Introduction: Extremely Easy Quilt
About: I'm a happily married mother, and Gigi and a proud 911 dispatcher. We have a dog and a few cats and live on the edge of the forest :)
I made this quilt with a simple sewing machine, scissors, a ruler and straight pins. You machine only needs to do a straight stitch and you only need to be able to follow basic directions. This is only my second quilt ever, and you can make one too.
Step 1: Basic Supplies
Your basic supplies will be a ruler, scissors, springy clippers, straight pins, a marker, batting, and fabric.
You can choose to use cotton fabric or flannel. If you choose to use flannel you won't need the batting. If you purchase your fabric as charm packs you have no need to cut your fabrics since they are pre-cut.
You will, however, have to cut your Warm and Natural.
For the batting I prefer the Warm and Natural because you don't have to quilt very close, and also because I have seen a picture of a quilt dried in the clothes dryer that has scorched because of using the 'cheaper' so-called natural batting. It is needle punched and won't pill or bunch. (Nope, they aren't paying me to plug their product!)
Your fabric requirements:
To start small, a good sized baby blanket will be 10 x 12 squares.
10 X 12 = 120 squares.
BUT you have to double that number because this is a quilt-as-you-go and you need a front and a back.
So you need 240 of the 5'' squares.
IF you want to cut the fabric yourself I found that I was able to get 15 squares out of a fat quarter.
240 divided by 15 = 16. So you need 16 fat quarters or 8 half-yards depending on how much variety you want in your quilt. If you sew already you may have a stash you can raid.
Now, if you are *not* using flannel you will need to cut 1 - 4'' square of batting for each quilt square. So 120 of the 4'' squares. I can get 90 squares out of a yard of batting, so I would need not quite 1 1/2 yards of batting.
Each square will finish at 4'' because we use a 1/2'' seam allowance.
I also used a walking foot on my machine. It helped immensely. If you don't have one, or don't want to use it, you may need to use more pins than I did.
You can choose to use cotton fabric or flannel. If you choose to use flannel you won't need the batting. If you purchase your fabric as charm packs you have no need to cut your fabrics since they are pre-cut.
You will, however, have to cut your Warm and Natural.
For the batting I prefer the Warm and Natural because you don't have to quilt very close, and also because I have seen a picture of a quilt dried in the clothes dryer that has scorched because of using the 'cheaper' so-called natural batting. It is needle punched and won't pill or bunch. (Nope, they aren't paying me to plug their product!)
Your fabric requirements:
To start small, a good sized baby blanket will be 10 x 12 squares.
10 X 12 = 120 squares.
BUT you have to double that number because this is a quilt-as-you-go and you need a front and a back.
So you need 240 of the 5'' squares.
IF you want to cut the fabric yourself I found that I was able to get 15 squares out of a fat quarter.
240 divided by 15 = 16. So you need 16 fat quarters or 8 half-yards depending on how much variety you want in your quilt. If you sew already you may have a stash you can raid.
Now, if you are *not* using flannel you will need to cut 1 - 4'' square of batting for each quilt square. So 120 of the 4'' squares. I can get 90 squares out of a yard of batting, so I would need not quite 1 1/2 yards of batting.
Each square will finish at 4'' because we use a 1/2'' seam allowance.
I also used a walking foot on my machine. It helped immensely. If you don't have one, or don't want to use it, you may need to use more pins than I did.
Step 2: Getting Your Fabrics Ready
You will need to cut your batting into 4'' squares. You can use a rotary cutter, or just mark the lines with your ruler and a marker and cut a couple layers at a time with scissors. My cutter was a little dull the last time I used it and I just went the 'cheating' route and marked about 40 squares at a time.
I inherited this awesome ruler from my mother who has had it as long as I can remember.
That is why so many of the lines are worn in places, but it's a link and I wouldn't trade it. :)
I inherited this awesome ruler from my mother who has had it as long as I can remember.
That is why so many of the lines are worn in places, but it's a link and I wouldn't trade it. :)
Step 3: Pinning and Beginning to Sew
After I cut my batting out, I set it and the charm squares in a convenient way on my table so that
I could do them assembly-line style. I think the next few pictures are pretty self-explanatory.
I set my charm square packs out 2 at a time so I can have both
front and back fabric the same on each square.
First layer goes down upside down.
Center your 4'' batting square on top and place next square on top of it.
I pin at mid section and corner and just stack them until I have
them all ready to chain sew assembly-line style.
Stitch from one corner across the square to the next and I fed the corner WITHOUT
the pin in first. I tried it pin first a couple times and this worked better.
I could do them assembly-line style. I think the next few pictures are pretty self-explanatory.
I set my charm square packs out 2 at a time so I can have both
front and back fabric the same on each square.
First layer goes down upside down.
Center your 4'' batting square on top and place next square on top of it.
I pin at mid section and corner and just stack them until I have
them all ready to chain sew assembly-line style.
Stitch from one corner across the square to the next and I fed the corner WITHOUT
the pin in first. I tried it pin first a couple times and this worked better.
Step 4: Stitch From Corner to Corner the Other Direction
Pretty self-explanatory. I didn't pin this step since the stitches from the last step will hold them together.
Step 5: Start Stripping! (i Know, I Know!)
Next step is to assemble your squares into strips. You will use a 1/2 inch seam allowance instead of the 1/4 inch that is normally used for quilting. I got the strips ready to stitch by pinning them together in a somewhat random, but not repeating order. You could choose to make them patterned somehow, but the randomness called to me.
And here are my strips. Make sure that you back stitch a few stitches at
the beginning and the end of each pair of squares so you don't have to tie a million knots.
And here are my strips. Make sure that you back stitch a few stitches at
the beginning and the end of each pair of squares so you don't have to tie a million knots.
Step 6: Sew the Strips Together
When you pin your strips together, make sure to match your seams as best you can. If you have kept a consistent 1/2 inch seam when you were making them, this should not be a problem.
At the beginning and end of each row as you add to your quilt you want to
also make sure that you take several backstitches.
Also, be sure to stitch with your seams OPEN instead of turned either way.
At the beginning and end of each row as you add to your quilt you want to
also make sure that you take several backstitches.
Also, be sure to stitch with your seams OPEN instead of turned either way.
Step 7: Last Row!
After you sew your last row on, you will stitch around the outside of the blanket using the same 1/2 inch seam allowance.
When you have finished, you can begin clipping your seams. Clip leaving about 1/2 inch to 1/3 inch spaces. This is not strict, you can just eye it. Clip NO CLOSER than 1/8 inch from each seam. You do not want to cut your seams. Your cuts will encourage your quilt to ravel and also will control the raveling.
When you have finished, you can begin clipping your seams. Clip leaving about 1/2 inch to 1/3 inch spaces. This is not strict, you can just eye it. Clip NO CLOSER than 1/8 inch from each seam. You do not want to cut your seams. Your cuts will encourage your quilt to ravel and also will control the raveling.
Step 8: Washed, Warm, Cuddly Awesomeness!
After you are finished with all the clipping, wash and dry your quilt and clip any long strings. If, after washing, you find a section you didn't clip, it's not a big deal, just clip it. There will be a lot of fuzz and strings for the first couple washes, but after that it just gets softer and softer.