If you are, like me, invited to some baby showers and currently see babies everywhere, it’s a good time to embark on the all-time classic baby craft project: the baby quilt.
This free pattern (which includes binding instructions) for a baby quilt that is easy to make and simply gorgeous (and easily adjustable for a baby boy…) . This baby quilt is a project from the book “Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts
One word of warning: while this baby quilt is really, really easy, don’t be fooled: hand-quilting is time-consuming! But this is so pretty that you will have a good time making it.
You can easily replicate this baby quilt by choosing an equally happy floral textile with many large and a few smaller design elements.
Or, as author Joelle explains: “The story here is the joyfulness of the fabric, which lends itself especially well to being quilted along the lines because it includes both large and small designs. Cassandra Thoreson, who teaches at Purl Patchwork, made this quilt for me. We selected bright red for the hand-quilting thread and the binding to accentuate the playfulness of the fabric.”
Tools and Materials
- Fabric 1: 1 yard of 45-inch-wide printed cotton (with a design that varies in size), for quilt front. I like this beautiful fabric by Free Spirit
. Are you aware of this designer brand fabric? Just gorgeous colors and designs. The images here are just a sample of what they carry. Lovely!
- Fabric 2: 1 1/4 yards of 45-inch-wide coordinating printed cotton, for quilt back — see below
- Fabric 3: 1/2 yard of 45-inch-wide solid cotton, for binding
- Hand-quilting thread
- Hand-quilting needle(s) (I prefer size 10 betweens)
- Wool Batting
, 36 by 46 inches (Note: If you use Quilter’s Dream wool or cotton batting, your stitching can be up to 8 inches apart and the batting will remain stable. If you use another brand, check the manufacturer’s directions for the maximum distance between stitches.)”
Baby Quilt How-To
“Finished Measurements: About 34 by 40 inches
1. Prepare fabric: Wash, dry, and press all fabric.
2. Square up the sides of fabric 1 and trim the selvages. You should be left with a piece that is about 34 by 40 inches, but no larger than the batting (36 by 46 inches).
3. Square up sides of fabric 2 and trim the selvages. You should be left with a piece that is about 43 by 41 inches.
4. Fold fabric 3 selvage to selvage, cut five 2 1/4-inch-deep strips, and trim the selvages. Set aside for binding.
5. Baste quilt: Thread-baste quilt front, batting, and quilt back.
6. Quilt by hand: Following lines of the print, begin hand-quilting the outlines of the large designs all over. Stitch around medium-size designs next, then smaller ones. If you work across entire quilt, rather than focusing on one part at a time, you can decide that it’s done when it looks right. You’ll also avoid being locked into a really dense design from the beginning.
7. Piece binding strips. Attach binding, following the directions for double-fold binding below.”
Binding How-To
“1. Attach Binding
Fold the pieced binding strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, but do not press the strip. Beginning in the middle of one long side on the quilt front, align and pin together the binding’s doubled raw edges and the quilt’s raw edges to within 1/4 inch of the corner.
Start sewing the binding to the quilt with a 1/4-inch seam allowance, beginning 5 inches from the starting edge of the pinned binding (so when you return to your starting point, you’ll have enough extra unattached binding fabric to finish the binding nicely). Stop sewing the binding when you’re 1/4 inch from the corner. Take a couple of backstitches, and remove the quilt and binding form the machine. Trim the thread tails.
2. Make Mitered Corners
Turn the quilt so the edge with the sewn binding runs horizontally across the top. Fold the binding strip perpendicular to the sewn section and away from blanket (straight up); then fold the binding strip perpendicular again, this time toward the quilt (straight down).
The second fold should be even with the upper edge of the quilt. Pin the corner in place; then align, pin, and sew the binding’s raw edges along the quilt’s second side, again stopping 1/4 inch from next corner. Backstitch at the end of this seam, and remove the quilt from the machine. Trim the thread tails. Repeat the process of mitering and pinning the binding at corners and sewing it to the remaining sides, stopping when you get 10 inches from where you began attaching the binding on the first side.
3. Finish Ends
Unfold the loose ends of the binding strips. Fold under the end of the first strip 1/2 inch to the wrong side, and finger-press the fold in place. Lay the second strip on top of the first, and trim the second strip about 1 1/2 inches longer than the first strip (trim the second strip’s end diagonally to reduce bulk inside the seam).
Fold the second strip back in half lengthwise, and fold the first strip around the second strip, so it covers the second strip’s raw end. Align, pin, and sew the four edges of the two strips folded together with the edge of the blanket. Backstitch at the end of the seam, and remove the quilt from the machine. Trim the thread tails.
4. Hand-Stitch Back of Binding
You’ll finish the binding by folding it to the other side of the quilt and hand-stitching it in place. The mitered corners should automatically fold into place nicely. Thread a hand-sewing needle with a length of thread about 18 inches (or no longer than your arm). Make a quilter’s knot at the thread’s end. Draw the needle down through the seam allowance on the back of the quilt, and then back up just a few threads outside of this seam allowance.
Fold the binding to the back of the quilt, and secure it by blindstitching its folded edge every 1/8 inch around the quilt and picking up no more than two threads of the quilt back beyond the seam allowance with each stitch. Use an extra stitch at the mitered corners to anchor them securely. While sewing around the quilt, as you come to the end of your thread, knot and tie off the thread ends inside the seam allowance. Then anchor the knot of your new thread length in the seam allowance as well.” *
* Excepts from Joelle’s book.
| To learn more about this highly recommended quilting book, and for purchasing information, click “Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts“ |
| Another Excellent Baby Quilting Book You Might Also Like: “Quilts, Bibs, Blankies…Oh My!: Create Your Own Cute & Cuddly Nursery |
