Stack the Deck Quilt

This is my first attempt at a Stack the Deck quilt. It's a simple design, which I saw in a quilting magazine. I found some fun fabric (Lingerie on the Line by Alexander Henry) and combined it with several colors of coordinating cotton jacquard by Robert Kaufman. I also added several other prints from my stash.

The blocks are constructed first by cutting the final shape you want. Then, you shuffle the fabric, so each block has one of each of your desired fabrics in it. It's easy to do, and you can do all kinds of fun things with this technique. You should check out Karla Alexander's books for more ideas using this technique.

To make the blocks go a little further, I alternated them with full-size blocks of another print. This is the first time I've set a quilt on point, and I love the effect. Upon the advice of one of the sales women at the Cozy Quilt Shop, I added a red border to the top and then followed with a second in blue print. The red really makes the blocks pop, I think. To add interest to the quilt top, I added some red chenille strips to the border as well.

I used no batting for this quilt, and a polka-dot minky for the back. It has very light loft and wonderful drape, perfect for a bed topper. (My bed is a California king size, so this quilt is a bit small, but perfect for a topper.) This is a great technique for putting together a larger quilt, and it's fail-proof for beginners.