Cheryl Brickey - Just One Charm Pack Quilts: Bust Your Precut Stash with 18 Projects in 2 Colorways

PUBLISHER: Amy Barrett-Daffin CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Gailen Runge ACQUISITIONS EDITOR: Roxane Cerda MANAGING EDITOR: Liz Aneloski EDITOR: Beth Baumgartel TECHNICAL EDITOR: Gailen Runge COVER/BOOK DESIGNER: April Mostek PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Tim Manibusan PRODUCTION EDITOR: Alice Mace Nakanishi ILLUSTRATOR: Cheryl Brickey PHOTO ASSISTANTS: Lauren Herberg and Gabriel Martinez PHOTOGRAPHY by Estefany Gonzalez of C&T Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted Published by Stash Books, an imprint of C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549 Dedication/Acknowledgments I would like to thank my wonderful husband, Mike, and my children, Christopher and Sarah, for all of their support (and for tolerating having quilts in various stages of completion all over the house). Thanks also to my official quilt testersmy herd of catsOreo, Reeses, and Piper. Many thanks to my parents, Mike and Carole, who gave me my first sewing machine and have always supported me in pursuing my interests and dreams. To all my quilting friends, both local and online, thank you so much for all of your inspiration, friendship, and encouragement. I would like to thank all my quilting friends that helped with this book by piecing and/or quilting a quilt: Carol Alperin, Michele Blake, Dana Blasi, Delia Dorn, Ruth Freyer, Yvonne Fuchs, Sandra Helsel, Faye Jones, Cindy Kaiser, Valorie Kasten, Cindy Lammon, Cindy Hocker Lange, Darleen Sanford, Travis Seward, Garen Sherwood, and Sarah Snider.

A special thank-you goes to Carol Alperin, who did almost all the professional longarming of the quilts in this book. Many thanks to Robert Kaufman Fabrics, Moda Fabrics, The Warm Company, and Aurifil for their generous donations of fabric, batting, and thread. Last, and certainly not least, I would like to thank Yvonne Fuchs, for her advice, encouragement, ideas, tech editing, and inspiration. She is one of the most amazing people I have had the pleasure of becoming friends with, and my only regret is not being able to spend enough time with her in person due to living on opposite coasts. Introduction Do you have a stack of charm packs in your sewing room? If you are like me, you have numerous charm packs sitting in your sewing room waiting for the perfect project. Who can resist those little packs when shopping at your local quilt shop or online? When the new fabric collections come out, I often purchase a pack.

The packs are inexpensive and a great way to collect a large variety of coordinating prints. The problem is that whenever I start a new project, the pattern always seems to need multiple charm packs. My stack of charm packs just grows and grows and needs to be put to good use! Think of this book as the Hamburger Helper of charm packs. Each of the patterns uses just one charm pack along with an additional fabric and background fabric to make a great quilt for a baby, child, table topper, wallhanging, or even a small lap quilt for an adult. You can put your stash of charm packs to good use and create beautiful gifts for friends and loved ones. All About Charm Packs Charm packs are curated collections of prints and colors created by a fabric designer or manufacturer.

They take the guesswork out of picking fabrics that work well together since the pack usually contains a selection of prints with different scale (large and small scale), print type (floral, stripes, dots, and so on), and colors that all coordinate. Most charm packs contain 42 squares of 5 5 fabric, but the quantity included in charm packs varies, so be sure to compare the number of fabric pieces in the charm pack you intend to use with the quilt pattern instructions. Charm packs are also known as 5 Stackers, Maple Squares, Charm Rolls, or Bali Snaps by different manufacturers. Newer charm packs can be found in your local quilt shops and online fabric and craft shops. Try searching sites like Etsy and eBay for your favorite designer or brand to see what older packs you can find. Check the Size Charm squares are listed as 5 5 square and usually have pinked edges; pinked edges are cut in a zigzag pattern to help prevent fraying.

Before starting to work, check that the charm squares are actually 5 5 square. For some manufacturers, the 5 is measured between the tips of the pinked edges, while other manufacturers might measure the 5 between the valleys of the pinked edges (as shown in the illustration with exaggerated pinked edges). Prior to piecing, taking the time to measure the charm squares to know which measurement is 5 will save a lot of frustration and time when you begin cutting and piecing blocks together. tip For example, if the 5 is measured between the tips of the pinked edges, be sure to align the tips of the charm square with your ruler when cutting or with another fabric when piecing. If the 5 is measured between the valleys, it might be easiest to trim the charm squares down to a true 5 square before using them for the best accuracy. Pick Fabrics from the Pack Most charm packs contain squares of light, medium, and darker fabrics.

Depending on the selected additional and background fabric, you may wish to leave out some of the charm squares that have a low contrast (meaning that they are similar colors) with the additional and/or background fabric. Most of the patterns in this book require between 2838 charm squares so that it is possible to exclude the low contrast charm squares and still have enough left to make the pattern. I used the charm pack Lollipop Garden by Lella Boutique for Moda Fabrics in the Baskets alternate colorway, which requires 36 charm squares. Prior to piecing, I removed the lighter squares that did not have sufficient contrast with the dark purple (fabric A) and white (background fabric). Note: All the project quilts are also made in an alternate colorway for inspiration. Charm squares and fabrics for alternate colorway of Baskets (quilt project; alternate colorway fabric information) Add Additional Prints If, in some cases, you decide to leave out several of your charm prints and find that you do not have enough left to make the pattern, there are four easy fixes: If the charm pack is current and yardage and/or fat quarters are available from the fabric collection, you can buy additional yardage of the chosen prints as and cut the yardage into squares.

If the charm pack is older and yardage of the prints are no longer available, try looking at newer lines from the same designer. Many fabric designers collections are designed to coordinate with past collections, and it may work well to add in some prints from a newer fabric line. Add in some solid fabrics in matching colors. There are hundreds of solid fabric colors available, so it is not difficult to find a couple that coordinate with any charm pack. Shop your stash. Look through your stash and you will most likely be pleasantly surprised to find prints that can supplement the charm pack prints.