Tumbling Into A New Idea

Today we're talking about a classic shape- Tumblers! 

Tumblers are historically a part of a quilt family called "Charm Quilts", a polite way to say "scrappy". They date back to the 1700s, and were a refreshing change from the hexagons and diamonds quilters were previously stuck with. In those times, as you already know, quilters couldn't run to fabric stores to grab the newest line. They used fabric scraps from things they already owned to put together useful coverings to keep their families warm.

Although they look like a one-trick pony at first glance, tumblers are actually very versatile and can create many different effects. You can find our free tumbler design sheet here!

A quick Google search will show you a multitude of different options. Look at the sweet little fish created by Crafty Pod here. 

The standard layout is found here, but it's anything but boring! Use it as a scrap buster or to make a rainbow of color.

Christine Weld from Moda used tumblers to make this adorable bowtie quilt. 

Two tumblers sewn base to base (large side to large side) will make a coffin shape. For you Halloween quilters out there, if you make the bottom one a woodgrain fabric and the top one a ghoul, you have a half open coffin-- spooky!

For maximum efficiency, you can use a 4" tumbler on a charm square, but we like the 3" for maximum fussy cutting freedom. A 2" tumbler works perfectly for a mini charm pack. 

We love to hear from you! Do you have a tumbler project to share? Email it to us at paperpieces@paperpieces.com and we might use it in an upcoming post!