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We were recently invited to a friend's child's birthday party and I was contemplating what to get him... As a mom of two young ones the thought of getting another toy gave me a bit of a chill. Toys contribute to the constant mess that never seems to end... What if we could give something different? The little boy is a huge baseball fan and I just happened to have some Astros fabric sitting around in my stash not being enjoyed. Why not sew something right up? That's just what I did.
This easy patchwork quilt is the perfect size for a younger child. It's bigger than a baby quilt but smaller than a twin quilt. It would look nice on a toddler bed or a couch, and it folds up small enough to fit in a backpack for nap time. It goes together really fast (I made mine over three days and I was chasing around kids).
Finished size: 40 inches x 55 inches
Materials
Assorted scraps of your favorite fabrics about 2-3 yards worth
Crib Size Batting
2 yards for backing plus some depending on the way you decide to finish it
Step 1: Cut and Layout
Cut your assorted scraps of fabric into 5 1/2 inch squares.
Lay out squares as desired with 8 squares across, 11 rows total. I don't have a pic of this because I had two "helpers" and a fur baby that kept laying on my layout. If you don't have little helpers the floor works great for this. You can choose to do a random layout or a pattern. There is no right or wrong here; do what you feel looks nice.
Pick up your layout row by row. I have system for this so my entire layout is stacked for me to sew quickly. Use a system that works for you, or work directly from your layout if you want.
Heres what I do... Starting from left to right I pick up each square placing it UNDERNEATH the previous square. I then pin the entire row together so little helpers don't mess with the layout. Stacked this way, the squares are ready to be sewn together into rows. Then stack the rows with the first row on top. That way, as I sew, the rows are in order.
Step 2: Sew
Sew the blocks together into rows, press. Sew the rows together to finish the top! Again, I think I have a pretty good system her to get this done quickly...
Starting with row 1, sew the first and second square together. Don't cut the thread. Place the third and fourth squares together under the foot and sew together. (This is called chain stitching, because you end up having a big chain of sewn squares at the end.) Continue this way with the fifth and sixth, and the seventh and eighth. Snip apart, keeping the pairs in order, with the seventh/eighth pair on the bottom and the first/second pair on the top.
Open up the first/second pair, lay flat. Open up the third/fourth pair and lay next to the first pair as you would sew it. Place on top of first pair, right sides together, and sew. Sew the second set of pairs in the same manner.
Now you should have two sets of sewn blocks. Sew together. Row one done! Continue with the rest of the rows in this manner.
Step 3: Sandwich the Quilt
Now you're getting somewhere! This is one of my favorite parts of quilting; this is the part where you transform fabric into a quilt! There are many ways to sandwich a quilt (placing batting between two layers of fabric), but I get the best results this way...
Using a large table or a hard floor (I use the floor, but a table is better for your knees and back) stretch out the backing and tap to the hard surface. It's very important to add a little stretch here to prevent wrinkles during the quilting step. Lay the batting on the backing and gently smooth in place. Lay the quilt top on the batting. Using your hands and starting in the middle smooth the quilt like you're frosting a cake. Using large safety pins, pin the quilt sandwich together starting in the middle again and using the frosting method to get a gentle stretch to the quilt top. Each pin should be about a fist's length apart (4-6 inches).
Once you're finished pinning you can remove the tape and pick up the quilt. On to the quilting...
Step 4: Quilt
I'll leave the details of free motion quilting on a domestic machine for another tutorial, but here's the down and dirty to get you started.
Two options: 1) Use a walking foot to stitch in the ditch or another design throughout the quilt. 2) Use a free motion foot, lower the feed dogs and go! I did a meandering line with baseballs and bats.
Step 5: Bind
Totally honest... this is my least favorite part... I have several unfinished projects that are only missing the binding.
I will posting soon about the different types of bindings so I won't go into detail here. For the example I did a fold-over or single layer binding using the backing. There was just enough of the backing around the entire edge to do this (at least an inch). It's quick, easy (once you do it once), and it is done completely by machine using the walking foot.
There you have it! 5 steps to make a wonderfully quick quilt for a little one. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and go out and make a quilt of your own. The PDF version of the pattern is available here.
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