Do you like layer cakes? Do you like to bake cakes? If you are talking to a sewist, those questions might be code. You might not be talking about baked goods at all. You might be talking about fabric and quilting!

Moda offers precut 10” quilt squares in packages that it calls Layer Cakes. Carrie Nelson, a designer and pattern writer for Moda, has created a clever set of patterns for Layer Cakes called Moda Cake Mix Recipes.

So, what is a Moda Cake Mix Recipe? Moda Cake Mix Recipes are pads of 44 foundation papers for use in paper piecing quilt blocks. Paper piecing is a technique for building blocks that helps quilters create crisp angles on geometrical designs. You sew through the paper and fabric together, removing the paper once the whole block is constructed. Therefore, using paper that will sustain handling but remove easily is important.

Moda Cake Mix Recipe papers have been designed to be easy to use. The sewing instructions are printed on the Moda Cake Mix recipe papers–called recipe cards. The front and inside covers of Miss Rosie's Cake Mix pads give instructions for stitching the recipe cards as well as constructing and arranging the blocks–all of which are based on triangles.

Each Moda Cake Mix Recipe pad has 44 “recipe cards” that have patterns for three to six different quilt blocks. The sewist is free to decide whether to use one, two, three, or more of the Moda Layer Cake patterns from a pad or even mix patterns from different pads. A Moda blogger suggested making copies of the blocks shown on the front cover of your Moda Cake Mix Recipe pad, cutting these apart, and then arranging and rearranging these photocopied blocks to plan your unique Cake Mix Recipe quilts.

How do you use a Moda Cake Mix Recipe? If you have never tried paper piecing, choose one of the Moda Cake Mix Recipe pads and follow the directions! You might find that creating a quilt using Moda Cake Mix patterns may be an easy treat to bake–maybe even as easy as your favorite cake!