blog

One-Yard Fabric Exchange and Challenge

We Carry
by Sara Snuggerud in Sewing Tips

1 yard fabric exchange 1

One-Yard Fabric Exchange – “Fold It – Snip It – Rip It – Drop It – Pass It”

This is a great quilt guild challenge idea or just something fun to do among quilting friends. I have heard of this done with just any cotton color of one yard of fabric you want to bring, but for our Sewtopia Sewing Club we decided to control the outcome a little more. We guided everyone to select a BATIK fabric. This helped keep the final color palette in a easier to use collection for the challenge.

Here is how to start:

  1. Everyone is to bring one yard of fabric that they LOVE. The reason you need to love it is because you will take home 1/2 yard of this piece. It will be the largest piece of your seven-piece collection.
  2. If doing it as a large group exchange, have everyone bring a small pair of scissors.
  3. Have the group sit or stand in a circle.
  4. Start by opening up the one yard of fabric with the selvage edge at the top and bottom.
  5. The name of the game is this for each round of the exchange: “Fold It – Snip It – Rip It – Drop It – Pass It”
  6. Keep one 1/2 yard and pass the other 1/2 yard to the person on the right.
  7. You will now be in possession of new 1/2 yard of fabric.
  8. From here on out, always hold the fabric in your two hands with the LONGEST side across the top.
  9. Repeat “Fold It – Snip It – Rip It – Drop It – Pass It”
  10. Repeat until the sixth piece is ripped into about a 4” x 5” rectangle.
  11. Pass the seventh piece and now you are done!

You will now be the proud owner of 7 pieces approximately measuring:

  • 1/2 yard (your original color)
  • Fat Quarter (18” x 22”)
  • 1 – 11” x 18”
  • 1 – 9” x 11”
  • 1 – 5 1/2” x 9
  • 2 – 4 1/2” x 5 1/2”

1 yard fabric exchange 2Since I know we live it a busy world, I did not put any restrictions on what they could do with their fabrics or when they needed to have their challenge completed by. I did encourage the participants to put them on their design wall and create something. You are welcome to add fabrics to these seven fabrics.

A design wall is a great place to pin up your seven fabrics as you study them. Place them in an area you will see them each time you walk into your sewing room.

We will post finished projects on this blog as they arrive!

If you are a quilt guild member and want to use this in your group you have my permission to copy this text for your use. We would love to see pictures of your exchange and your final revel. You can e-mail pictures to info@heirloomcreations.net and we can add them to our gallery.

So what will people use their pieces for? A bag? A wall hanging? Potholders? Pin cushions? Something inspired from Pinterest? Let’s see how creative you can get! It will be fun to see the outcome from this one-yard challenge.

Heirloom Creations … Making Sewing Easy!