October 2020 Sew Sampler Box – Choosing Fabric Pairs

Today I am going to choose fabric pairs to make the quilt project that was included in the October 2020 Sew Sampler Box from The Fat Quarter Shop.

You can watch the unboxing here and join the waitlist here.

I am fairly new to quilting (the only other big project that I have made is this quilt using a Riley Blake Quilting Kit for Cricut) – so I am basically learning as I go.

What You Need to Make This Project

The Sew Sampler Box for October 2020 included a pattern called La Casita to make either a wall hanging or a table runner.

Each option uses the same number of blocks, so you don’t need to decide which format to make up front (although I am leaning towards the table runner).

The box also included a Petite Stacker (or Layer Cake) of 10 inch squares in the Paintbox fabric collection.

To make this pattern you use foundation paper in the Courthouse Steps design.

Step One – Pair Your Fabrics

Being that I am relatively new to quilting, I am sticking with the pattern instructions and using the materials that were included in this box to make this project.

The first step is to pair the fabrics into 8 sets of one darker fabric and one lighter fabric.

Each set will make 2 blocks.

To be honest, this is not my favorite fabric collection so pairing the fabrics was a bit of a challenge, which actually made it more fun.

I wanted to create the most visually appealing pairings for my tastes.

The Petite Stacker included 20 squares – which meant that I could leave four pieces out of my pairings.

Here is how I decided to match up the pieces.

My Fabric Pairings

I tried to keep similar hues together – so this is what I came up with:

First 4 Sets

These are the warmer colors in the stack.

Second 4 Sets

These are the cooler colors in the stack.

Fabrics I Decided Not To Use

These are the fabrics that I decided not to use in the final project. However, I will use them to make some practice blocks.

Bonus is that if I somehow mess up one or a few of my good choices – I can use these as a back up.

What I Enjoyed Most About Pairing Fabrics

This is hard to describe so bear with me.

Quilting really taps into your creative side because you can create original and unique designs through your use of fabrics.

You can create a variety of different quilts using the same pattern.

This ability to choose gives you so much freedom that it can quickly go from fun to overwhelming.

This particular Sew Sampler Box, narrows down your fabric choices to just the Petite Stacker that is included but still gives you some flexibility because there are a few extra pieces in there that you don’t need.

So, you can mix and match colors and patterns to make your project unique to you but you are not digging through your whole fabric stash to find just the right pieces.

What I am trying to say is that I had fun working within the boundaries of the fabric that was included. And I appreciated that the pattern was not so restrictive as to telling you that you have to use a specific fabric in a specific block.

Practice Squares

My next step in this project will be to create a few practice squares using the fabrics that I decided not to use in the actual quilt.

I have never tried foundation paper piecing before so I figure it’s probably a good idea to test it out first.

You can see how I used foundation paper to create the blocks for this quilt here.

Happy Quilting!