Wednesday, June 11, 2014: Easy Toddler Quilt Tutorial

Last week I shared that I was making a quilt for Babygirl and promised a tutorial.  Being that I continually forgot certain supplies, the tutorial and quilt were a bit behind schedule.  That being said, this quilt is really easy; I finished it in three nap time sessions.  Anyone who knows me knows that my sewing skills are pretty minimal, so if you aren't an expert sewer, don't worry--you can still do this project!

I was making a toddler bed size quilt, and looking for a finished size of about 35" by 39".  This tutorial could be scaled up or down depending on the size you were looking for, you would just need to take measurements and adjust accordingly.

I used a twin size flat sheet for the fabric for the quilt top (it was on sale and I liked the pattern), quilt backing fabric (available at any fabric store) and cotton batting for the filling.  The sheet was "microfiber" (aka polyester) and this combined with the cotton batting caused some problems because it was slippery.  I think if I had used all cotton fabric or polyester batting I would not have had as much of a problem flattening things out and I would have had an easier time.  I do have plans for another quilt which will have a cotton top, so if I remember I'll do an update to let you know if the fabric change helped.All fabrics (and batting as well if you are using cotton batting) should be washed and dried prior to starting your project.  This "pre-shrinks" the materials and helps to avoid shrinkage (and disaster) after the quilt is assembled.

Step One: Place top fabric face down on your work surface.  Since I was working with fabric larger than my finished project, the best surface for me was my kitchen floor.  Prior to starting the fabric should be ironed and the floor vacuumed of dog hair...

In order to make your next steps easier, it is best if the fabric is as flat as possible without all the bubbles and wrinkles (like you can see here.)

Place batting on top of fabric.   Once again, it is best if the top fabric and batting are as smooth as possible without wrinkles and bubbles.  This will help to avoid puckers later when you are sewing.  

When everything is smooth, measure out the size of your quilt.  I added an inch in each direction so I could trim later and have smooth edges.  I wanted my finished size to be about 35” by 39”, so I drew my rectangle to be 36” by 40”.  To draw my lines I used my favorite measuring tool—the giant T-square!  It is actually for drywall, but it finds all kinds of craft uses in my house. 

If you don’t have a giant T-square, you can use a tape measure or yard stick.  One of those clear measuring squares would probably work well if you had a large enough one.  The important thing is to make sure that your corners are square (this is why the T-square works so well.)

I drew my lines directly on the batting so I would know where to cut.  Since this was not a part that anyone will ever see on the finished quilt I just used a sharpie that was handy.

To help keep things together it is a good idea to pin the layers together.  This makes things much easier when trimming and moving the top section.  After you have pinned trim the top layers along the lines you drew.

Once you have finished trimming, pick up the top layers and lay them on the ironed lining fabric.  Once again you want to make certain that everything is as smooth as you can make it.

When everything is smooth, you want to pin all your layers together.  I recommend safety pins for this, because you will be leaving the pins in while you are quilting.  If I used regular pins, I would be in a lot of pain by the time I was done...

Once everything is safety pinned, you can trim the excess fabric from your bottom layer.

When everything is trimmed you want to take a piece of tape and lay it diagonally across your quilt.  This will help you to have straight lines.  I used blue painter's tape because it was what I had on hand, but regular masking tape works just as well.

Line up the foot of your sewing machine along the tape and sew to the end.

It works much better if you tuck the end of the tape under the quilt rather than leaving it hanging out like I have in this picture.  Right after I took this picture, my sewing machine jammed because the tape was stuck to the machine and the fabric couldn't move forward...

Once you have a full line, just pull the tape off, line up the tape along the stitch line and sew another line to the end.

And so on until you are done!

At this point, you could go and sew lines at right angles (or not quite right angles if you prefer diamond pattern to squares.)  I decided that I liked the diagonal lines, so I left it as is. 

Straighten off the edges again...  This time around I used a disappearing ink marker just in case.  One again I used my handy dandy giant T-square to get straight lines and right angels.

Trim the edges.  If you were sloppy the first time around that is OK, but you want to be a little more careful this time around and make nice straight lines.  The better your lines the easier binding will be.

Zig-zag stitch the edges for extra stability.  This will help your quilt to hold up better in the long run.  Again, it is best to stitch as close to the edge as you can.  

Finished zig-zag edge.  It is best to stitch as close to the edge as possible.

Why did I use purple thread?  Because it matched my binding and I didn't want to have to change my thread again.  You won't see it when you are finished, so use whatever color you like.

I used satin blanket binding because I wanted a really wide binding.  I actually only needed one package for the quilt itself, but...

If you want a narrower binding you can use standard binding, or you could even make your own binding if you are feeling inspired.  I bet you can probably find some really cute pre-made bias tape on etsy as well.  (And who doesn't love etsy??)

When starting your binding you might find it helpful to think about how the quilt will lay on the bed.  On my daughter's bed, the bottom left corner will be by the bed rail corner (and therefore mostly out of view), so I chose to start (and therefore end) my binding there.

Pin the binding on.  I used the quilting marks as markers for pins.  (Sorry about the picture--it was a rainy day and I was reduced to flash photography...  I also think it may be time to replace my "trusty" camera...)

Notice that I placed the last pin up-side down.  I was hoping that would make it easier to remove after I did the corner.  In fact, it was actually better to place them the other direction for removal...

Pinned finished corner.  Once again, it is important to check your corners on the front and back to make sure your corners line up.

Checking to see if my binding is even on the front and back...  Stick a pin in on the quilting line...

...And see where it comes out the back side.  (It should still be on the stitch line if you put it through straight.)  The back side binding needs to be moved down slightly (if I want to be picky--you might not be as picky as me.)  As long as the pin is hitting the binding, your stitching will hit the binding as well.

Until you are all the way around!  Now to finish the corner.

Cut the end off, leaving a very short tail.

You will want to finish the edge.  Since my binding was 100% polyester, I chose to melt the edge.  You could also cut the edge with pinking shears, zig-zag stitch, or fold the end under and stitch it.

If you do have polyester binding and choose to melt the edge, please be very careful!  It can catch on fire easily!  (I'm not responsible for property loss and/or injury if you choose to follow my fool-hardy ways.)

Tuck the edge under to match the edge of the quilt, then fold under again to form the angle.  Once again, it is a good idea to check your corners on both sides of the blanket.

It was helpful for me to put an extra pin on this corner to hold the end.

Time to do some more zig-zag stitch!  (Actually, you could do a straight stitch if you wanted, I just thought my mediocre sewing skills would be less obvious with a zig-zag stitch edge.)

At the corners I did a straight stitch to make them look neater.  This is optional, but I think it really did make it look better, especially on the ending corner.

I had leftover binding (a whole extra package!), so I decided it would be cute to edge the pillow case that came with the sheets with some of the extra.  (Pillow cases are really easy to make if you didn't buy a sheet set.)

The finished product!

Babygirl was so excited, that I had a really hard time getting a picture without her in it!  She can't wait to sleep with her new blanket that Mommom made *special* for her!

( I do think I might make my own pillow case another day since the birds on the pillow case go the wrong direction.  Unfortunately I didn't notice this until I put it on Babygirl's bed.)  I guess that is a project for another day!

I also think I may embroider Babygirl's monogram on the binding to personalize it further, but I will need to find the proper shade of gray embroidery floss first, and what are the odds of me remembering to buy that next time I am in a fabric store??