The Kristen Quiltalong Week 1: Choosing Your Fabric

🎉 Welcome to the Kristen Quiltalong! 🎉 I’m so excited to kick off this journey with you. This week, we’re diving into one of the most important steps of quiltmaking: fabric selection. Whether you’re using scraps, precuts, or yardage, I’ll guide you through the process to ensure your Kristen Quilt feels uniquely you.

Quiltalong Schedule

Here’s what to expect in the coming weeks:

• Week 1 | January 13 | Fabric Selection

• Week 2 | January 20 | Cutting Your Fabric

• Week 3 | January 27 | Making Half-Square Triangles (HSTs)

• Week 4 | February 3 | Block Construction

• Week 5 | February 10 | Catch-Up Week

• Week 6 | February 17 | Quilt Top Construction

• Week 7 | February 24 | Finishing Your Quilt

Along the way, make share your progress using #thekristenqal!

This quilt was mocked up using Love Letter by Lizzy House.

Fabric Selection Tips

Feature Fabrics

Your feature fabrics will set the tone for your quilt. Whether you’re going scrappy, using precuts, or selecting yardage, here’s what you need to know about how many pieces you needs for each quilt size.

Precuts

Charm Squares:

• Baby Quilt: 25 squares

• Lap Quilt: 72 squares

• Twin Quilt: 130 squares

• Queen Quilt: 195 squares

• King Quilt: 225 squares

Layer Cake Squares:

• Lap Quilt: 18 squares

• Twin Quilt: 33 squares

• Queen Quilt: 49 squares

• King Quilt: 57 squares

• Lap Quilt: 6 FQs

• Twin Quilt: 11 FQs

• Queen Quilt: 17 FQs

• King Quilt: 19 FQs

Note: If you’re making the baby size quilt, avoid using Layer Cake squares or fat quarters—they don’t provide enough fabric variety.

This quilt was mocked up using Love Blooms by Lella Boutique.

Scraps

Scrappy quilts are a fantastic way to use leftover charm squares or cut 5” squares from your stash. Scraps from fat quarters, layer cakes, or even jelly roll strips (for the accent fabric!) work perfectly.

Accent Fabric

Choose an accent fabric that makes your feature fabrics pop. 

• Go for darker value fabrics with solid or small-scale prints.

• Make sure the accent fabric contrasts with both the background and feature fabrics.

Background Fabric

Simplify your life by picking a non-directional background fabric. Avoid stripes and large-scale prints as they can be tricky to align. Instead, opt for:

• Solids

• Small-scale prints

• Low-volume scraps

Fabric Inspiration

Curated Scrap Quilt Ideas

Using scraps? Don’t worry if you need to cut pieces from your stash—it’s all part of the fun! Here are some inspiring themes to try:

This quilt was mocked up using a rainbow of Pure Solids.

• Rainbow Quilt: Bold, colorful, and eye-catching. Beware that making a rainbow quilt will be time consuming but it would totally be worth it!

This quilt was mocked up using an older Ruby Star Society black and white collection.

• Black and White Quilt: Use high-contrast prints for visual impact, paired with a solid background.

This quilt was mocked up using a variety of Suzy Quilts Pure Solids.

• Themed Quilt: Choose colors that match a season, holiday, or even your favorite sports team!

This quilt was mocked up using a variety of Alexia Abegg prints from different collections.

• Manufacturer or Designer Themed: This is what I will be doing! Check out the video below to see my discuss my fabric choices. 

What to Do This Week

1. Choose Your Fabric

Decide whether you’re going scrappy, precut, or yardage. If needed, order fabric from your favorite quilt shop or online store.

2. Prep Your Fabric

• For scrappy quilts: Start cutting your fabric or at least press and prep it. Scrappy quilts require more work upfront, so getting ahead will make next week’s cutting easier!

• For precuts or yardage: Double-check that you have the required amounts for your chosen quilt size.

3. Share Your Fabric Choice!

Make sure to post on Instagram this week using #thekristenqal hashtag and tag me so I make sure to see it.

Resources

• Make sure you have your pattern! You can find it here. 

• Visit your local quilt shop or shop online for fabric that feels like you. If you want to see more mockups using the Kristen Quilt Pattern, check out this post.

• Don’t stress about going scrappy if it’s not your style—this quiltalong is all about creating something you love!