Yellow Brick Road Quilt Pattern – Beginner Friendly
The Yellow Brick Road quilt pattern is a great beginner skill level friendly quilt. I know this, because the first quilts I made were two Yellow Brick Road quilts that I made for two friends that were expecting. The pattern is based off fat quarters, which is great for new quilters because you can buy fat-quarter bundles to help with your fabric choices. Read on to find out more about this quilt pattern and why it is a great project for a beginner or seasoned quilter.
Yellow Brick Road Quilt Pattern: Where to Buy?
This pattern is not a free pattern. It is a paid pattern by Atkinson designs. You can buy this pattern from many different places, including maybe even finding a hard copy at a quilt shop. You can buy directly from Atkinson Designs here. Remember, a lot of time and effort goes into developing these patterns, and you should always support the quilt pattern designer by purchasing the pattern and not trying to find bootleg versions online.
Why The Yellow Brick Road Pattern is Great for Beginners
It gets is name because it is created by cutting and piecing rectangle brick fabric. Which I think is perfect for beginners. This simple pattern is great for beginners for a few reasons:
Size Options
The pattern has many different size options – from baby quilts to a king size quilt. Each of these will require fat quarters and some additional yardage for borders, backing and binding. With just a handful of fat quarters you can whip up a baby size quilt. The different sizes included are:
- Baby – 6 Fat Quaters
- Lap – 12 Fat Quarters
- Twin – 18 Fat Quarters
- Full – 24 Fat Quarters
- Queen – 30 Fat Quarters
- King – 48 Fat Quarters
Fat Quarter Family
The fabric requirements in this great pattern are based off fat quarters. A fat quarter is a specific cut of fabric that measures 18 inches by 22 inches and is commonly sold in bundles. This means if you’re new to quilting and intimated by picking out fabrics, you can just shop for a fat quarter bundle that you love to create a colorful quilt top. Once you have that bundle, you just need to pick out some yardage for the borders, backing and binding which you could do all from one neutral color (but certainly don’t have to).
Over the years I’ve bought fabric from many places and there are so many little quilt shops or individuals who prepare bundles as a small business. Two larger names in the quilt business I’ve been happy with buying fabric from is Missouri Start Quilt Company and the Fat Quarter Shop. But do some research, find your local quilt shop. Or, if your budget isn’t as large, places like Joann fabrics, Hobby Lobby and Walmart or even Aldi’s has been known to have fat quarters and bundles.
Rectangle Shaped Pieces
The quilt is made out of all rectangle shaped pieces. This is great because it can be easier to cut and sew. No tricky points to line up. This really lets you learn some of the basics. Some of the skills you can learn from making your own yellow brick road quilt:
- Learning to read a pattern
- Cutting material using your rotary cutter and ruler
- Learning to sew with a consistent 1/4 inch seam
- Basting a quilt
- Quilting a quilt
Once these fundamentals are learned, you’re really off to the races. You’ll be ready to take on more challenging patterns and techniques.
Comes Together Quick
It’s been quite a few years since I’ve made these quilts, I made them back in 2017. I do remember them coming together quite quickly. I couldn’t give you the exact time, but because of the simple cutting (only rectangles) and piecing, they can easily come together in a weekend.
Mistake Friendly
I will call this “mistake friendly” because if you accidently rotate some pieces, or you cut something wrong, there is really a lot of opportunity to come up with creative solutions without it standing out. That is an important skill in quilting, because no matter how perfect you try to be, mistakes can happen. In this quilt, you can recover nicely due to the simple design.
No Special Tools Needed
Another reason I love this fun quilt is there are no special tools needed. You need the basics, such as rotary cutters, cutting mat, rulers, sewing machine, needles, thread, iron, scissors, etc. but there are no special rulers or templates needed. Due to the simple brick shape pieces, you don’t need any special tools for this quilt.
Walking Foot Quilting Friendly
Due to all the straight lines and rectangle pieces, I do think this would lend itself to walking foot quilting. As a beginner quilter, I wasn’t brave enough to quilt my versions when I was just starting, but I do wish I had given it a try. You could also send to a longarm quilting shop if you were not feeling confident. But I strongly recommend you give it a go!
Scrappy Friendly
Due to the size of the rectangle/brick size pieces combined in this quilt, if you’re feeling brave you could help use up your stash with this quilt. I don’t think I’d recommend going that route if you’re a beginner. But a seasoned quilter would find a way to use up their fabric stash with a little planning!
Wrap Up
Another thing I love about this beautiful quilt is it can really show off prints and your fabric choices due to the rectangle shaped pieces. In my photo above, you can see I chose an ocean themed quilt and an elephant themed quilt. Especially in the border, you can show case your fabric to really drive home your theme.
Hopefully this article helped you decide if you want to give the Yellow Brick Road quilt pattern a try.
If you break out your rotary cutters and sewing machine and make your own quilt, I’d love to see what you create! Give me a follow on Instagram!
