Big Block Style

For a throw with maximum impact made in a minimum of time, eliminate the Rail Fence blocks from Ease Into Autumn and simply join 8-1/2" squares in straight rows. Or, add a little interest with a few Rail Fence blocks randomly scattered across the quilt top.

Quiltmaker Mary Pepper stitched a 7x8-block throw from a few large-scale prints balanced with polka dots and small prints, and framed it with brown print binding. The stippling (or meandering) by machine-quilter Randy Simdorn provides the quilt with allover texture. Machine washing and drying the finished quilt results in a slightly puckered, relaxed look.

Click here to download instructions and materials needed to make this throw. [3]

Little girls will be tickled pink to receive a crayon roll made in their favorite color fabric. We like Linda Lum DeBono’s Funky Flowers for Henry Glass & Co. For little guys, choose a novelty fabric—cowboys, fire trucks, or whimsical critters—that reflects their current interest. The easy-to-make crayon rolls sew up fast for party favors. For an instant hit, couple the crayon roll with a pint-size tablet of drawing paper.

Lonni Rossi created this pink version of Games People Play from a different selection of prints from Lonni’s Paint Box III collection for Andover Fabrics. The springlike fabric palette is punched up with deep gold, charcoal, and magenta hues.

To make an impressive, yet bare-bones version of Games People Play, omit the appliqués on the quilt center and inner border. Make the Nine-Patch quilt center from an assortment of fabrics that have strong light and dark contrast between them. Add complementary inner and outer borders.

Splashes of Color

Quilt designer Tammy Kelly chose an assortment of pink, purple, and green batiks for her version of In the Meadow. To add a softer touch, she sprinkled a few pretty coordinating prints among the batiks. It’s no surprise that this bright, sherbet-tone quilt is the star of her daughter’s newly decorated room. 

Click here to download instructions and materials needed to make this bed-size quilt. [10]

Big On Tradition

Darlene Zimmerman’s 1930s reproduction print collections—Garden Party and Little Darlings 6 for Robert Kaufman Fabrics— make a super-size Grandmother’s Flower Garden-type throw from One-Piece Wonder. Using a flannel design wall, lay out the trapezoid shapes in rows and align prints to form one-print hexagons. Surround the pieced quilt center with a solid white inner border to crisply offset the assorted prints before adding a red print outer border.

Click here to download instructions and materials needed to make this throw. [13]

Select three favorite prints–wild or mild–and assemble this easy-to-sew bag to suit your fancy.

Sweet Strips

This pint-size version of The Main Event is perfect for a baby quilt or for a toddler to cuddle up with on a cool fall day.

To duplicate this quilt, choose a print for the sashing strips first, then select nine complementary prints for the small rectangles. When using fewer fabrics in the pieced rows, it’s faster to sew long strips together into a strip set before cutting them into 3-1/2"-wide units.

Click here to download instructions and materials needed to make this throw. [18]

Market Bags

Need a gift bag? A smaller version of To Market, To Market—a plentiful 10x13x3"—wraps up several items neatly. When designer Monica Solorio-Snow pulled together a “Lovin’ from the Oven” kit (a loaf of Amish friendship bread, jar of starter, and recipe on a decorative card) for a friend, the bag below became part of the gift. It was hard to tell which was more welcome—the gift or the cheerful, reusable bag. The larger version of the market bag—19x15x5”—is roomy enough to hold a pair of cowboy boots!

Click here to download instructions and materials needed to make both sizes of these bags. [21]