GO! Big Crazy Quilt Spotlights!

Hi, GO! Getters!  It’s Gina from Gem Hill Quilts!  Like most quilters, I have experienced times in my life that seem overly hectic, and lately, it has just been one thing after another. So, working with the GO! Big Crazy Quilt – 10” Finished (55861) in the last few days - well, it just feels right!

The GO! Big Crazy Quilt – 10” Finished (55861) works only with the GO! Big Electric Fabric Cutter. It cuts 10 assorted shapes that sew neatly together into a square block. A nice feature is that 10 shapes are placed on the die in the same layout as they would get sewn together! 

However, even with each shape designated a letter (A to J), the shapes can get rather confusing. So, I cut paper shapes out and labeled them! In addition, you can note on the paper shapes which sides get sewn first. When I finally cut layers of fabric, it was easy enough to match each stack of cut fabric with the corresponding paper shape! 

Another thing to consider is the number of fabrics to use in creating the blocks. 

Because there are 10 shapes on the die, if you use 10 or more fabrics, there is a good chance most of the blocks you make will each have 10 different fabrics! Use less than 10 fabrics and you will find at least 2 shapes in each block that are cut from the same fabric. 

So, bottom line, simply use more fabrics for a scrappier look.

Now, the best way to proceed would be to cut all 10 shapes from each fabric used. You would only need a 13 1/2" square to do so. Furthermore, cutting all 10 shapes from each fabric means that the number of fabrics used equals the number of blocks you get. Great for using up fat quarter bundles or scraps! 

For this project, I needed to make 9 blocks but I did not want repeats in each block and I wanted more variety, so the final number was 14 fabrics, which also means 14 blocks. Enough extra blocks that I probably will be making another quilt at a later time! 

Cutting Directions:

Also needed is the GO! Big Circle – 4”, 6”, 7”, 8” (55462).

Use about 1 yard paper-backed fusible, 1 1/4 yards of Backing and 42” square of Batting. 

Quilt Colors

Years ago, I had made a lap quilt in purples and blues with a touch of other colors. Here's a glimpse of the colors:

As you can see, it inspired this Crazy Quilt!  

For your quilt, pick a bunch of fabrics that you feel go together. Then, add a background color, typically white, black or gray. I chose gray since it makes the quilt look softer and more modern. A fun extra feature in this quilt is the circle blocks! I just love how they look, and making those circles was super easy as I show below.   

Square Blocks

So, I started out with die-cutting the 14 assorted fabrics, up to 6 layers at a time. Then, keep all the same shapes stacked together and laid out for sewing.

For the Shape B stack, move the topmost fabric to the bottom. For the Shape C stack, move the two topmost fabrics to the bottom. Do the same for the rest of the shapes until the topmost fabric in each stack is different from the other stacks. This would give you a block with a different fabric for each shape. 

Next, follow the directions on the packaging on how to sew the pieces together to complete one block. I think of sewing these in sets – Shapes A, B and C are sewn together. See how some corners are notched so the shapes easily match up with adjacent pieces? 

Sew Shapes D and E together. Then, Shapes F and G are sewn together. Finally, H, I and J are sewn together. Lay these out and you can see how easily they go together. 

Here's how to complete a block that should measure 10 1/2" square. Repeat to make at least 9 blocks.

Circle Blocks

To make one circle block, first cut paper-backed fusible at least 8 1/2" square. Adhere to the wrong side of a square Crazy Quilt block. 

Then, position the block over the 8” circle on the GO! Big Circle – 4”, 6”, 7”, 8” (55462). Just be sure the fusible on the back is centered on the 8” die and you can rotate the square block as you wish.

I used a 10” square mat placed over the 8” circle shape only, since that is all I needed to cut. See how the block slightly rotated on the die? You can do this to add even more variety to the shapes you get in each block. (It adds more to the "craziness" of the quilt!)

Also, cut only one fused block at a time because you will already have 4 or more layers where the seams are. 

Peel the paper off the back of the cut circle. Center and fuse the circle on a gray square. 

Machine appliqué around the circle. I thought it might be fun to use a decorative stitch here rather than the usual zigzag or blanket stitches. After trying a couple of stitches on a scrap piece of fabric (with stabilizer, of course!), I settled on the feather stitch (third from the right in the picture) with a dark blue thread!  

Use a stabilizer as necessary. Now, make four of these circle blocks. Don't these circles look awesome with the feather stitching?!

Quilt Assembly

Lay out 5 square blocks alternating with 4 circle blocks in a 3x3 setting as shown in the quilt picture. Sew blocks within each row, then sew the rows together. Sew the 2 1/2" x  30 1/2" gray strips to opposite sides of the quilt. Then, sew the 2 1/2" x 34 1/2" gray strips to the remaining sides to complete the borders on this 34 1/2" square quilt top.

Machine Quilting

With light purple thread, I machine quilted a motif on the crazy quilt blocks – these are the square blocks and the circles in the circle blocks. 

Meandering in gray thread is used on the gray background for the circle blocks and the gray borders. Because the meandering is a denser stitch, the crazy quilt portions stitched with the motifs pop out a bit and gives the quilt extra dimensionality.

Trim the quilt edges and bind! Voila! One quick and crazy quilt! I hope you love it as much as I do.