Embedded Files
Ah, baby blankets. The perfect project to:
Practice a new skill
Decompress after a tricky project
Work on during your 1001 Zoom meetings
Bust through your stash of yarn
Bust through your stash of scrap fabric (AKA cabbage)
Give away to friends and family
Donate to charities
I love making baby blankets. They're small (standard size is usually around 3 ft x 3 ft), they're quick, you get to use all the best yarns and fabrics, and when you're finished, you get to give it away so it's not taking up space in your house. In fact, my first crochet project ever was a baby blanket. BEHOLD:
It's terrible and I love it. Notice the beautiful, unplanned hourglass shape. See the clear tension issues between the beginning and end of the project. Feast your eyes on the center row of dc ch 1 that looks like they somehow turned into treble crochets. Fantastic.
I love making baby blankets so much and have made so many that I somehow don't even have pictures of them all! I love them for all of the bullet point reasons I listed at the top of this post and I can't take pictures of them anymore because I've given them all away. Between big projects, I'll whip up one or two and squirrel them away so that any time I hear of someone having a child, I have a gift waiting in the wings.
In the interest of encouraging others to try new things and grow their skills, I'm including not one but THREE tutorials below: one crochet, one knit, and one sewn. If you both knit and crochet, yes, the sections are very similar because so are the concepts. The sewn blanket is also my first quilt ever (remember how I said these are great for trying something new?). Enjoy!
Important Note: This post was originally very long and came in the 3 parts described above. This makes it difficult to navigate, especially if you're looking for the project all the way at the bottom and extra especially if you're on a phone. Use the buttons below to go to the 3 posts, now separated for ease of reading.
How to Quilt a Baby Blanket
How to Quilt a Baby Blanket
This is it, the big finale - my first quilt ever. With instructions for you to try and learnings so you don't have to make the same mistakes!
Materials:
Fabric for the quilt top - I used scraps for this and cut out my squares
Fabric for the backing - you'll need to figure out the size of your quilt, then add 4 inches to each length for this piece (e.g. a 36" x 36" blanket will need a backing piece cut 40" x 40")
Quilt batting - I went with cotton because I don't like to buy plastic (polyester) if I can avoid it and because cotton is more skin-friendly and insulates well
Bias tape - check out my post on how to make your own here - you'll need enough to go all the way around plus about a foot of overlap
Some scrap yarn to tie the quilt
Sewing machine and thread
Walking foot - not strictly required but highly recommended
Cutting mat, rotary cutter, quilters rule
Iron, ironing board
Off we go!
Step 1 - Determine Quilt Size & Layout, then Cut your Pieces
Step 1 - Determine Quilt Size & Layout, then Cut your Pieces
Time for a little math (it just wouldn't be me if there was no math involved). I decided to go with a very basic blanket made up of nothing but squares. I wanted a standard baby blanket size of 36" x 36" and, looking at the size of scraps in my basket, decided to make the squares 3" x 3" each. This meant I would need 12 rows of 12, or 144 squares total.
BUT WAIT. *Don't forget your seam allowance!* I like 1/2" seam allowance (most quilters use 1/4", I decided I'm not ready for that just yet), so that meant I was cutting 4" x 4" squares.
I used a rotary cutter and quilters rule to help cut the squares quickly without needing to make any marks.
If you're very organized or just using new fabric instead of scraps, you should probably do a touch of planning first to decide on the layout of your squares, then count how many you'll need from each fabric.
Since I was using scraps, I cut everything out and was then pleasantly surprised when I was able to get something resembling a planned pattern. Shown here, I laid out the pieces on the floor to plan my pattern.
Also shown here: Freddie (dog) getting in the way and wanting to lay on the fabric.
Step 2 - Check your Layout and Organize your Sewing Agenda
Step 2 - Check your Layout and Organize your Sewing Agenda
After I finished deciding on the layout (above), I carefully stacked my pieces into piles so the pieces were in order from top to bottom.
To keep the rows in order, I used my hem clips to color-code using rainbow order from top to bottom (e.g. red clip means first row, then orange, etc.). Since I had 12 rows, I needed to go beyond the 6 rainbow colors (indigo is a shade, not a color, fight me) so I used "double red" for row 7, "double orange" for row 8, etc.
Of course, you could always do something totally reasonable like mark the backs with chalk or a pencil. You know, like a sane person.
Step 3 - Sew the Squares Together to Make Strips for Each Row
Step 3 - Sew the Squares Together to Make Strips for Each Row
(Step 3) Sew the squares together to make strips for each row.
Easy and boring, but that's why I picked squares! Sew using 1/2" seam allowance (or the 1/4" you're "supposed" to use for quilting) in the order you've stacked.
Trim the seams to 1/4", I used pinking shears, and press open.
In doing some reading, I think experienced quilters actually press the seams to one side, but I still haven't figured out why that would help for squares. Down the center worked just fine for this project.
Note from the future: experienced quilters are in furious debate over which pressing method is superior. Do what makes you happy.
Step 4 - Pin and ew the Strips Together to Finish your Quilt Top
Step 4 - Pin and ew the Strips Together to Finish your Quilt Top
Definitely take the time to lay out all the strips and pin them together.
You want to be careful here and as precise as possible. This is the part where it becomes clear if you did a good job precision-wise when cutting and sewing the strips (spoiler alert: I have room for improvement).
Once sewn, trim the seams down to 1/4" and press.
To finish the quilt top, we also have to prepare the edges for bias tape. This is where using 1/2" seam allowance did not do me any favors. Use the quilters rule and rotary cutter to trim 1/4" off each edge so there is only 1/4" seam allowance remaining all the way around.
Bonus: If you could have been more precise earlier, this offers the chance to clean up the edges a bit.
Step 5 - Baste Together the Backing, Batting, and Quilt Top
Step 5 - Baste Together the Backing, Batting, and Quilt Top
First, lay out your backing, right side DOWN. We'll be basting the pieces together in their final formation, no turning out involved in quilting.
Pin the backing so it lays smooth. I pinned directly into my carpeting and realized later that blocking mats would have worked well for this. Also pictured here: Freddie (dog) being very sad about not being allowed to lay down on my quilt while it was covered in pins.
Next, lay down the batting so it covers the backing.
Finally, add your quilt top, right side UP.
Using large basting safety pins, start at the center of the quilt, working your way outwards and smoothing as you go. Pros leave their pins open until they're finished, then close all the pins at once (I did not).
If needed, trim the batting so it's even with the backing at this point.
Step 6 - Tie the Quilt (or Quilt it)
Step 6 - Tie the Quilt (or Quilt it)
I went with ties because this was my first quilting project ever and, quite frankly, I found the walking foot a little intimidating. I will probably try stitching in the ditch (sewing along the edges of the pieces) next time.
Note: I got brave enough to try machine quilting a few years later, when I made the Ironing Mat!
To do the ties: cut a piece of yarn the width of your blanket plus a little and thread into a needle with a large eye. I think I used a carpet needle here because that's what I had, but a tapestry needle should do well also. Work your way across, creating a very short stitch every hands-width or so. What I did was every other square, put the needle through then pull the needle up on the other side of the same seam to make a stitch. Repeat all the way across. Repeat working vertically until all anchors/ties are in place.
You'll see in the photo I also used a thick leather thimble to protect my fingers and a small, rubber grippy thing to help pull the needle through all the layers. I found a twisting motion to be most effective in getting the needle all the way through.
Be sure to check the info on your batting here, which should tell you how closely the stitches or ties need to be placed. Mine said 9", so I went with 6" (two squares) to be safe.
Now that your yarn is all in place, cut each "giant stitch" of yarn halfway between the anchor points. Then tie the pieces together at each anchor with a square knot (left over right, then right over left, pull tight).
Trim the ties to about an inch long. You can now remove the basting safety pins from everywhere except for the edges of the quilt.
Step 7 - Baste Around the Edges
Step 7 - Baste Around the Edges
Install the walking foot on your sewing machine if you have one, being careful to follow the instructions that came with the foot. Grab a scrap of your batting and some scrap fabric to go on top and bottom to test it out and check your tension before working on the quilt.
When you've checked the tension and know the foot is working properly, use a large stitch size (I use a 7) to work your way around the edge of the blanket.
You can see in the video that I did a single backstitch at the beginning because I was worried about the basting coming undone before I finished the actual quilting process. I also replaced the safety pins on the edges with regular straight quilting pins to make it easier at the machine. Finally, you'll notice I'm using slightly too large seam allowance - try to make it as narrow as possible so you don't have to rip out the basting later.
Step 8 - Bind the Edges with Bias Tape
Step 8 - Bind the Edges with Bias Tape
Bias tape creates a really clean edge to your quilt that looks really nice. Starting at the bottom of your quilt, pin the bias tape around the edges of the quilt. Be sure to leave a few inches at the beginning (I'd say maybe 5" or so) NOT pinned in place. When you get to the corners, you can create a mitered edge like shown in the video:
Pin very close to the corner. Then, hold the tape in place with one hand and "flip" the loose tape upward, away from the turn so it makes a little triangle of fabric. Then, "flip" it again, tucking the triangles into the fold of the bias tape to create a little cap at the corner. Pin in place and keep working around.
Once in place, sew around, using your walking foot and a regular stitch size (I like 2.5). When you get to the end, STOP a few inches before the raw end.
Cut the tape so there's about two inches of overlap and press the raw edges of each end under about 1/4".
Continue to stitch down the bias tape so they overlap.
When finished, realize you were supposed to stitch the tape only on the right size , matching right sides to right sides, and finish off the back with a blind stitch. C'est la vie.
Note: I have done a lot of work with bias tape bindings since this post. See the posts How to Sew a Circle Cape and How to Sew an Ironing Mat for more tips!
Step 9 - Revel in your First Quilt Ever! And Reflect on Changes for Next Time
Step 9 - Revel in your First Quilt Ever! And Reflect on Changes for Next Time
Aaaaaaaaand DONE. Very pleased with how it turned out, especially considering the amount of learning involved in this project.
Some reflections and learnings so you don't make the same mistakes:
1. Precision. Precision. Precision.
I thought I was pretty handy with a rotary cutter and quilters rule. I was wrong. I was so wrong. It was evident when sewing things together, especially the strips, that I wasn't nearly as precise as I wanted to be. I also could have done better when sewing at the machine - my seams did waver here and there, throwing off the squares and their corners.
Also - bias tape. Don't look too closely and we'll both pretend like we don't see how off it is.
2. The walking foot is friend, not foe.
I don't know why I was so intimidated by the walking foot - it was great! It did take about five minutes to figure out how to install it, but once it was on and I used some scraps to check the tension, it was a breeze! I think next time I will try quilting at the machine along some nice, straight lines.
3. Scrap quilts are great stash busters.
I didn't realize how much I had shoved to the bottom of the basket until I started pulling out and matching for color palette. There's a lot still in there with the potential to make some more quilts!
Notes for next time I try:
Stand up when using the rotary cutter. Stop pretending you have the same amount of tension when seated because you clearly do not.
Try quilting with the walking foot - stitch in the ditch.
To bind with the bias tape, sew to the top, then wrap and blind stitch the back by hand.
Choose a better audiobook - that murder "mystery" was very predictable.
I hope you've found something useful, helpful, or entertaining in this rather lengthy post. I encourage you to try something new and grow your skills - comment below or tag me @craftematics on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook! Be sure to follow me here on the blog by filling out the form at the bottom of the page so you never miss a post. Until next time, friends - have a happy Thanksgiving!*
*You know, separately...and in your own homes.
Originally published November 20, 2020.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse