How to Make a Flip and Sew Quilt

A Flip and Sew quilt is a variation of the Crazy Quilt. If you don't want to take the time to carefully cut out lots of squares for a quilt, this technique is for you. It begins with a simple odd shape and let's you quilt by the seat of your pants. A great quilt for beginning quilters. Gather up your extra fabric and start out on this quilt that is fun, unpredictable and addicting.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Sewing machine
• Quilting fabric
• Coordinating thread
• Backing fabric
• Batting

1. Start with your foundation piece. This is going to be the piece of fabric that will be the point that the quilt is started. This piece can be any shape, square, triangle, hexagon, and can be as large or small as you want to make it.
2. Plan out the edges of your quilt. Although few parts of this quilt are heavily planned, how large the quilt is going to be must determined. The foundation piece doesn't have to be in the center of the quilt, it can be in one of the corners, at the edge, or anywhere in the quilt. So you must know how long each edge must extend from your foundation piece.
3. Cut your first piece of fabric. This patch can be any size or shape as long as one edge roughly matches one of the foundation piece edges. Just remember to have a half to one inch seam allowance.
4. Place the two pieces of fabric, the first patch and the foundation piece, together with the right sides facing each other. The wrong sides of the fabric should be on the outside.
5. Sew the two pieces together. After they are sewn, fold the top piece over. You have the beginnings of your quilt.
6. Repeat the steps of cutting the next patch, sewing it to the foundation piece and flipping. Working in a circle around the foundation piece works best.
7. When you have used all the edges of the foundation piece, begin cutting and sewing new pieces onto the first round of pieces. Continue in this manner until the quilt reaches the desired size.
8. Once the quilt is done, finish the quilt by attaching it to a batting and backing by either quilting or tying the pieces together and seaming all the edges.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want more stability as your sewing your foundation piece and patches together, you can sew the foundation piece to freezer paper and continue to sew through both the fabric and freezer paper. This creates a more rigid piece to work with and the freezer paper rips off the back of the fabric easily.
• If this is your first quilt, try making the pieces larger, 4 by 4 inches at least. This will make your sewing go easier.