That fabric guilt is real. You see gorgeous bundles, buy them with the best intentions, and then they sit in your stash while you scroll Pinterest looking for the perfect pattern. Meanwhile, the pile grows and the finishing rate stays very low, but the beautiful collections keeps coming out and you simply love the idea of working with them!
Well, today, I am sharing you one way that I’ll be trying to stick to this year and possibly till the next year. I am following along with the book Fat Quarters by the Dozen from Its Sew Emma. There are twelve quilts designed specifically for those bundles you’ve been hoarding, with instructions so clear even beginner-friendly patterns feel like wins instead of stressful experiments.
There are affiliate links in this post in which I may earn small commission at no cost to you, full disclosure here.
I’m currently working through the Beams Quilt, and I’ve already committed to making all twelve as my year-long stash-busting project.
Let’s turn those Fat Quarter Bundles Into Finished Quilts
Each of the twelve patterns tells you exactly how many fat quarters you need, which means you can pull a bundle from your stash, flip through the book, and simply pick your bundle. You may need to add in a few more fat quarters to those pre-bundle fat quarters or you may need to omit some.
I’ll share you what I did with my bundles in this post for the first quilt that I’m making, the BEAM QUILT.
The patterns range from beginner-friendly designs like the Beams Quilt to slightly more complex layouts that still feel doable. The variety means you won’t get bored halfway through the year, and each quilt teaches you something new without overwhelming you with techniques you’ve never tried.
Quilt-along a sampler quilt
If you are not up for making lots of quilt, make one sampler using all the block instruction in the book! Fat Quarter Shop is running the quilt along this year but you can join at any time! The instruction for the sampler quilt is free HERE> but you will need to grab the book for the detail instructions of each block. 
Grab the Fat Quarter by The Dozen book HERE>
Instructions That Actually Make Sense
I’ve rage-quit quilting books before because the instructions assumed I could read the designer’s mind.
Fat Quarters by the Dozen doesn’t do that. Every single pattern includes step-by-step instructions that walk you through cutting, piecing, and assembly in a logical order that builds confidence as you go. Its Sew Emma is known for writing instructions that feel like a patient teacher is sitting next to you, and this book delivers on that reputation hard.
The instructions are fully illustrated, which means you’re never stuck staring at a paragraph trying to visualize what the instruction means. You see it, Do it. You move on.
- Cutting charts are clear and complete. No flipping back and forth between pages and I love that they labelled them all and you can always use an alphabitties or their new alphabet clips to help you get more organised!
- Diagrams show every seam and every layout. You’re never guessing where pieces go or how blocks should look before you sew them.
- Pressing directions are included at every step. This sounds minor, but it’s the difference between blocks that line up perfectly and blocks that make you want to throw the whole project away.
Spiral Bound Book
I love that the book is also spiral bound, making it easy to flip open when you’re working on the page. Makes it easy to place them on Lori Holt Book Stand which I highly recommend as they are so sturdy and so beautiful! There are a few of them in my sewing room and I love the fact it does not topple off easily even when I am busy moving things around it. It stays put near my sewing machine and I would say it is one of those game-changing tools that I love to have in my sewing room.
Check out Lori Holt Book Stand HERE>.
Easy Quilt Patterns for Fat Quarter Bundles
I’m working on the Beams Quilt right now, and the instructions made it easy for me to pick it up at any time I am free to sew. I have been quite busy lately, and I feel like I am not in that phase of quilting with so much thought but rather a time for me to simply enjoy the humming of the sewing machine.
The cutting instruction is very clear with diagram how you should cut out the pieces forms the fat quarter. Sometimes these little details makes a difference especially when you don’t want to think much, but get going. Yes, I do believe that there are time when you need to feed that creative drive and be more adventurous with your quilting, but sometimes, all you need is to go through the fabrics you’ve been purchasing faster than you sew! LOL….
That is where I am now. So I am planning to have few of these easy projects going on at a time while have only 1 or 2 that will feed my creative mind and keeps me excited. As for now in my phase of life, there are so many things outside of my quilting life that needs my attention which left me frazzled sometimes when I step into my sewing room. But I want to sew and feel good about it. So easy quilt it is.
How about you? What phase are you currently in?
Twelve Quilts for All Year Long
One of the smartest things about this book is how it’s designed as a year-long project.
Twelve quilts. One per month, at least let’s aim it that way. By the end of the year, you’ve made a dozen finished projects and cleared a serious chunk of your fabric stash. The variety in the patterns keeps you from getting bored or burned out. You’re not making the same quilt twelve times with different fabrics. Each pattern teaches you a new layout, a new block construction, or a new way to think about fabric placement.
Even if you’re not making the whole big quilt, maybe make a runner or a smaller quilt instead.
I committed to making all twelve quilts specifically because the variety kept me excited. Hopefully, by the end of the year and into the coming year, I’ll have cleared out bundles I’ve been holding onto for ages and I’ll have twelve quilts to show for it instead of a closet full of fabric I never touched.
Be Flexible with your Fat Quarter Bundle
Here’s the thing nobody tells you about quilting books: most of them assume you have exactly the right amount of exactly the right fabric. In Fat Quarters by the Dozen the patterns tell you how many fat quarters you need and if you tend to overthink things, you will start to get stuck because it will be hard to find a bundle you already have in hand to match the requirements of the quilt.
Some of my bundles were smaller than the recommended count, so I pulled in coordinating fat quarters from other collections to fill the gaps. I simply look at the colour palette of the bundle I picked for the project, and pick out a few more fat quarters from my stash to match the bundle and add it in. This is the time where blender fabrics works very well. They are easy to pick and match into any other collections.
You can read more about mix matching fabrics for a quilt in this post HERE>
I added a few fat quarters from older collections to my Beams Quilt because my original bundle only had 11 pieces instead of 14. The mix of old and new fabrics made the quilt more interesting, and I didn’t have to buy anything new to get started.
Blender Fabric for the Stash
Here are some of my favourite collections to have in stash for this type of use. I think they are great to have in your stash. And they will help you enrich those collections you already have and make them work for patterns that you want to make!
- Basic Dots and Spots. There are so many choices here. I would go for small dots and tone on tone as they are easier to match later on with other collections.
- Grunge Fabric by Moda – I love the brush look of the colours in Grunge collections. They make it softer for transitioning into any other collections
- Thatched for Moda by Robin Picken – If you are into bright colours, these blenders have lots of deep colours that can work well.
- Chambray Tonal and many more blenders HERE – I am using chambray tonals for my quilt this time. But there are so many colour palette to choose from all of these collections.
So come and check it out and don’t forget to check out the book Fat Quarters by the Dozen from Its Sew Emma as well!
This next time, have a lovely time quilting!
