2021 Quilty Gift Guide
It's the gifting time of the year again, which means it's time for the 2021 Quilty Gift Guide!
I've put together a collection of fun and useful gifts for the modern quilter in your life, which also works perfectly fine if you need to point someone in the right direction to buy you a gift ;-)
Whether you're looking to give inspiration, notions and useful gadgets, or something fun and quilt-inspired, there's bound to be the perfect gift among the 40+ ideas in this post.
Please note that some of the links are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission if you purchase through that link, at no extra cost to you. To read more about this, you can find my affiliate disclosure page here.
Spread Some Quilty Cheer
Send a little happiness with sewing-related greeting cards. Or bring the quilty goodness into your home and life with some beautiful and fun quilt-inspired accessories.
These sewing themed postcards from The Crafty Nomad are perfect year-round.
The perfect card for your sewing friend.
These Retro Christmas Tree cards are printed with my Festive Forest quilt pattern. What better way to send some Christmas cheer this year ;-)
Can you read this one without singing along? ;-)
This sounds like the perfect day to me!
Do you know someone who needs more rainbows in their life? My Rainbow Star design is available on this awesome wall clock, and a bunch of other goods as well. This design is based on one of my patterns, the Rainbow Star FPP block.
I think my kids would be envious if I got a set of these quilty gel pens with fun toppers.
Wouldn’t your coffee or tea taste that much better in this awesome mug? The design is the iconic Geometric Sewing machine by Kristy of QuietPlay.
I always use a travel mug in the sewing room because it keeps my drink warm (or cold) while I get busy working, and it's got a lid, so no spilling drinks on precious fabrics! This one is printed with the design from my Spinning Top quilt pattern, but it's available with a Rainbow Star as well.
What would a quilter's Christmas tree be without at least one sewing-inspired ornament? I love these rainbow thread spool ornaments! How cute are they?
And these pottery Christmas ornaments are just gorgeous. Our tree is a hodgepodge of collected ornaments, so one of these would fit in just perfectly.
Quilty Helpers
This category, I think, is pretty self-explanatory. Handy and cute little gadgets and gizmos to make your quilter’s sewing experience more fun.
Glitter vinyl storage pouches from Sarah Ashford are the perfect place to keep your works in progress.
Do you EPP? These hexie shaped storage containers look like a fun addition to a sewing kit. And who doesn’t love a hexie?
I was gifted a Binding Baby a few years ago, and I love it. It keeps your binding neatly stored, and unrolls it without making a mess or dragging it on the floor when you attach it. There is even a limited edition Christmas collection!
If you haven’t heard of Sew Fine thread gloss, you need to check them out right now. Jenn makes the best (and best smelling!) thread conditioner out there. And she’s local to me, so chances are good I’ve probably met the bees that produce the wax going into the cute tins ;-)
Did you grow up with slap bracelets? I did, and they were the most coveted item for a while. I kind of miss them. These Maker’s Keep slap bracelets have a magnet attached to hold your needle or pins, or keep your tools corralled in your sewing bag. And apparently they can do a whole lot of other jobs, too.
A perfect little handsewing kit that comes with a Thread Caddy, a tin of Sew Fine thread gloss, Acorn thread, Sashiko needles, tiny scissors and needle threader, and all of it packaged in this cute muslin bag that is stamped with an embroidery pattern.
I love my wool pressing mat for those crisp flat seams and the fact that they basically iron my fabric from both sides, making pressing that much easier and more precise.
There are many great quilt planners out there, some with calendars and some without, downloadable pages you print yourself or beautifully bound books. I really love Plan to Quilt which I reviewed here (there’s also a coupon code for 10% off at the bottom of that post). Keeping my projects organized is important because I’m not a one-quilt-at-a-time maker, and I love being able to look back on quilts I’ve made and read the notes about them again.
Quilty Inspiration
Give your quilter, or yourself, some inspiration with one of these books or a magazine subscription. A little warning though, one of these might cause you to not see as much of them in the coming weeks, as they will be busy planning new designs and browsing their fabric stash to start new projects ;-)
This first book, 100 Paper Pieced Quilt Blocks, is a super fun collection of 100 6" quilt blocks plus 10 small project ideas to make with them. The book is a collaboration by 11 designers, including myself, and features blocks in categories like food & drink, animals, outdoors, celebrations and everyday objects.
Walk by Jacquie Gering is *the* guide to modern walking foot quilting and Jacquie Gering shows all of her tips, tricks and techniques to master all of the skills needed to quilt with a walking foot. This book cover the basics of using the walking foot, in addition to preparing the quilt, marking, managing large quilts, preventing puckers and keeping lines straight.
Walk 2.0 by Jacquie Gering is packed with more point-to-point designs, sashiko-inspired machine quilting and innovative repeated concentric simple shapes. Walk 2.0 will appeal to any quilter who wants the control of a walking foot, but the look of beautiful custom quilting.
This one is on my list this year! The Quilter's Field Guide To Colour: A Hands-On Workbook for Mastering Fabric Selection is a practical guide showing effective and not-so-effective colour combinations. Each chapter calls on readers to use the skills they learn through an optional series of 'Patchwork Challenges' which can be used to create a quilt by the book's completion. Forget the dry colour theory! This book is fun, conversational, practical and beautifully inspiring.
Rainbow Quilts for Scrap Lovers What's better than a rainbow of colour? Inspire your quilty pal with this collection of 12 rainbow quilt projects that will help them make a dent in their scrap pile while making a beautiful quilt.
Make Modern was the first magazine I had a pattern published in. Over the years they’ve published a few of mine and they’re awesome to work with. It’s my favourite magazine because it’s always chock-full of great patterns, interviews, tutorials… and it’s never late and can be sent virtually anywhere in the world because it’s digital! You can get single issues, 6 months or 12 month subscriptions – it’s the perfect “gift that keeps on giving”.
My favourite print magazine is Love Patchwork & Quilting, and not least because this issue right there features my Line Dance quilt on the cover ;-) It's a beautiful magazine full of lovely modern patterns from big quilts to small handsewing projects, with tips and tricks for quilters of all skill levels.
Stickers and Enamel Pins
Of course I have to include stickers and enamel pins again this year. They're still super popular, with new ones popping up all the time. Here are some of my favourites.
from The Cloth Parcel
from Carolina Moore
For the quilter who has everything
Does your quilter have all the tools they need? Or maybe you'd prefer to let them pick the fabrics or notions that fit their next project perfectly? Gift cards are perfect for just such a case. Choose one of the ideas below for next level quilty gifting ;-)
Gift card for Longarm Services. If you don't know who your quilter normally uses (or maybe they've never sent a quilt out to be longarmed yet), these longarmers* below all take quilts by mail as well.
*I'm listing these particular longarmers here because they were sponsors for the Bar Code Quilt Along
Support a local quilt shop by getting a gift card there and keeping small independent shops going.
Local quilt shops offer much more than just fabric and notions. Many have classes, and the staff are always knowledgeable and helpful with any fabric quandary, helping their customers curate perfect bundles for a project or pick out the best pattern, or even branch out into a new technique. Many now have online shops as well and will ship (inter)nationally, so your quilter doesn't necessarily have to be able to visit the shop in person.
Find shops in the USA, in Canada, and worldwide right here.
Quilt pattern designers. Many quilt pattern designers offer gift certificates in their online shops as well. If you know whose designs your quilter loves, why not choose a gift certificate for their store? Of course I also offer gift cards in the Penny Spool Quilts shop.
I hope this gives you some fun fresh ideas for the quilters in your life. And maybe you’ve bookmarked some things for yourself, too.