Fat Quarter Cubes Quilt with Fat Quarter Shop

Today I am sharing my Fat Quarter Cubes Quilt – my first ever Quilt Along with Fat Quarter Shop.The Fat Quarter Cubes Quilt pattern is such a quick sew because it features large blocks of only 7 pieces each, that finish at 18 inches square.  This pattern is great for highlighting fabrics with a large scale print, or when you really just want to showcase the fabrics.  You can get the free pattern here.Last month, I was lucky enough to win a Fat Quarter Bundle of Tallin Fabrics by Jessica Swift for Art Gallery Fabrics from Mister Domestic on Instagram.  I decided right away that this would be a great line for this project. You can use your own fun combination of fabrics, or get the full kit and backing from Fat Quarter Shop which features Well Said from Sandy Gervais. The quilt is a big one – I followed the pattern pretty closely and mine finished at 65X85 inches.  I added background fabric, binding and backing to my fat quarter bundle, all  from the Fat Quarter Shop.

The blocks came together really quickly. I cut and pieced all 12 blocks in just one evening.  The trickiest part was paying attention to the directional prints I had chosen.  I wanted to be sure they all were facing the same direction.  It took a little work, but wasn’t too tough.The following evening, I cut and added the sashing, piecing the entire top in just two days.Once I had the top pieced, I knew I wanted the backing and quilting to be very simple to allow these luscious Art Gallery Fabrics to truly shine. I originally planned on using just this gorgeous large scale floral print for the backing.  But, I made a mistake when cutting the fabrics and ended up having to piece the backing instead.  I actually love it even more than my original plan.I tried out a new lighter weight batting than Warm and Natural, which is my usual go to.  This time I used Quilter’s Dream Natural Cotton Batting.  It’s light and soft and quilted up like a dream. Ha!  See what I did there?I quilted on my little Juki, just organic semi wavy lines across the quilt.  I didn’t want a dense quilting design, or anything that would distract from the fabrics or pattern itself.  Mission accomplished.I also tried a new technique when attaching the binding to the quilt.  I sewed the binding to the front of the quilt my machine, then hand stitched the binding to the back.  But instead of using an invisible slip stitch, I used a contrasting green Aurifil thread in 12 weight and used a visible running stitch right along the edge – much like hand quilting. I love the look and extra interest this adds.  This certainly wasn’t my idea – I saw someone else post a photo like this on Instagram, but can’t remember who it was.  It is a fun technique and something I’ll definitely try again. I have had several folks ask if I would write a little tutorial for the process I used, so stay tuned for that.Fat Quarter Shop not only has the free pattern for the Fat Quarter Cubes Quilt, they have a wonderful video tutorial on their YouTube channel.

This quilt is a fun and quick to sew, perfect for beginner quilters or experienced quilters who are looking for a project to show off their favorite fabrics.  I followed the pattern pretty closely with a couple of exceptions.  Instead of mixing up the centers of the blocks, I used the same print as the background fabric for all of them.  I also opted not to make a scrappy binding since the fabrics I chose were so large in scale.  I wanted to use a smaller print that wouldn’t get lost as easily.Thank you to Fat Quarter Shop for letting me participate in this sew along.  Pop on over to the Fat Quarter Shop Blog to see more lovely versions. My quilt has found a new home with my sister – it’s so perfect for her and I can still visit it, too! Be sure to follow me here and on Instagram @quiltyobsession for lots more sewing and quilting fun.

Deidra