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    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt

    Last Modified: January 7, 2023 by Amy · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads · 18 Comments

    Are you looking for a fast and easy quilt pattern? It might be the fastest Fat Quarter quilt ever! This easy fat quarter quilt tutorial from Kaitlyn of Knot and Thread Design is perfect for busting through your fabric stash, making a fast finish, or even a simple project perfect for teaching a beginning quilter how to sew.

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of a fat quarter quilt.

    Hi friends, my name is Kaitlyn of Knot and Thread Design,  and I am a longarm quilter, a pattern writer,  a wife, and a hopeless fabric-lover. I have been quilting since I was 11 years old.

    I have been longarming for 15 years and running my own longarm business for the past 6 years. I do computerized edge-to-edge quilting and I LOVE it. I also write patterns when I can find a minute to take a break from longarm quilting.

    I’m so happy to be a guest poster on Amy’s blog today, and happy to share a quick and easy fat quarter quilt.

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of a fat quarter quilt.

    This quilt is a perfect project for a beginning quilter, someone in need of a quick gift, or a fellow fabric-lover who’s trying to make a little dent in that fat quarter stash sitting on her shelves!

    I first spotted this quilt when it had been made by my sweet cousin Jody. She graciously let me share it. She made a goal to make quilts for all of her nieces and nephews, and thought cutting a fat quarter in half was a quick and easy way to do that!

    So here it is:

    Fat Quarter Pile Up. All you need for a great sized lap quilt is 12 fat quarters!

    This quilt will finish around 57″ x 70″.  A great lap size quilt that comes together so quickly!

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of a fat quarter fabric.

    I was able to meet up with Holly from Maker Valley to pull this bright fun Fat Quarter Bundle.

    This pattern is perfect for large scale prints. It’s also great if you have a focal print you’d like to coordinate other fabrics with. It’s a very forgiving quilt so just have fun with it!

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of a fat quarter fabric.

    First things first: press your fat quarters and square up two sides (I like to start with the edge opposite the selvage so I can save my selvage edges for a special quilt I’m working on.)

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of a fat quarter fabric cut in half.

    I love using my Creative Grids 20.5” square ruler to cut out the two 10” x 18” rectangle pieces I need for the quilt. There is little to no waste in for this quilt.

    You will end up with 24 rectangles 10″ x 18″.

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of a fat quarter fabric.

    Pick three of the 10” x 18’’ rectangles and cut them in half to give you (6) 10’’ x 9’’ rectangles. These will be used to alternate the rectangles, to give you a brick-like effect.

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of a fat quarter quilt.

    Lay out your quilt in columns. For the 57″ x 70″ lap size you will have 6 columns.

    The first, third, and fifth columns will have 4 whole 10’’ x 18’’ rectangles.

    The second, fourth, and sixth columns will start and end with the 10’’ x 9’’ half rectangles with three complete 10’’ x 18’’ rectangles in between.

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of fat quarter fabrics.

    Sew the columns together. Then attach the columns to each other.

    You will have an extra ½’’ of fabric hanging over the edges of the first, third, and fifth columns. Trim off the excess.

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of a fat quarter quilt.

    Quilt that baby up for a perfectly fun throw! For backing you will need 3 ¾ yards of regular fabric.  If you’re using 60″ wide minky, you can get away with 2 ¼ yards if you’re careful.

    I backed these two versions in Moda Fireside, and a Shannon Minky. I love a good cozy quilt this time of year. This quilting design is called Rolling Hills.

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of a fat quarter quilt.

    Here’s a fun Christmas version I pulled for while retreating at Stitch Supply Co. 

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of fat quarter fabrics.

    I used 15 fat quarters for this version to add just a little extra variety. Pick a few really fun, colorful Christmas prints as your jumping off point and then pick coordinating colors and prints to complement them. 

    While these fabrics are now out of print, Stitch Supply Co. still has a great variety of novelty Christmas prints.

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of a fat quarter quilt.

    I also used one of these focal prints to make a coordinating Olivia’s Basket (pattern here) to store all my Christmas books.

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: image of a fat quarter quilt.

    This quilt also has minky on the back, making it a super snuggly throw quilt. The quilting design is called Christmas Star.

    Fast & Easy Fat Quarter Quilt by popular Utah quilting blog, Diary of a quilter: graphic image of a fat quarter quilt.If you’d like to purchase a printable version of this tutorial, here is a link. It includes 2 additional sizes.

    You can see my other patterns available here.

     

    Thank you so much Kaitlyn! That is such a handy idea for busting through some fat quarters to make a quick lap quilt as a gift or for charity quilts. 

    You can learn more about Kaitlyn’s long arm quilting services here (and see some of her past work here) and be sure to check out her handy tutorials here.

    Have you made and easy fat quarter quilt before? Let me know in a comment below!

                   

     

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    Filed Under: Beginning Quilting, guest post, Quilt Tutorials, quilts, Seasonal + Holidays Tagged With: fat quarter

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Charlotte Brown

      December 08, 2019 at 9:06 am

      A beautiful quilt and looks so easy. My kind of quilt.

      Reply
    2. Mary Hodge

      January 19, 2020 at 6:49 pm

      I prewash my fabric, so not all of my fat quarters are big enough to cut out two 10 x 18 rectangles! 🙁
      I guess I need to figure out new proportions for my rectangles, but I am math challenged.

      Reply
      • Amy

        January 22, 2020 at 11:56 am

        With blocks this big and no intersecting seams, it won’t matter if you just scale down all of the block slightly. Just cut the smaller blocks the same scaled-down width as the large blocks.

        Reply
    3. darlene

      January 29, 2020 at 5:57 am

      Looks great and I have been looking for a pattern to use up a lot of my fat quarters. Can’t wait to try it

      Reply
    4. Susie

      March 29, 2020 at 5:54 pm

      I am not seeing the larger blocks on this quilt. They all look the same size. Great looking quilt but I’d like to see the larger blocks.

      Reply
      • Amy

        March 30, 2020 at 11:00 am

        There are 24 large blocks that are all the same size: 10″ x 18″. There are 6 small blocks measuring 10″ x 9″.

        I hope that helps!

        Reply
      • Dana Hill

        May 11, 2020 at 9:47 am

        The small blocks are along the top and bottom only. Scroll up to the very first picture, the one with the christmas tree. You can see two of the smaller block at the two. They allow the larger blocks to off set. Hope that helps!

        Reply
    5. Donna Ferguson

      April 23, 2020 at 8:32 am

      I made this quilt for my son for Christmas. Super easy and fast!! Love the pattern❤️

      Reply
      • Amy

        April 24, 2020 at 3:48 pm

        Awesome!!

        Reply
    6. casagray16

      May 10, 2020 at 7:54 pm

      I looked at this pattern, and was thinking of making it king size. How many fat quarters would that take?

      Reply
      • Amy

        May 11, 2020 at 12:09 pm

        Reach out to the author of the pattern, Kaitlyn from Knot and Thread directly. She may have an answer: https://knotandthreaddesign.com/blog/

        Reply
    7. Mary

      February 09, 2022 at 2:06 pm

      Can I use 18 blocks instead of 24. If so, how would the pattern change?

      Reply
      • Amy

        February 10, 2022 at 11:31 am

        A different number of blocks will change the size. You can use any number of blocks you want! Just lay out your pieces in the order and layout that you like best. 🙂

        Reply
    8. Debbie

      March 14, 2022 at 8:36 am

      Do you know how many FQ I need to make a queen by just sewing them together?

      Reply
    9. Keri Craig

      December 01, 2022 at 7:40 pm

      Thank you for this easy to follow pattern. I have now made 2 lap quilts with this pattern and they turned out great.

      Reply
      • Amy

        December 06, 2022 at 7:57 am

        That is awesome!

        Reply
    10. Lee

      December 28, 2022 at 6:12 pm

      Thanks for posting this. I used this pattern to make a quilt for my college bound daughter. Easy and fast.

      Reply
      • Amy

        December 28, 2022 at 9:36 pm

        That’s awesome!

        Reply

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