These Quilt Kits Teach You How to Make Your Own Blanket

Quilting originates from a rich, storied history of makers in America. Today, designers are continuing this legacy with modern patterns packaged into ready-to-buy kits for you. All of these projects are ideal for beginners. If you want to finish a quilt without the commitment of selecting fabrics yourself, a kit often includes everything you need: fat quarter bundles, precut appliqués, binding, backing, and a pattern that's ensured to be accurate, clear, and complete. They come in all sizes—bed quilts, throws, and lap blankets. And the stitchwork techniques you learn in these kits can be applied to other projects, too.

If you're new to quilting, one of the first terms you'll learn is a "quilt block." So, what is it? Traditionally, quilts were made to be bed covers and sewn by hand. Because of this laborious task to sew a large quilt, smaller blocks of fabric—in a variety of patterns or a repeating pattern—were sewn, piece by piece, to form the whole quilt. With these kits, you can try your hand at a variety of techniques in quilting: log cabin, Amish stars, kaleidoscope, amongst other blocks. For instance, pictured here, the original pattern was designed by Meghan Buchanan of Then Came June—and this particular kit ($57.60, finchsewingstudio.etsy.com) includes the fabric required. This project used two traditional blocks, the Nine Patch and Sawtooth Star, in order to create a modern design.

Pick one of these artisanal kits and get started today—any one of them will teach you how to enjoy an heirloom of your own making.