Jelly Rolls, yardage, scraps, you name it—Kim Brackett will help you make a striking strip quilt from it!
Kim’s one-of-a-kind approach to strip quilting has turned all of her books into best-sellers. It’s easy to understand why. Quilters love her triangle-free piecing techniques—they make sewing so easy. And her scrap-happy color choices are infectious. They’ll inspire you!
But most of all, quilters love how Kim uses strips in magical ways. In her books you’ll find:
Strips that spin:
“Irene’s Vexation” from Scrap-Basket Beauties
Strips that sparkle:
“Sparkler” from Scrap-Basket Sensations
Even strips that’ll have you seeing stars!
“Bali Sea Star” from Scrap-Basket Surprises
This week, three of Kim’s books are on sale for the first time ever on the Martingale blog—don’t miss this rare opportunity to save! Each book features 18 of Kim’s stripalicious quilt patterns. Treat yourself to all three books and you’ll save $$$, get free shipping,* and build an instant stash of 54 scrap-happy, strip-happy patterns for your quilting pleasure!
DID YOU KNOW? When you buy the printed versions of Martingale books at ShopMartingale.com, you instantly get the eBook versions for FREE. Start browsing right away for which pattern to make first!
Got more scraps than strips? No worries. Kim’s tip below will help you transform your scraps into strips ready for piecing with a simple zip-zip of your rotary cutter.
Cutting 2½" Strips from Scraps
Excerpted from Scrap-Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett
First, iron scraps to remove any wrinkles. To even up fabric for cutting, place a fabric scrap on your cutting mat so that the longest edge is vertical. Place your ruler on the fabric scrap near the right edge, following the grain line of the fabric and making sure that any uneven edges extend beyond the ruler.
If it’s difficult to determine where the grain line is, you may find it helpful to turn the scrap wrong side up. It’s often easier to see the threads in the fabric from the wrong side.
Cut along the right side of the ruler to trim off the uneven edges. Rotate your cutting mat 180° so that the straightened edge is now on your left. Place the 2½" mark of the ruler on the straightened edge of the fabric; then cut along the right side of the ruler.
Continue to make cuts in 2½" increments across the fabric. To save time, cut up to four or five scraps at once. Place the largest scraps on the bottom and keep cutting until you run out of fabric. Save the leftover “strings” (pieces narrower than 2½") for making string-pieced quilts.
Poof—from scraps to strips!
Now that you can turn scraps into strips with a flick of the wrist, you can recreate Kim’s strip quilts with your favorite colors and prints. Take a look at these beautiful strip quilts from Kim’s books—be sure to click on an image to see all 18 projects in each book.
Your precuts, your yardage, or your scraps: which could you squeeze the most strips out of? Tell us in the comments!
*Free shipping in the US and Canada only.