Hot Off The Press: McCall’s Quick Quilts February/March 2017! | McCall's Quilting Blog

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Color, value, and scale – these three qualities contribute so much to the success of any quilt design. And the 12 beautiful quilts in the new February/March 2017 issue of McCall’s Quick Quilts are a wonderful study in all three factors.

Seldom have we had a cover quilt with as much color pizzazz as Rainbow Lattice by Heidi Pridemore. Batik fabrics from the Timeless Treasures Tonga Jelly Bean collection really deliver on saturated color and tempting texture. Heidi’s clever piecing creates strong diagonal lines with easy blocks set in straight rows – it’s magical!

Star Kisses

Next up is a fat quarter quilt with big, bold blocks that play with value combinations. Star Kisses by Allison Jensen starts with 12 fabric fat quarters (from the Hazelwood collection by One Canoe Two for Moda), each cut into patches for one star center and one star background. Then the value fun begins! Depending on how you combine fabrics in each block, some will be high contrast and some low, giving the quilt sparkle and intrigue.

White Noise

Each issue of Quick Quilts includes step-by-step photos demonstrating special quilt making tips and tricks, and this issue has a couple of great ones. Learn to do improvisational cutting and piecing to give the background areas of the White Noise quilt excitement and movement. This is a technique you’ll love for making the most of scrap fabrics in an artistic, modern way.

Strippy

And have you ever had trouble sewing long fabric strips together straight and accurately? The photo series in the Strippy quilt pattern has the secret for keeping your work flat and straight, even with super-long strips like the 70″ ones used in this quilt.

Concerto

Concerto is a quilt for music lovers of all ages. The strong value contrast between the cream and black fabrics from The Music In Me collection by Kanvas Studio for Benartex gives this lap quilt big graphic punch. Fussy-cutting makes best use of the fabric prints, and we’ve even included bonus quilting motifs in the Pattern Section of the magazine, so you can quilt your Concerto just like this one.

As always in Quick Quilts, construction of this quilt is fast and easy, with the fabric doing all the detail work for you. Music-themed quilt kits always sell out quickly, so if you love this one, order without delay! Super-cute music note fabric is also available for backing.

Tilting Windmills

Scale is a fun quality to play with in quilt design, and we can tell designer Diane Harris had a great time creating her Tilting Windmills quilt for this issue.

This twin size bed quilt comes together quickly thanks to the nine 24″ blocks that make up most of its surface. Cute 6″ versions of the block add detail and even more scrappy fun. There’s something strikingly modern yet also very traditional about this original design, and it’s a wonderful way to make a dent in your scrap fabrics.

There’s much more inside the February/March issue of Quick Quilts; preview all the patterns for a more complete look. And don’t miss the free bonus patterns on our website. We’ll see you there!

Warm Greetings,
The McCall’s Quilting Team