Hoop Quilts for Beginners: 15 Designs Using Easy Patchwork and Embroidery

By AnneMarie Chany

Quick, easy, and fun, the craft of hoop quilts combine simple quilting techniques with embroidery, patchwork, and other favorite fabric arts. A creative guide that’s perfect for quilters and crafters, Hoop Quilts for Beginners features 15 hoop-framed block designs with step-by-step instructions and clear guidance for adding embellishments, resul

• Language: English
• Publisher: Landauer
• Release date: Aug 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781637410455

Book preview

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Tools, Hoops, and Materials

The projects in this book include the best of both the patchwork and embroidery worlds. You probably own many of these supplies already, even if you are not an experienced quilter or embroiderer. Not every supply listed here is necessary for every person, but I’ve found that having the right supplies can alleviate frustration. Start with a sewing machine, some fabric, scissors, needle, and thread.

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How to Use This Book

CHOOSE YOUR PROJECT

Browse through the different projects within this book and choose your favorite to start. If you are new to quilting, it may be helpful to begin with the Checkerboard Block in the bonus Orphan Blocks section. That particular project includes only basic square piecing and rectangular borders. It will start you at square one for piecing patchwork. Then you can hoop it and embroider as much as you like.

CHOOSE YOUR HOOP SIZE

Many projects in this book offer several finished hoop size options. Your desired finished hoop size will determine how much fabric you need. Do you already own a hoop you’d like to use? Do you want to hang this hoop someplace special? Is it a gift? Are you making a collage of hoops in different sizes? All these questions are things to think about when choosing your hoop size. The projects included in these pages range from 6 to 23 (15 to 58.5cm) in diameter. Unsure where to start? The 18" (45.5cm) hoop size is a good medium size as far as piecing and sewing curves.

CHOOSE YOUR FABRIC

Every time I am starting a new project, I pull a ton of fabrics out of my fabric stash to find the perfect print. Choosing fabric often includes a trip to the local fabric shop as well. These hoops are relatively small projects when compared to buying fabric for an entire quilt. Your stash, scraps of leftovers from other projects, or small pre-cuts are perfect places to start when pulling fabrics for your hoop quilt. If you do not have a fabric stash, it is easy to find 5" (12.7cm) square sets (called charm packs) of coordinating prints to work from for these projects. Often, I will start with a charm pack, and then I will buy coordinating background, border, and binding fabric. For the patchwork, quilting cottons and wovens are best.

Refer to the Fabric Amounts table below for general fabric requirements for the hoops in this book. Each hoop uses roughly the same amount of fabric for the background, the curved border, and the wrapped bias binding. Each project uses a different number of color fabrics in the center. This does not have specific yardages called out, as those pieces are generally small. They can be pulled from scraps or 5 (12.7cm) and 10 (25.4cm) square precuts. Refer to your chosen hoop project for the cuts of the color fabrics in the middle of the hoop.

CHOOSE YOUR EMBELLISHMENTS

Start envisioning what embroidery or embellishments will make your hoop quilt pop. This book contains many ideas to get you started. There are so many embroidery stitches you can add to accent the patchwork. If you want even more oomph, there are endless options for adding embellishments too. Browse through the ideas in this book and take a walk up and down the aisles at your local craft store. There are so many buttons, baubles, pom-poms, ribbons, twines, beads, gems, and jewels that can be added as extras to your hoop. (I even found clearance Valentine’s Day ponytail holders that I used to embellish the With Love project.) Think outside the box.

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Patchwork Tools

Sewing machine (not pictured) and sewing machine needles: I recommend Microtex or sharp needles for piecing patchwork.

¼" (0.6cm) foot: This foot for your machine is a specialty foot that will allow you to accurately sew a ¼ (0.6cm) seam. Quilting and patchwork exclusively use a ¼ (0.6cm) seam. To make your corners and points line up, an accurate seam allowance is key.

Cutting mat: This will protect your work surface. It is preferable to work with a large mat—18 x 24 (45.7 x 61cm) or bigger—that has grid lines or rulers.

Rotary cutter: A standard rotary cutter uses a 1/8" (45mm) blade. It is very easy to cut through multiple layers of fabric accurately using a rotary cutter and mat.

Acrylic ruler: Quilting rulers come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, including specialty shapes like the curves seen in this book. To start, a 6 ½ x 24 (16.5 x 61cm) ruler is useful to cut across fabric yardage. I also recommend the Quilt-in-a-Day Half-Square Triangle Ruler to assist in squaring up Half-Square Triangle units.

Straight pins: Always an essential.

Scissors: Most of the cutting done in patchwork uses a rotary cutter, but a nice pair of fabric scissors is also useful. I often use sewing scissors to cut batting and fusible fleece, trim threads, etc. Keep your scissors sharp. Make sure you label them for your sewing room as fabric only so that your family doesn’t steal them to cut paper and who knows what else!

Seam ripper: Unfortunately, this tool is often our best friend. Make sure to have one on hand to remove stitches just in case you make a mistake.

Sewing thread: There are many types of sewing machine threads, and every quilter has their preference. For piecing patchwork, I recommend choosing a 50 wt. 100% cotton neutral shade that will blend well with your project.

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Embroidery Tools

Thread: There are endless types of thread available for use in embroidery methods. The basics are mentioned here, but do not be afraid to try out something new or unique that you find interesting. When you begin a project, take a minute to jot down what type of thread and color number you are using for reference.

•Floss , also known as embroidery floss or embroidery thread, is the most commonly available thread. It is 100% cotton, solid or variegated, and is available as 6-strand skeins. The strands can be separated or combined to achieve the desired thread thickness. DMC ® , COSMO, and Aurifil TM are a few brands of floss I recommend, as they have a wide range of colors available.

•Perle cotton is a slightly twisted single-strand cotton. It comes in skeins and balls and is available in many sizes, with 3 being the thickest and 12 the finest. Common perle cotton weights for embroidery are 5, 8, and 12. It has a slightly glossy finish.

•Metallic thread is a thread that has metallic filaments wound with natural or synthetic thread fibers for a glittery look. These threads can be slippery and get tangled, so they are a bit more difficult to work with, but they are fun for adding a few accents to a work.

Yarn, ribbon, crochet thread, twine, etc.: There are so many types of thread out there to experiment with. Get creative and give one a try to add dimension and texture to your embroidery.

Needles: If you browse the needles in the notions section of the craft store, it is easy to become confused by how many options are available for hand sewing. For hand embroidery, embroidery needles with sharp tips and large eyes are best. Embroidery needles are sharp to pierce through the tight woven fabric (as opposed to tapestry needles, which have blunt tips that sew through a loose/large weave). These needles also have larger eyes to accommodate the many strands in embroidery threads and floss. Embroidery needles are generally numbered from 1 to 12, with higher numbers indicating smaller needles. Picking up a multipack of several of these sizes will give you options so that you can choose a needle that suits the number of strands you are working with.

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