Quilt Big – Bigger Blocks for Faster Finishes – Book Review

Hello again and here’s to gratitude that you didn’t hold me to the “one blog post per month” claim. No excuses – let’s just get to it!

The Book

This month’s book is called, Quilt Big – Bigger Blocks for Faster Finishes by Jemima Flendt. Well Jemima – you had me at “faster finishes”. If you know me, then you know I am a fan of quick wins. I like simple design that is beautiful and elegant without being complicated. In this book you will learn how to make larger quilts using large blocks. This can result in some really beautiful quick wins!

The book starts out with some quilting basics and techniques. It then gives you ideas for converting block sizes for different size quilts. The author also has a number of tables that tell you what size quilt is suitable for a particular size bed, different sizes of four patch, nine patch, and sixteen patch blocks and the dimensions to cut for each unit. In chapter 3 she goes in depth on how to make each of the blocks you can make individually. And then the fun really begins!

The Patterns

I really enjoy making quilts, but I usually stick to lap quilts no larger than 50″ square or so. This is mostly because anything larger than that usually means it won’t be a quick win and I will get bored. In this book, the smallest quilt (not including wall hanging, pillows, and table runner) is 56-1/2″ square. All of the patterns are made from simple block patterns such as half-square triangles, flying geese, log cabins, and lozenge blocks.

Believe me when I tell you I had such a hard time deciding which quilt I would make. Because of that difficulty, I ended up making two!

My Choices

When I first received my book, I was amazed at how large the quilts were. I don’t know why I was amazed – the name of the book is Quilt Big! But anyway – I was so excited that I might be able to make an actual quilt for a bed that wouldn’t take me a year to make. As I leafed through the book, the first quilts that caught my eye were the Half-Square Triangle Quilt and the Lozenge Quilt. I also liked the Mosaic Quilt and the Constellation Sampler Quilt. It was not going to be easy to decide on the one!

First Quilt

I went through the book over and over again several times. The one quilt that made me stop and admire it the most was the Lozenge Quilt. I looked at the necessary materials and the cutting instructions and decided this one was too complicated for me. So I kept looking but kept getting drawn back to it. Thankfully, I decided to really take a good look. I realized it wasn’t really complicated to put together, it just required a lot of fabric and much cutting.

Then I remembered that I had a beautiful 24-piece fat quarter bundle of Unruly Nature by Jen Hewett that was just waiting to be cut into. It was really a creative exercise going through all of the fabrics and putting together combinations that I thought went well together. Even with all of those fat quarters, I still needed a couple more coordinating blender prints. I’m happy to say that I only had to purchase 4 additional fat quarters for this quilt top. All of the other fabrics used, including the background fabrics, were from my existing stash.

I am so happy that I did not allow myself to be dissuaded by the length of the materials list and the cutting instructions. It really was very doable and the result was just lovely.

Second Quilt

After making the first quilt top and laying it on one of the beds, I realized I had to make another for the other bed. There was no question in my mind as to which quilt I was going to make – the Half-Square Triangle Quilt. I had been admiring this quilt since I first opened the book. Half-square triangle quilts suit me to a tee! They are relatively simple to make. And the multitude of configurations that can be made from HSTs make it a truly versatile block.

I did have to purchase a mystery fat-quarter bundle for this one. I wanted the prints to be small and I don’t normally purchase small prints or blenders. This exercise has made me aware of something. When I make future fabric purchases, I need to make sure to purchase more low-profile prints and blenders. This quilt is made using fabrics in 4 colors (saturated fabrics) and a more low-profile background print. The design is also very unique as I had never seen one in this configuration. The end result was even better than I ever imagined. I am so grateful for this book and the patterns.

What’s next?

If you are in need of a large quilt but don’t want to make one that will take forever, then this is the book for you. You are bound to find something you like in the 17 projects included. Some of the patterns use only a few blocks sewn to larger pieces of solid fabrics. You can also use the individual blocks from the different patterns to make a truly unique design. For reference sake, the two beds the quilts are pictured on are full-size or doubles.

Even though the two quilt tops are made, I still have to make the backings for these quilts. Jemima gives you some great ideas for those backings. And because these quilts are larger, I will be sending them to the long-armer for quilting. I will try to remember to make a follow-up post to show you the finished result. I will also post the finished quilt in my @casocreativedesigns and @the_sewing_librarian Instagram accounts. Follow me there to make sure you don’t miss them!

As usual, I hope that I have inspired you to…

Make Something Beautiful Today!

You can purchase this book and most others that I have reviewed (or plan to) here.

If you liked this review, you might be interested in this one too…

Fat Quarter Workshop Book Review

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