ABC Menagerie baby quilt – a tutorial

July 9, 2022July 13, 2022Leave a comment

Recently I was commissioned to make a baby quilt for a lovely newborn baby boy. As it happened, I had the perfect fabrics on hand to make him this gorgeous ABC quilt.

Front of ABC Menagerie baby quilt

This is a really simple quilt design so I thought I’d share a short tutorial for anyone who’d like to make something similar.

What I used for this quilt:

1 x ABC Menagerie alphabet panel (if you don’t have a panel, then substitute fussy cut 5.5 inch squares)

1 x ABC Menagerie layer cake

0.5 metres fabric for the binding – I used the ABC Menagerie blue spotted fabric

1.5 metres fabric for the backing – I used the ABC Menagerie red circles

1 x crib size wadding or batting

Making the quilt:

I cut out the ABC blocks from the panel, remembering to leave the 1/4 inch seam allowance around each square. There were only 28 squares in the panel so I cut an additional two similar sized squares from the layer cakes to give 30 in total. These extra squares are the multi-animal squares.

For the layout, I chose 30 layer cake squares and laid them out in a 5 x 6 pattern. Then I put the ABC squares on the layer cake squares and moved them around until I was happy with the arrangement. Of course, I took a photo to help me remember what goes where.

Each of the 30 layer cake squares were into four 2.5 inch strips.

The layer cake strips were sewn to the sides of the relevant ABC square and seams pressed away from the ABC square. The layer cake strips were then trimmed in line with the ABC square.

The remaining layer cake strips were sewn to the top and bottom of the ABC square. Again, seams were pressed away from the ABC square.

Finished blocks were trimmed to 9.5 inches.

TOP TIP: To avoid having to match seams when joining the blocks, I alternated whether I added the initial layer cake strips to the sides or top/bottom of the ABC square. You can see the alternating seams between blocks more clearly in the image below.

Detail of ABC Menagerie baby quilt

Blocks were sewn together into rows and then the rows sewn together to make the quilt top.

To ensure I had the required width for the backing, I created a panel made from some of the remaining layer cake squares cut into 5 inch, 4 inch, 3 inch or 2.5 inch widths and then sewn together to the required length. Seams were pressed open on the panel to make it as flat as possible. The backing fabric was cut vertically 15 inches from one selvedge and the panel inserted. Again, these seams were pressed open.

Back of ABC Menagerie baby quilt

The quilt was pin-basted and I used a walking foot to quilt in free-hand wavy lines. These wavy lines are very forgiving and a good choice for new quilters worried about keeping their lines straight. They also provide great texture to the quilt making it cosy and tactile.

Detail of back of ABC Menagerie baby quilt

This quilt is a lovely, bright and happy addition to the little boy’s nursery.

Detail of ABC Menagerie baby quilt

I hope this tutorial has inspired you to make your own simple baby quilt to welcome a new addition to your family or a friend’s family.

Have fun!

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Scandi Bird quilt – finished at last

October 31, 2020Leave a comment

The Scandi Bird quilt is finally finished! It has only been 5 years in the making but the final result is worth it.

Scandi bird patchwork quilt

Each of the birds was first appliquéd onto squares of plain off-white fabric. They weren’t difficult to do, just very time-consuming. Whilst I’ll never say never, I can’t see me rushing to make another appliqué quilt. They are not my zone of genius. Still, it was good to step outside my comfort zone and give it a go.

Initially I was planning to have 41 birds in the final quilt separated by blocks of four fabrics. Given that it was taking me so long to complete the birds I then changed tack to have fewer birds and more co-ordinating fabrics. This meant I had to raid my fabric stash for some additional fabrics since I only had a limited amount of the initial fabrics and what I had would not stretch that far.

Fabrics used in scandi bird quilt

On the left are the fabrics initially selected for the quilt and on the right are the extra fabrics I pulled to add to the quilt.

Smaller squares in coordinating colours were added as a frame around each appliqué bird to form a block before sewing the blocks together.

Scandi bird quilt block

The coloured squares have been placed in a scrappy arrangement. Many people think that scrappy quilts are easy to do when in fact they take a lot of careful planning. I’ll share some tips on how to create a good scrappy quilt in a later post.

Scandi bird patchwork quilt

At 64 inches square, the quilt brightens up the bedroom and is easily big enough to cover the top of the bed.

Scandi bird patchwork quilt

It is perfect as a throw when reading,

Scandi bird patchwork quilt

Or daydreaming in a sunbeam.

Scandi bird patchwork quilt

Quilts don’t have to live solely inside. They also make fab picnic blankets.

The quilt back features sassy 1950s ladies, carefully pattern-matched as always for a seamless look (I think the recipient secretly likes these ladies better than the quilt front). For the binding I used a bright blue floral that also features on the front of the quilt.

Scandi bird patchwork quilt – detail

Wavy lines were quilted horizontally across the quilt which gives it a lovely, cozy texture. I’m quite proud of the quilting on this quilt as it was done on my domestic sewing machine – the largest quilt I’ve quilted so far.

This quilt went to its forever home in December last year where it is cherished and well-loved.

Like what you see? Remember you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more of my lovely makes.

Heart quilt – work in progress

November 8, 2016November 8, 20162 Comments

I’ve been wanting to make a heart quilt for ages and finally decided to take the plunge.

The pretty aqua and pink floral fabric below is the one that I chose as the starting point for my quilt. I then selected other fabrics in co-ordinating colours of pink, green, warm grey, aqua and bright navy. Most fabrics were from stash however I did need to purchase a few more (as if I needed an excuse).

Fabric selection for heart block quilt

Here are the fabrics that I chose. They look very light and pretty with a really summery feel (the dappled sunlight only adds to the effect).

All blocks were made using the heart tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew. I made the 10 inch block size and separated them with 2 inch (finished width) sashing.

Footprints on my heart

This block is one of my favourites. It has tiny footprints as part of the fabric design. For me, it is a visual image of the old saying – “Some people come into our lives and leave. Others leave footprints on our heart and we are never the same”. I didn’t notice this when I selected the fabrics so this is one of those happy accidents – love those!

Heart quilt top

And here is the finished quilt top – finished size about 60 inches square. Photographed on rather a dull, grey day however it still retains its prettiness. If you look closely, you’ll see that I substituted one of the navy fabrics for another with more white in it which I think works much better.

Half square triangles

When making the heart blocks, I also took the wise advice of Jeni Baker. In her last newsletter, she recommends making half-square triangle blocks from the off-cuts as you make each block. Initially I was going to save the cut off triangles in a plastic bag, knowing full-well that I would probably never get back to sewing them together. Doing them as I went along means that I now have a stack of half-square triangle blocks ready for another project. Win-win!

Like what you see? Remember you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more of my lovely makes.

Memories of childhood Polaroid patchwork quilt

September 16, 2016September 16, 20161 Comment

Here at last is the quilt that I exhibited at the recent Festival of Quilts held in Birmingham. It is called Memories of Childhood because I felt the little fabric pictures perfectly capture the joy and innocence of being a child.

Memories of childhood Polaroid quilt

With over 80 different fabrics used for the Polaroids, there is so much to discover in this quilt. One hundred Polaroid blocks are featured in the quilt and no picture is repeated. There are birds, wild animals, cats, dogs, insects, boys and girls playing, mythical beasts and much, much more. This “Blast Off” block even glows in the dark!

Polaroid quilt detail

You can see more detail In an earlier post of some of the Polaroids before they were pieced into the quilt.

All the blocks are tilted to give the impression that the Polaroids have been randomly strewn across the quilt.

Polaroid quilt detail

I love these Polaroid blocks. They make a great i-spy quilt for rainy day games. And imagine the stories you could make up with your children using these little blocks as inspiration.

The back of the quilt is just as lovely, featuring this fabulous print of scooter boys and girls by Aneela Hoey. It has been carefully pattern matched for a seamless finish and the red and white binding (also by Aneela Hoey) frames the quilt beautifully.

Memories of childhood Polaroid quilt back

At 61 x 62 inches (155 X 157 cm) it is the perfect size for picnics, cuddling on the sofa, a cape, a den, a bed or thrown over a chair.

The quilt is made from high quality 100% cotton quilting fabrics, wadding and thread and has been professionally long-arm quilted (the pattern is called cool beans) to make it sturdy and durable. Warm and snuggly, this is one of my favourite quilts. Definitely one to be played with now and a treasured heirloom for the future. I’ll be listing it for sale via my Folksy shop very soon.

Like what you see? Remember you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more of my lovely makes.

Log cabin patchwork coasters

September 8, 20162 Comments

At the end of September my friend Emma is running a coffee morning to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. A special event at her coffee morning will be a raffle of lovely handmade items made by local crafters.

Raffle contributions were asked to have a kitchen theme. I drew a blank on what to make until I saw this quick, fun tutorial that Jeni Baker featured in her latest newsletter (I definitely recommend subscribing. It’s a great read).

Log cabin patchwork coasters

This set of six cute coasters was made entirely from scraps from an earlier quilt. The only change I made to the tutorial was to fussy cut the centre squares thus highlighting a kitchen related image – the fabric collection is called Milk Cow Kitchen (Moda) which explains the pictures of cows and milk bottle tops.

Log cabin patchwork coasters

These sweet coasters would look fab in a county kitchen or a rustic kitchen or any kitchen really. To be in with a chance of winning these or any of the other lovely prizes, check out Emma’s Just Giving page and help support this worthy cause. Good luck!