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Sunday, August 24, 2014

Stacked Squares Love

I have been in love with the illusion of the Stacked Squares quilt pattern for awhile now, and I've finally gotten around to making my very own.


Although I have loved the pattern, it is written using a layer cake and two jelly rolls.  I don't know why, but that seemed like a lot of fabric for a throw sized quilt.  Using precuts is certainly easy, and patterns for them are often written to judiciously use up every bit of fabric, but not always.  Since this pattern only uses 23 of the layer cake squares, and of course, since I didn't have a layer cake and two jelly rolls of a single fabric line on hand, I decided to make some modifications to the pattern to make it work for my stash.

I have had a FQ bundle of Garden Party Tango (with a few other fabrics from stash) that was just begging to be used in this pattern, but figuring out how to make it work was a challenge.  The biggest difference in my Stacked Squares quilt and the Moda Bakeshop pattern is that my center squares are only 8 inches finished, making my finished blocks 16 inches.  This makes it possible to make the quilt from 23 fat quarters (or quarter yards) and I don't think it detracts from the illusion of the pattern at all.

If you'd like to make a Stacked Squares from FQ's or quarter yards, here's how I did it-

Choose 23 coordinating fat quarters or quarter yards.  From each print, cut-

1- 8.5" square
2- 2.5" x 8.5" strips (for the inner border around the square)
4- 2.5" x 12.5" strips (two of these will be for the inner border, and two for the outer border)
2- 2.5" x 16.5" strips (for the outer border)

for FQ cutting (18 x 21")-      *diagram not to scale


or if you are using quarter yards (9 x 42.5")-   *diagram not to scale
**Make sure you have enough width in your fabric.  Some bolts are a little shorter, but I have used plenty that are wide enough.


You are cutting one complete block from each fabric.  So, after you mix up the fabrics in a way that is pleasing to you, you will have 23 complete blocks, each with three contrasting fabrics.  Even though the quilt technically only has 20 blocks, you will need all 23 to make all of the "partial" squares work.

My finished quilt top measures 64" x 80" (a twin size!) which is actually a little bigger than the Moda Bakeshop pattern.  Pretty cool, considering that I downsized the center squares!  Let me know if you decide to try this pattern out with these measurements with your own stash!




55 comments:

  1. Thanks for the cutting directions for using my stash. Like you I also loved this quilt but didn't have that much of one pre-cut on hand. This is great :)

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  2. Great color choices! I have this quilt on my to-do-someday list and having alternative cutting directions will be very helpful, thanks!!

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  3. This is really pretty. Love the fabric choices.

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  4. Love your version, it's gorgeous and the illusion is fascinating! Love the size of yours, too!

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  5. As ever Kelly it's lovely. This has now gone on my " to do" list and I will use your directions and brights!!!

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  6. Love the pattern and your fabric choices.

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  7. Great quilt. Love the fabrics xx

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  8. That is such an interesting and fun pattern! Thanks for the cutting directions, it helps a lot!

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  9. Lovely quilt! This is on my bucket list.

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  10. Very pretty! Thanks for the cutting diagrams - I'll save for a rainy day.

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  11. This is adorable, I would Love to make one thank~you for including the cutting instructions. Now to figure out how to shorten it up. Twin size is to big for what I want to do with it, but I just love it, such an illusion!
    Huggs, Nancy

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  12. Really cool! I have several layer cakes and I have a bunch of FQ, but I never have the matching jelly rolls. I might have to give this a try.

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  13. Very pretty Kelly! Thanks for sharing the alternate cutting :)

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  14. great tutorial -- I greatly appreciate it esp considering I never buy jelly rolls and have been looking to start a project like this one.

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  15. I love it! Thanks for the instructions, I've put off trying this pattern as I dont buy pre-cuts.

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  16. Kelly your modifications make for a wonderful quilt - what a great combination of fabrics!

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  17. Wow, is that ever fun to look at! I kept seeing different squares each time I looked. I will definitely put that one on my list to try!

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  18. It looks beautiful! I'm not sure what it is, but these fabrics strike me as very "you" somehow. Any thoughts on how you're going to quilt it?

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  19. Love the 3D effect of this quilt. Beautiful!!!

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  20. That's a terrific quilt top, and I love the makin' do aspect.
    Will you quilt it yourself?

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  21. Love this quilt top! Beautiful!

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  22. Oh, I love this pattern! I too thought the pattern called for a lot of fabric. I usually don't buy jelly rolls and a layer cake if the same line. Thanks for the cutting directions!!

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  23. Wow, I love it! I hadn't seen it before, but I like your version that uses fq's instead. I'll definitely be trying this one!

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  24. Thank you for your efforts to bring us alternate instructions for using our stash! I hope the pattern makers out there realize that pre-cut patterns need to contain alternate instructions for using your stash! I hesitate to buy pre-cuts because I know I'll still need yardage for borders, bindings, and a back. Pre-cuts are pretty, but not really useful by themselves. Love this quilt; now I really want to try it!!!

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  25. I don't think I ever saw this pattern before. It's quite lovely! I LOVE that touch of eggplant (dark violet).
    Can't wait to see this one done!

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  26. Thanks for making this neat project doable. On August 30, 2013 I downloaded the "recipe", but like others, I didn't have the "ingredients" and noted there was considerable waste even if I did have them. This size is also more to my liking. Love your version.

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  27. This quilt top is fabulous, Kelly! I love the fabrics that you chose! Thanks so much for sharing your directions for using fat quarters and those cutting diagrams. Love this!

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  28. It´s fantastic. Love everything of it - Colors, pattern.....

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  29. Thank you for doing the math for us!!! I've loved this pattern for what feels like forever, but I enjoy mixing up fabric lines too much, and thus have very few precuts. :D Your version is particularly gorgeous!

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  30. I love your colours in this, and the 3D effect is very creative!

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  31. I also really like that pattern. It's fun to see it in different colors. And thanks for sharing your math!

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  32. Oh! Well done and thank you for this! I often just by-pass pre-cut projects because I'm too lazy to do what you've done here. :D

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  33. ooohh love it ... thanks for the math and cutting layouts. Scraps here we come!

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  34. Yes. what they said! I like it alot. I'm adding this quilt to my list. I just realized I used your Easy Peasy Chevron Tutorial!

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  35. This is beautiful! I like your version even better than the original pattern!

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  36. This is so cool. Thank you for taking the time to share the cutting instructions for using FQ's. I'm pinning it for "some day". Yours turned out just gorgeous.

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  37. Fabulous quilt, I love it! I'm still learning how to quilt and this looks a little complex for me, but maybe one day lol!

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  38. Such a great modification of that pattern. While I like precuts - love anything that de-stashes more. Thanks!

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  39. Wow!! This is a beautiful quilt. Thank you for doing the "quilt math" for us. I usually use my stash for patterns like this too.
    Visiting from Sew Many Ways Sunday.

    15septemberarts.blogspot.com

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  40. That's a gorgeous quilt! Well done for working out the math x

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  41. Nice bright quilt. Adapting patterns, like adapting recipes, is a good thing.

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  42. What a fun quilt! It's so visually interesting. Your adaptations are wonderful.

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  43. Thank you so much for the new cutting instructions. I can now make this quilt with what ever I have on hand.

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  44. Ooh! Very nice.
    I have been thinking about stacked squares myself... this will help!
    Carol

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  45. I have been trying to make this quilt with yardage and you just solved my problems. I will be making it a king sized quilt in Moda's Black Dress half yard pieces. I think it will be an elegant quilt for our bed.

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  46. Thank you so much for the instructions on doing this with fabric that I have. I have to go look to see what I do have!

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  47. Thanks for sharing! I love to collect fat quarters!!!

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  48. There are not enough LOVE words for this pattern. I have a Secret Stash of fabrics that I love so much that I simply cannot bare to cut them. I have some pieces that are so small people think they are trash. And I put them all in this quilt and VOILA a perfect way to USE AND KEEP my favorites. Thank you so much for this.

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  49. Thank you so much for the cutting directions to this magnificent quilt. I love it and your selection of colours. I never would have been able to adapt the pattern to my stash and I don't buy pre-cuts. I just love stacked squares and think that I may be able to sew this. I'll be using pastels (pink) and hope I choose the right combinations, with purples, blues, and yellows perhaps. Choosing colours is at least half the challenge.
    Bless you Carol for sharing.

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  50. I don't know if you can open this but I tried to share of photo of my version. Okay I can quilt - compu/tech - not so much. But thank you so much for your wonderful pattern.
    https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4d/b3/d4/4db3d4a621c3641cd8cda1f241670e8c.jpg

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    1. I was able to open it, and your version is beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing it with me. I'm so glad you enjoyed the tutorial.

      :) Kelly

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  51. Your quilts are gorgeous! I especially love your color selections! 😊 Where can I find the Stacked Squares pattern? I’ve looked at all the links and can’t find it. Help please.

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    1. Thank you so much! The original Stacked Squares pattern is a tutorial from Kitchen Table Quilting. If you reach out to her, she can help you get it!

      :) Kelly

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Thanks so much for your comment and for visiting! I read and appreciate every single comment, and I reply to each one as soon as I can. If you don't hear back from me, you might be a no-reply blogger. :)

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