Projects and quilt kits for beginners can be the source of new techniques to try and a gateway to quilting inspiration. Some of us learn by following the pattern seam by seam, while others use them as guidelines rather than hard and fast rules. Quilt kits can be treated the same. You can follow the fabric placement exactly to make a replica of the quilt you adore, you can use the fabric to modify the pattern, or you can completely disregard the pattern to create your own unique quilt design.

Whether you’re a complete quilting beginner, or a seasoned quilter looking for a quick and easy project, these three quilt kits and projects won’t disappoint!

Disappearing Nine-Patch Quilt

You just can’t go wrong with a Disappearing Nine-Patch block! I became a little obsessed a couple years ago so several of my quilts, especially those of the baby quilt variety, utilized this versatile quilt block. It is a personal favorite of mine because the Nine-Patch blocks are so large making it easy to complete an entire quilt top quickly. In this particular adaptation, Lisa Swenson Ruble uses white fabric for the center of her Nine-Patch blocks. Once they are cut, she adds sashing to create breathing room between the quilt blocks. Her mix of white with bright oranges reminds me of summer—eating an orange dreamsicle by the pool. This quilt pattern has been on my make list for a while, since it was published in Modern Patchwork Summer 2015 to be exact. I think its day in the sun has finally come as this is the perfect project to make this summer.

Picnic Party Quilt

While we are talking about summertime quilts, I would be remiss if I didn’t include the Picnic Party Quilt by Vivika Hansen DeNegre. What’s more summery than a picnic? If you’ve amassed a stash of fabric scraps, here is an excellent way to put them to use. This gem of a quilt showcases fabrics by arranging squares of each print in a diagonal across the quilt top. Vivika’s version and the Picnic Party Quilt Kit feature fabric from the Hazel collection by Allison Harris for Windham Fabrics. This is another great quilt kit for a beginner because you can practice strip piecing to create the blocks along with nesting seams. Or you can go completely off script to shine the spotlight on these fun fabrics in your quilt design.

Some Say She’s a Dreamer

I have most certainly daydreamed about this quilt by Angie Milligan. Since my first glimpse of it on the cover of the July/August 2017 issue of Quilty, I can’t stop. The fresh colors along with the intermittent Flying Geese blocks bring a vibrancy and sense of movement to a relatively simple quilt design. I think of this quilt as in the spirit of a Jelly Roll Race quilt, but with more pizzazz. Here the strips are a bit wider to accommodate the geese as they fly across the quilt top. I’m particularly riveted by the fabric choices; the large feather prints allow the geese come in and out of focus. As a collector and admirer of precuts, I’d be interested in trying my hand at modifying this quilt pattern to utilize my stash of 2 ½” strips. As a relative newcomer to Flying Geese blocks, I think I’ll start with the original pattern in the Some Say She’s a Dreamer Quilt Kit before trying to make the blocks any smaller.

I can’t wait to start filling the long days of summer with hours of quilting these beauties! Although they are projects and quilt kits for beginners, I’m sure I’ll find a problem or two to solve along the way as I tend to use patterns as a jumping off point, rather than a path to perfection. To each her own!

Happy quilting!

Find quilting projects and kits to fill your summer with fun!