Working with 3 Yard fabric Bundles

I attended the Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival a month ago. The shopportunity in the vendor hall was nothing short of amazing after 15 months of COVID lockdowns. Most every booth I visited seemed to have the turquoise Perfect Scissors by Karen K. Buckley, precut kits and the 3 yard quilt series books from Fabric Cafe, with assorted fabric bundles available for purchase.

The Fabric Cafe books are extremely versatile. I use them for teaching classes and making personal projects. In fact, I’m working on a baby quilt right now – Dominique from Modern Views from 3 Yard Quilts. I’d like to share 5 tips for working with this pattern:

  1. Buy 1-1/4 yards of each fabric, especially if you prewash.
  2. All over prints are your best bet. I used a directional print for Fabric #1. You can make it work, but it does require extra planning and revising some of the sewing instructions.
  3. Read the instructions at least TWICE before you cut into any fabric.
  4. Cut the larger sections first, then go back and subcut. LABEL the pieces.
  5. For the flowers, take note of the placement of the Fabric #1 and Fabric #2 within the pieced units. If you use directional fabric like I did for Fabric #1, know that half of the units will need to be “redone” so that Fabric #1 is pointing in the correct direction.

Bonus tip: Use the same sewing machine to construct the inner portions of the quilt. It will be easier to match up the 1/4″ seams.