Patchwork Baby Quilt (Part 2) 小童拼布棉被，下集篇

It's finally done, the patchwork baby quilt for my little sweetie pie. All I need to do now is to give it a wash and my sweetie pie can snuggle into this super soft and fluffy quilt tonight. :)

I named it the Autumn Love Quilt.

One side of the quilt is full of hearts and loves in different shades of red and pink. Since the patchwork centerpiece are rather colorful and eye catching, I used the plain white cotton with slim red lines for the border to create a clean frame effect. I think they match just nicely.

For the backing fabric, I used this sweet looking autumn leaves, a quilting grade cotton from TY Pennington's Impression fabric series, looking perfect just the way it is.

I am really glad that the quilt turned out just as I expected it to be. It has some minor flaws but rather unnoticeable so I will not sweat about it. :)

Part 2 Tutorial

Refer to Part 1 of the tutorial on how to create the patchwork blocks before your begin.



Gather the following material before you begin:

• 1 ready made patchwork blocks measuring 25" x 40" from Part 1 of the tutorial
• 1 yard of backing fabric (recommend to use quilting cotton grade fabric)
• 1/4 of fabric for joining the patchwork blocks (approximate)
• 1/4 yard of fabric for binding (approximate)
• 1 yard of batting (available in most tailor supply stores)
• Sewing machine and matching threads
• 1 rotary cutter with ruler and cutting board
• 2 dozens of Fabric pins and safety pins
• Iron & ironing board
• A pair of Scissors
• Measurement tape

Ready? Let's begin.

Joining the pieces

As the patchwork blocks I made was slighly short of 1 yard, I have to sew on with additional fabric to make it into a full 1 yard. This size should probably last my baby girl for up to 5 years old.

1. Measure the fabric for the frame according to the desired size, cut accordingly and add extra 2" on each sides for seams. You shall have 2 long and 2 short sides. In my case it was the size of a full 1 yard (44"/45") minus the size of the patchwork, so what I cut for the frame fabrics are as below:

Long / vertical piece: 45"- 40" + 2" each side for seams = 9" / 44" (2 pieces)
Short / horizontal piece: 44" - 25" + 2" each side for seams = 23" / 45" (2 pieces)

2. Using fabric pins or safety pins (which hold on better) to join the patchwork piece and the frame fabric (right sides facing each other), sew a straight line to join them up. Repeat the same for all 4 sides.

3. By now you should have a complete piece that looks like this, just need to continue with the batting next.

Batting

Batting is the filler that you add in between the fabrics to make the quilt thicker and able to trap heat to keep the little ones warm at night.I only use a single layer batting.

4. Cut the similar size batting, on a big open space, place the 3 layers in the following sequence:

Patchwork fabric (right size face up)

Batting

Backing fabric (right size face down)

5. Pin all 3 layers together using safety pins. start from the middle and move outward, smoothen using your hand frequently to ensure the batting is evenly distributed.

6. Start sewing from the middle and move outward. Finish all the horizontal lines before you work on the vertical lines in similar manner. See below on my sewing sequence. I used the simplest quilting technique which is to sew along the joining lines :)

If there is any excess batting or fabric, trim them off before you begin binding the quilt.

7. Now, the quilt in 80% done. Take a break, have a cup of drink (I was working non-stop!) and admire your beautiful work.

I really like the puffed up squares, look so soft and comfortable that I want to sink my face in right away.

Binding

I find this the most challenging part of the entire quilting experience. Different from the Sail the Sea Peter Pan Quilt I made for my little boy where I just bind both fabric back to back, I choose to use tape binding this time and took me quite a whole to get it right..

8. Find a matching fabric for the binding, cut them into long stripes of 3" wide each. I used a rosie pink floral fabric here. To ensure equal sizes, I used a rotary cutter instead of scissors.

I got 4 strips of equal width, total length approximate 4x44"=176".

9. Fold in half and press with warm iron to make your own binding tapes. Join them into one long stripe (refer to pic below)

10. Secure the binding tape onto your quilt using pins. Pay extra attention to the corner to ensure they align.

Check that everything us securely pinned. We are close to completion now,just one last step to go..

11. Start sewing all the 4 sides until the entire quilt is fully joined up. Sew as much to the edge as possible for a neater finishing.


Ta-da, one beautiful baby quilt is done! Now, admire as much as you like, invite your little ones if they are not asleep yet, and snuggle onto the soft cushy quilt together. Opps, and don't forget to give it a wash and sun. :)

I think I'm in love with this baby quilt. I just hope my baby girl will appreciate mommy's hard work when she grows up.

Other useful reference:
I am not a professional in sewing nor quilting, most of the craft I did were self taught or from Internet tutorials. I sewn this piece of quilt based on techniques that I think will work for my design and may not be the best options available. You can refer to these experts quilters on their methods instead.

Binding Tutorial by Quilting in the Rain

Color Quilt Tutorial by Jeni


And don't forget...
If you happened to make a quilt design similar to mine or by referring to this tutorial, please feel free to send me a picture or a link to your quilt, I am more than happy to share them here :)

Till later, happy crafting!





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