Making a quilt without a pattern may sound easy and appropriate for a beginner. However, it is not. First of all,this post assumes that the person has basic quilting skills and materials. As always,choose 100% cotton for ease of sewing and washing. Use a quilter’s cutting board, quilter’s straight edge and rotary cutter. I prefer to use a generous 1/4″ 1 cm seam when sewing.Whatever seam size you use, be consistent throughout your piece.
Starting Your Patternless Quilt
- Choose your colors and fabrics,3 solid colors. Fabrics that read solid from a distance are also fine. Some batiks fit this bill. They add interest close up and seem solid from away. Choose 1-3 fabrics of interest to highlight. This could include animals, checks, dots or a number of items. Plan on a quilt of about 44″ x 35″ 112cm x 89 cm. This is the size of my work table. Adjust for your liking or workspace. Yet, this is a doable size for the first effort.
- Next,press and lay out the patterned fabric you want to highlight. Cut 3,5,or 7 pieces of varying lengths and widths. Using leftover pieces works well. Trim to make sure long edges are straight. Place fabric on your work space or design wall in a balanced order.
Planning Before Sewing
3. Next, cut the strips of solid fabric. The width can vary. I prefer 4-6″ 10-20cm wide. A wider strip gives you more flexibility if you need to trim it later.Lay them on the table or design wall. Adjust to your liking. Add other colored strips to fill in the spaces. Make sure that the colors are equally balanced across the top of your quilt. That said there aren’t too many pieces of one color on one side of the quilt or the other. Does your eye flow smoothly across the quilt top or does your eye get stuck somewhere? I prefer that the eyes flow or move gently across the quilt top. Step back from your piece to observe. Take a break to rest for your eyes. It is amazing what little errors one might see upon return. You don’t need to lie down just do something else and come back later.
4. Then,begin to sew your pieces together. Finally,add your favorite batting and quilt as you generally choose to do.
Hints to Make a Quilt without a Pattern
- When trimming fabric with a design or picture, look at the fabric design before cutting. Pay attention to the fabric’s pattern or animals. Trim to highlight the part of the pattern you want. For example in the wild animal quilt,I highlighted the faces of the animal. On the other hand,I trimmed off the foliage. Take notice and trim fabric from each end rather than cutting from one side only. This extra bit of caution can make a big difference in the look of the final product.
- Some printed fabrics have a direction to them. Are all of the pictures facing one way? Or are all the pictures facing all directions? No matter which side it is being viewed from, a face is looking at the viewer. It is your choice if you want all of the pieces ( ie. animal faces)facing one direction or not. We often create a quilt with the designs facing one direction.Yet when it is used a quilt is usually not viewed that way. So don’t worry too much about this.
- Have a general idea of where you want certain pieces to be in your quilt. Lay them all out to view before sewing together. Leave them for a few hours or longer to be able to view the pieces with “new eyes”. Are the colors and patterns balanced? Does something catch your eye that shouldn’t? Furthermore, make these changes before the sewing starts.
- When piecing the quilt top together, flexibility is necessary. More strips may need to be added. Or at times strips may need to be trimmed. I find that I have more flexibility to make these changes if I sew the top together more or less by sections. For example,sew the upper right corner together. Then move to the upper left corner. Then the lower right corner and the lower left corner. If for some reason another strip or piece of fabric is needed, it is easy to add it this way.
In Conclusion
At this point in my career, I do not use quilt patterns. However, I did use patterns for years to quilt and sew. The rare time I do use a pattern is generally a shape that I have made myself. If sewing without a pattern is new for you, I applaud your bravery. It can be a daunting new experience. At times, it can be very scary. Ultimaltely, it is my hope that you will find it as freeing as I do.
I have several lapquilts on my etsy site made in this way.
https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2022/06/how-to-discover-your-artistic-signature/
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1208240295/contemporary-modern-lap-quiltbaby