What to do with pre-cuts

How many times have you bought a pre-cut of quilt fabric without any idea what to make with it? Or someone gifted you a charm pack, or a jelly roll, and it’s still laying on display on a shelf.

Pre-cuts look so beautiful, showcasing a whole collection of fabrics. They also make a great (Christmas)gift!

But what do you make with them? Here are some ideas for you on what to make with a 5 x 5, a 10 x 10 and a Strip-pie or Jellyroll.

Ideas for 5 x 5″charm packs

Ideas for 10 x 10″ layer cakes

Ideas for 2 1/2″strips, Jellyrolls or Strip-pies

5 x 5″ Pre-cut

I love charm packs. I think they look so cute! The squares are just big enough to show you each fabric really well. I was so happy when I opened the box with Happy Notes pre-cuts and saw my own 5×5″ packs for the first time 😍

In a 5 x 5″ pack, or charm pack, you’ll find 42 squares. Each square measuring 5 x 5 inch. These are perfect for smaller projects. Here are some ideas for 5 x 5″ quilt projects.

>> Sugaridoo Happy Notes 5 x 5″ pack

Let squares be squares

5 x 5″ are a lovely size to make a beginner friendly quilt with squares. When you put 42 squared in a grid of 6 x 7 then you can make a small 27 x 31 1/2″ quilt (67 x 78cm).

To create different look you could add a 1/2 inch sashing. Then it would measure about 30 x 35 inches.

Follow Me Mini

If you would like to make a Foundation paper Piecing pattern with your charm pack, then the Follow Me Mini might be something for you.

This one is made with one 5 x 5″ pack and 3/4 yard of background fabric. The pattern is available for free.

I love the bit of this project after you finish all the arrows. Then you get to decide on how you’d like the layout. There are so many posibilities!

10 x 10″ Pre-cut

The 10×10″ pre-cuts are also called Layer cakes. A 10 x 10 inch square is pretty big, so this will give you many options to use in a quilt.

>> Sugaridoo Happy Notes 10 x 10″ pack

>> Sugaridoo Robo Boogie 10 x 10″ pack

Big squares

You can follow the same idea as with the 5×5″ squares, sew them together in a 6 x 7 grid. With the larger squares this will give you a quilt of 57 x 66 1/2 inch (142 x 166cm).

Big squares do make a basic quilt, but with fun fabrics this would still look lovely! Especially if you use the big squares to try some fun quilt designs.

Triangles

Something else you could do with the 10×10 inch squares is turn them in to half squared triangles. When you add some background fabric, you can create a layout like this.

When using 36 of the 10×10″ squares, you can make 72 blocks. Putting these in a gird, this will give you a quilt of about 68×76 inch.

With these blocks you can make a lot of different quilts. How about a rainbow chevron?

Robo confetti

With a 10 x 10 inch pack and 2 yards of background fabric you could also make the Robo Confetti quilt.

Robo Confetti is a playful, beginner friendly, quilt pattern that works great with a rainbow fabric collection like Robo Boogie or Happy Notes.

2 1/2″ strips, Strip-pies, Jellyroll

The final pre-cut I like to talk about are the 2 1/2 inch strips. These pack of 42 strips are called Jellyrolls or Strip-pies. They are cut from the width of fabric (110 cm/42 inch). So all the strips measure 2 1/2 x 42 inch.

>> Sugaridoo Happy Notes Strip-pie

>> Sugaridoo Robo Boogie Strip-pie

Spinning round

For my Robo Boogie collection I designed a fun quilt using strip-pies. The quilt is called Spinning Round. It is a more challenging quilt, since it includes two techniques. Sewing strips together, and sewing curves.

Look what a fun effect this gives with a collection with a nice (rainbow) color gradient.

Sew and turn

A quilt my mom made when I was younger was also made with 2 1/2 inch strips. I love how fun the design looks, while not being too difficult to make.

Here is the idea on how to make it. (all measurements below include 1/4 inch seam allowance)

First sew strips together, two by two.

Then cut these into pieces of 4 1/2 inch long.

Assemble the pieces like this.

The last step is to add two pieces of 8 1/2 x 2 1/2″ background fabric on the sides. This will make the block 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 inch.

You can put these blocks together into a quilt by rotating every other block 90 degrees.

Maybe I should work out this whole last quilt in a free pattern on the blog? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Hope these ideas will get you started on sewing with your pre-cuts.

Hug,
Irene