Speed Quilting: Projects Using Rotary Cutting & Other Shortcuts

Instructions and patterns for quilting projects include placemats, napkins, pillows, lap quilts, and wall hangings

The very idea of quilt making, even as recently as a decade ago, would cause an almost instant negative reaction among those with little discretionary time. Today, with streamlined designs and manufacturing processes, Fall claims to finish a stitched sandwich in 10 hours or less. Her tricks of the trade? To create patterns relying on geometric forms (i.e., a bee's body becomes a series of varied-size rectangles), to shorten considerably the dimensions of each quilt, and to use rotary cutting and apply fusible web as primary techniques to decrease time. All 18 projects, of fairly uncomplicated construction, include directions, a materials list, step-by-step illustrations or graphs, and, where appropriate, full-size templates to trace. Barbara Jacobs