TASTER: Crazy Patchwork with Valerie Nesbitt

In this video workshop, Valerie uses up 5 Fat 1/4m’s. Still, yards would do too and uses the rotary cutter to its best – cutting through several layers of fabric simultaneously – just what it was designed for. Each piece is then precisely the same size as the other. Once you have made all the blocks, add a simple fabric border. With 20 blocks and a 6″ frame, Valerie’s quilt ended up at  42″ x 52″ approx – so a great lap size/snuggle quilt.

Check out the Show & Tell section of the site to find more than Valerie made.

If you use 6 Fat 1/4’s, then there are no repeats of the fabric in each block, and you get four more blocks – so you can try a different setting option – and maybe use four as corners for your borders – trimmed down to fit.

Scrap or layer cake

You don’t have to use new fabric – you could rummage in your stash and cut squares or use up the layer cake you just fell in love with at the show and hadn’t yet found a use for.

Rotary cutting Tip

Short tip about using two rulers – if yours is not big enough on its own, and if you are a gadget person, the E-Z Crazy template makes the rotary cutting safe as well as quick and easy, and you can enjoy a workshop with Jennie Rayment on how to use this safely.

For more help or inspiration with the E-Z Crazy template, click here.

Traditional Crazy Block

Once you have made the quilt, you could keep the design pieces and make a single block which you could then embellish and add embroidery to in the more traditional manner.

If you enjoyed this workshop, you might like to know that Karla Alexander has two books in print entitled Stack the Deck and Stack a New Deck.