I just have to share my latest quilting plans with you—I’m so excited I can hardly wait to get started! You know that feeling when you have so many amazing projects in mind but not nearly enough time to make them all? That’s me right now. I’m bursting with ideas, and I wish I could clone myself just to stitch everything faster! And I’m making quilting kits for  these projects as I’m sharing this with you. 

Kitting Up Fabrics for a Quilt

Kitting up fabric for a quilt is one of the most satisfying steps in the quilting process. It involves gathering and organizing all the materials you need, so when you’re ready to start sewing your quilt top, everything is prepped and at your fingertips. Whether you’re working with fabric pieces from yardage, fat quarters, or scraps, a well-prepared kit ensures a smoother and more enjoyable quilting experience.

Why Kit Up Fabric?

Kitting up fabric offers several benefits:

• Organization: By gathering and labeling everything ahead of time, you can keep your project neatly organized and avoid hunting for fabrics mid-project.
• Efficiency: Having everything ready allows you to dive right into sewing without worrying if you have enough fabric.
• Inspiration: Seeing all your fabrics arranged together can spark new design ideas or confirm your fabric choices.

Tips on How to make your own Quilt Kits

Step 1: Understanding Your Pattern

Now, before you start picking fabrics, whether you’re a new quilters or not, study the pattern first and make sure it is within your skill level. If it is not, I recommend starting to make a few quilt blocks or parts of the quilt with some scraps and see how it goes before making a whole quilt kit for it.

There’s always fabric requirements on the pattern, but sometimes just by looking at the pattern a little more, you can still make it work with what you already have in stash. So you may not need the exact fabric requirement and still make the quilt.  Take a brief look on how the pattern is put together, maybe the blocks are repeated with the same fabric in the pattern which call for more yardages, but you can opt to make the blocks with more variations using fat quarters instead of yardage.  Or I always like to replace background fabrics that requires lots of yardages with a mix of scrappy background fabrics instead. 

Step 2: Theme and Color Palette

Think about the overall feel you want your quilt to have. Here are a few ways to narrow down your choices:

• Seasonal Quilts: If it’s a holiday or seasonal project, like a fall quilt, consider warm, earthy tones like oranges, browns, and rusts. For winter, go with icy blues, silvers, and deep reds.
• Scrappy vs. Coordinated: Are you going for a scrappy, eclectic look or something more coordinated? For scrappy quilts, I usually quickly skip step 1 as I can make it work with whatever I have 
• Fabric Collections: Sometimes, using a pre-made bundle, such as a fat quarter bundle, simplifies your choices. Collections are curated by designers, so they work beautifully together.  I am a big fan of this. Aside from that, I tend to stash up on these so I better get them to work instead of just displayed. LOL.

Step 3: Selecting Fabrics

Here’s where the real fun begins—choosing your favorite colors and prints!Consider these factors:

• Color Harmony: Stick to a harmonious color palette that works with your design. If your quilt has a focal point, like bold stars or intricate blocks, consider balancing bold and neutral tones. I like to use Design Seeds for inspirations. I’ll pick colors based on the color palette available there and start looking for fabrics in my stash. Consider balancing bold and neutral tones, especially if your quilt has a focal point, like intricate quilt blocks.
• Print Size: Vary your print sizes to add visual interest. Larger prints work well for borders and backing, while smaller prints or solids can be better for piecing.
• Texture and Patterns: Don’t be afraid to mix florals with geometrics, plaids with polka dots, or even solids with text prints. Just make sure the colors connect them visually.
• Contrast: For designs with many blocks, ensure there’s enough contrast between fabrics. Using a light background fabric can make your design pop.

I have previously discussed in detail on how to mix and match fabrics for a quilt  in this post HERE>

Step 4: Organizing and Kitting Up Fabrics

Once your fabric pieces are chosen, it’s time to “kit up” your quilt. Essentially, kitting up means gathering everything you’ll need in one spot, so when you’re ready to start sewing, everything is at your fingertips.

• Precut Fabric: Using precut fabric is an easy way to start kitting up projects. I absolutely love buying precuts and I really do need to make quilts with them. If you’re working with precuts like fat quarters or jelly rolls, start by laying out your fabrics according to the pattern. If it’s a fat quarter bundle, group your fabrics by color families or value (light, medium, dark).  Moda fabrics usually have their precuts ground in colour group which makes it easy to play around with these. 
• Cutting Yardage: If your pattern calls for yardage, measure and cut your fabrics according to the pattern instructions. Label them to avoid confusion later. Cutting in advance in batches is a great idea to save up time, however, it means that the decision is final, and you’ll have to be fully committed to making the quilt. I usually go to step 5 first before coming back to cut all the pieces required for the quilt.
• Storage: Place your fabrics into a project bin or ziplock bag or a project bag like these ones I mentioned HERE>. You can add a note with pattern details, fabric yardage, and any extra notions you’ll need, like binding or backing. This way, when you’re ready to sew, all your materials are neatly organized.

Step 5: Make Adjustments

Don’t be afraid to make changes before you cut into your fabrics. If you’re using a stash pull and something feels “off,” swap it out with something more cohesive. And this is why sometimes, I don’t cut all of the pieces at once. I often kit up fabrics first and maybe make a few blocks before finally deciding to make the full cut kits. 

My Kit Up Projects with It’s Sew Emma’s Pattern

Well, now it’s time to share my current plans and kitted up quilt projects! 

Lately I’ve been raiding my own fabric stash  and trying to kit up projects with them so that I am ready to just start whenever inspirations strikes or whenever I have that feeling of starting something new!

And today, I’m featuring  fat quarter bundles and my favorite Publisher for Quilt Patterns, the It’s Sew Emma’s Patterns.  I love fat quarter bundles as they have the perfectly matched fabrics bundled up together, making it easy for me to go ahead straight to the cutting mat. I do appreciated quilt fabric designers for this!

In my opinion. they have the best instructions for making quilts so far. I am in awe of their beautiful patterns with illustrations for each of the steps, fully colored patterns and I love that the pieces are labeled and it just works with the way I work in making quilts. But before we dive into that, I would love to invite you to join along with this challenge! Let’s kit up some of your fabrics and get some inspirations to sew. It is always inspiring to pet some fabrics and it’s nice to revive that feeling of excitement with your stash. 

By the way, It’s Sew Emma patterns are on sale until the end of September 2024—30% off! So, if you’ve been eyeing them, now’s the time to stock up! (Pattern of the month on sale Linked HERE) 

I am planning to cut these in the next few weeks to get started and to get ahead of these quilt projects. 

Something traditional | Traditional Quilt Kit

First on my list is a simple yet classic quilt using a beautiful traditional primitive color fat quarter bundle—think rich oranges and deep navy blues. I’m debating between two wonderful patterns by It’s Sew Emma: Peppermint Bark and Tail Feather. Both would be great, but I’m torn—what do you think? Which one do you think would show off those colors best? Help me decide!

Something Coastal and Breezy | Coastal Quilt Kit

Then, there’s the Beechwood Pattern by It’s Sew Emma. I’ve got this gorgeous Art Gallery Fabric bundle in coastal colors that I’m pairing with some yardage from my stash. Doesn’t that sound perfect for a breezy, beachy quilt?

Something Patriotic | Patriotic Quilt Kit

Oh, and I can’t forget about the Family Reunion quilt, another It’s Sew Emma pattern. This one is extra special because I’m using a fat quarter bundle I got from one of the older Sew Sampler Boxes. The blues and reds are always the perfect choice for a patriotic quilt. I love kitting up projects—it’s so much fun to see everything come together before I even start sewing! Anyone else love this part of the process too?

Seasonal Quilt Kit

As if that weren’t enough, I’m also gearing up to join some quilt alongs, including The Hometown Holiday Sampler and The Quilted Snowman—both designed by Lori Holt using patterns by It’s Sew Emma. They are sew adorable, and the patterns are have easy to follow instructions with full detailed illustrations that make even the more extensive projects so easy to follow.

There’s already a quilt along for this Hometown Quilt Sampler – find out all the details of that quilt along, the quilt kit and the pattern HERE>

Isn’t this snowman the cutest?? There’ll be a Quilt along coming early 2025 for this! Grab the pattern , quilt kit and quilt along details HERE>

It’s Sew Emma’s Patterns is on SALE

By the way, It’s Sew Emma patterns are on sale until the end of September 2024—30% off! So, if you’ve been eyeing them, now’s the time to stock up! (Pattern of the month on sale Linked HERE) There’s also Kim Diehl’s patterns published by It’s Sew Emma —her designs are just beautiful but a little more intricate, so I’m starting with the easy pattern first!

What about you? What projects are you working on, and how do you plan them out? Do you kit up your projects, or do you dive in as soon as inspiration strikes? I’d love to hear all about your upcoming quilts! Let’s inspire each other!