 14 quilts in Seems Like Scrappy and they are made with an array of your favorite precuts like charm packs, layer cakes, jelly rolls and fat quarters. However there are two new precuts featured in this new book including honeycombs (6" hexagons) and Tonga 6-packs. This pattern features the Tonga 6-pack. 

What is a Tonga 6-pack? Timeless Treasures has released this relatively new precut that contains 20 strips that are each 6" wide x WOF. Some of the packs contain as few as 10 fabrics (two cuts of each fabric) and some packs contain 20 different fabrics. I like this particular precut because you can get a decent amount of fabric and still have a nice variety of colors. I love my jelly rolls, but sometimes that 2 1/2" wide strip just isn't enough fabric that it satisfies my fabric craving...

In Patch Stack, I used the Tonga 6-pack for the creamy and greenish tones. I used yardage for the blue background and I love how this quilt looks masculine yet interesting. I love the colors because I live so close to Lake Erie, it gives off that lake vibe. However, I think this quilt would look amazing in a totally scrappy mix of prints reminiscent of a grown up I Spy.

This quilt was so easy to make and even easier to layout and piece. I thought it would be much harder than it was so I made the pieces and laid it out, then I gathered them up and set it aside for a long time. I don't know what I was afraid of! I started stitching the rows together and was only planning to fill a small amount of sewing time I had open. It was a boring night with nothing much going on and I just wanted to sew for a bit. Not long into my hour or so I set aside to sew, I was almost done with the top, so I kept going!

Patch Stack finishes at a decent size (71" x 86") so it would be a great large throw or a twin size. That's also without borders, so the size can easily grow if you'd prefer it a bit larger if you added borders.

I love this quilt and I hope you do too! Remember that I will be back here each Monday showing off a new quilt from Seems Like Scrappy before it's release in May.

Also, if you missed it over the weekend, I put together a little chart listing the three most popular precut sizes and the names each fabric company uses to identify them. It's a free pdf printable and you can get to it by clicking here. 

And last but definitely not least, tomorrow there will be a super exciting post you'll definitely want to checkout... did someone say giveaway??? Come back tomorrow for the details. Have a great day! I'm going to enjoy my coffee and get in gear... I've got quilts to make!

Clearing Up Precut Confusion

Has anyone else noticed the variety of names given to different precuts? You think that it must be something new and different, yet to find it's the same exact bundle as something else...

Well, I started researching and looking and sorting and I came up with a little chart to share with all of you to ease the confusion:

What I did here was take the three most popular precuts (5" squares, 10" squares and 2 1/2" strips) and listed what each manufacturer names each precut.

Now, there is a reason each manufacturer may have a different name. It basically all comes down to trademarks and licensing and such. Plus it gives each company an identity for their products in this mass sea of precuts available. Not many quilt shops only carry one manufacturer's products, so each fabric brand needs to stand out and make a statement how they can. Just on this chart alone, 2 1/2" strips have 11 different names between 13 different fabric brands!

I started noticing this confusion when I was teaching classes. Some people would come up to me and say, "I don't have a Charm Pack but I have this stack of 5" squares, will this work?" It's one of those situations where when it happened once, no biggie, but after a few times, I felt there had to be an easier way.

Plus, with the release of Seems Like Scrappy coming up in the near future, I didn't want anyone to have the same confusion and feel they couldn't make a quilt because they don't have a jelly roll that the pattern calls for when they have a Bali Pop sitting on their shelf... It's the same thing...

Now, here's the disclaimer part of this post and it's also clearly stated at the top of the printable:

Not every quantity is the same between precuts... Let me say that again:

Not every quantity is the same between precuts

Most precuts are made with either a manufacturer standard of pieces or they are dependent on how many fabrics were in the particular line of fabrics. Each bundle should be marked with the amount of pieces it contains. Double check before you begin that you will have the correct amount of pieces needed for your project.

To get the printable chart, click here.

I've had some questions in the past of how to save or print these files. When you open the pdf, there will be a series of icons at the top of the screen (they may not show until you move the cursor over them).

Please pardon the grainy look, I took an actual picture of my screen.

If you just want to print this chart now, the first icon on the left is to print (the one that looks like a printer).

If you'd like to save this pdf file to print again and again at your leisure, the icon with the downward arrow is to download the file and save it.

I hope you enjoy and can use this chart because I know how confusing it can be at times. Feel free to share this with your quilting pals and keep it handy.

Last disclaimer, this information was collected and compiled all by my little lonesome. This is an ever changing industry and the names and precuts available are subject to change at the will of the manufacturers. This information is current as of this date, but I'm sure it can and will change in time. If needed, I will reissue an update in the future, but be sure to print out this handy little chart and keep it near your precut stash!

Speaking of precuts... come on back to the blog on Monday (and every Monday for a couple months) to see previews of each new quilt in Seems Like Scrappy, my newest book due out in May! I've already posted a couple quilts, you can see them here and here. Just think, with this new chart in hand and inspiration brought to you each Monday, by the time the book is released you'll be all set and ready to create a new quilt or two! There are 14 quilts in this new book and I've already made duplicates of some... Just remember Monday... I'll bring you a little creative colorful moment to make Mondays not so mundane, alright? See you then!