1. What is a Sampler Quilt?

A sampler quilt is a quilt that teaches you some basic patterns and techniques. After making a sampler, you have all the knowledge to make other quilt projects with the patterns and techniques learned. A sampler quilt has always been used as a teaching tool for new quilters.

1.1 A Lap Quilt Sampler to Save the World

I designed a Sampler Quilt for Kick Ass Quilts to also teach my students quilting with the fun of a sampler! I named it the ‘Lap Quilt Sampler to Save the World‘ because the class is based on using Saved Textiles, meaning old clothes, scrap fabrics and other textiles that would have been discarded otherwise.

By using Saved Textiles, we prevent them from going into landfills, and we also spread awareness of the value of the textiles we already have and the importance of stretching their lifetime. Hopefully, that will help us to buy less, and enjoy more for the good of ourselves, our community and the planet we live on.

In this class, you learn the following:

• How to design a quilt with saved textiles
• How to make 5 traditional quilt blocks: flying geese, pin-wheel block, log cabin, roman square and the nine patch quilt block.
• How to add borders to a quilt
• How to bast a quilt and how to quilt
• How to add a border, ring, to your quilt.

In this class, some basic quilting knowledge is assumed. Check out the beginner class if you are not familiar with those yet.

The size of this sampler quilt is 120 * 150 cm which is lap quilt size and the size of most community quilts we make. A lap quilt is the perfect size for your first sampler quilt. It’s big enough to keep you warm in the evenings, but not so big that it will take you months or years to finish. Also, this size is still doable by hand and on a simple sewing machine.

However, the classes are structured in such a way that you can adjust the pattern to any size and layout you want.

My suggestion is that you find 30 minutes every day to quilt. It’s enough time to make progress, but not soo long that it seems impossible to find the time. Also, quilting for about 30 minutes every day is good for your mental health and will help you relax and decompose from a long day.

1.1 Quilting tools list

• Graph paper
• Pen / pencil
• Cardboard (cereal boxes, pizza boxes, etc.)
• Needles
• Thread (any colour you want!)
• Scissors (preferably fabric scissors)
• Colours 
• Saved Textiles

Optional quilting tools

• Seam ripper
• Small thread scissor
• Sewing machine