Fading Fat Quarters Quilt Pattern Review
A Free pattern offered to us by Robert Kaufman Fabrics.
This Fading Fat Quarters quilt pattern review will help you determine if you would like to make or skip this pattern. You’ll find my star rating at the end of this blog post. Find out how many stars I rate this beginner pattern!
First, let’s give a big thank you to Robert Kaufman from providing us a tremendous amount of free patterns! THANK YOU! They have the largest selection of any other manufacturer that I have found.
Second of all, this is a FANTASTIC very first quilt. So much so that we teach this quilt to beginners via a video we made for our members of Quilter’s Retreat. If you have not looked into joining a fun online quilting membership – check out our info page where you can learn all about it and sign up too!
Let’s dig in!
This pattern needs 15 fat quarters. You can always convert to yardage if you prefer as well. I used some aboriginal quilt fabric I had picked up at some point in my quilting journey. And what was kind of odd, was I didn’t like the quilt at all when I finished the top. Then Quincy, at www.thecontemporaryquilter.com added a great quilting pattern to it and I fell in love! It really pops on the white bedspread in our guest bedroom – don’t you think?
Any range of colors, or fabrics will work well with this quilt. You pretty much just need to pick out a fat quarter bundle that you love and run with it.
This Fading Fat Quarters quilt pattern review doesn’t have a lot of tips and tricks. That’s why it is great for a very beginner. You can practice your sub-cutting, your 1/4″ seam allowance, and learning to nest your seams. Nesting seams is what makes all the points match perfectly and makes your quilt less bulky on the back side as well. You can learn more in this little video I made a while back if you want to see what nesting your seams really means.
I do have one BIG TIP. You really need to lay out all your blocks – every row – so that you get your placement right. I somehow came to the very last row and didn’t have the right blocks to continue the pattern properly. It appeared that I might have lost a couple blocks – and with a snoopy Labrador – it is quite possible! They may turn up under the couch or behind the sofa one day. I had all but the last three rows laid out because I ran out of room on my design wall. (You can use the floor or a bed to lay yours out if you don’t have a design wall.) And I thought it would be fine but it wasn’t.
Now I didn’t get all upset about it. I just left the last row off and called the quilt good. Actually I love adding a little interest to my quilt backs, so you can see that I just incorporated the extra blocks into my back. And honestly, I’d do it this way again too. How cute is it? You can really see Quincy’s quilting here too. I just love it.
The downsides I see to this pattern is that Robert Kaufman has about 6 of these in their free patterns using various fabric lines. I looked at two very closely and the fabric requirements could definitely be more clear. On one it doesn’t state how many fat quarters to use, it just references a bundle they are promoting for it. The other doesn’t state, but has them listed so you have to count. I feel this should be more clearly laid out.
The other point would be to lay out the entire quilt, or how to lay out the blocks. It really is how you like it, but I would try and split up some of the busier patterned fabric with solids or not put like colors together. Unless of course you are going for an ombre effect and then you will want like colors together! So I could see where this is really just up to each individual, however I think more clarification might be nice.
So I will deduct 1 star for the fabric requirements for sure. So all in all, Fading Fat Quarters quilt pattern review gets a 9 out of 10 from me!
If you make this quilt be sure and share it with me! I’d love to see your variation! And don’t forget you can get detailed video instruction included in your membership price when you join Quilter’s Retreat!
