Circle Applique Baby's Mini Quilt - From Re-Purposed Old Baby Clothes

When I was little, my grandmother made me a hand-stitched quilt with a silk panel and a blanket foldover hem.  I remember the quilt to this day, even though its no longer with me, because being all grown up now, I realize just how much work it took her to make it.

The silk panel on the front always felt soft and cool to the touch, perfect for the hot humid nights where I grew up.  The back panel was made of a scratchy synthetic fabric, which chaffed and irritated my skin.

I remember being conflicted about whether to sleep with the silk panel right side up, which was the pretty and proper side, but which left me struggling under the scratchy side.  Or to forgo looking at the pretty pattern and sleep with it side down next to my skin, letting the dull side face the world.

I don't know why I bothered to struggle with this trivial decision every night because it seems like such a odd thing for a child to obsess about.  But I suppose I was that kind of a child.  I wanted things to look good and feel good at the same time.

Now decades since receiving my grandmother's quilt, I set about making my first one for my baby boy, Eliot.

I'm not a quilter, and have indeed, not made one before. However, I knew I wanted it to i) it look good and also feel good next to his skin, and ii) be mostly handsewn and iii) be made from material that he will cherish as much as I did that silk panel on the quilt from my grandmother.

Slowly, I had been saving up particular pieces of out-grown baby clothes from both my kids, thinking that I will harvest the material someday to make new things.  And this well-worn and well-loved fleece pull-over from Eden was the perfect piece to use for Eliot's quilt.  It had blue circles, which is just the kind of simple motif that little ones can appreciate.  And it was cuddly and soft.

I first cut out all the blue circles, and then realizing that there were too few, I traced circles onto the remaining green fleece and cut out as many as I could.  The key is to use up all the material if you can - some of my favorite circles have seams in them from pockets, armholes etc, which just makes them more interesting.

Next, pin the circles on to the top panel of your quilt.  I used a soft blue fleece and I arranged the circles in a free-flowing pattern, concentrating them on one edge and letting them "fade" out towards the opposite edge.  Alternate between the blue and green ones in a random pattern.  Placing some along the edge also makes a more dynamic composition.  Just trim the ones that hang over the border so you're left with some partial circles.

Using 3 strands of embroidery floss, stitch around each circle with a straight (running) stitch.  Knot off after each circle and start the next one with a fresh knot.  It took many nights in the company of the late night news to finish this step.

Next, I made my quilt sandwich with needled cotton batting and a back panel of the same fleece.  There are many great instructions about how to do this on other blogs - I don't know if I did it the right way.  But I just put my top panel with the circles directly on top of the batting material and cut around it.  I did the same with the back panel.

To make the quilt sandwich, I placed the batting on top of the back panel, and the top panel of circles on top of the batting.  Then I made long continuous lines of pins from one edge to the other, around the circles.

These pin lines mark the position of the quilting lines I will later stitch on the machine.  There is no order to the lines since I was going for a free-flowing effect.  I think of the lines as eddies of current moving around circular stones.  This is what it looked like after pinning.

Machine stitch along the pinned lines, removing the pins as you go.  Don't sweat it if you don't follow the pins exactly.  I improvised as I went along, making sure that they were evenly distributed and all the edges had sufficient lines of stitching so that the batting is secure.  I love the finished effect of the quilted lines flowing around the circles.

The final step is to bind the quilt.  I used pre-made quilt binding, machine stitched it on one side and slip stitched it on the back side.  There are good instructions on the Purlbee blog here.  (Coincidentally, Purlbee put up a post today about a Circular Applique Mini Quilt using their Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabrics.)

Here's my first quilt all done!  I am one proud mama.

And here's Eliot romping on his new quilt!

How to make a Simple Envelope Closure Pillow and Blanket Set

Firetruck pillow and blanket by Eden and Eliot

My new year's resolution for 2011 is to make what I would otherwise buy - which led me to sew this pillow and blanket set for Eden, when her preschool teacher said she needed extra bedding for naptime.

Its a cute little fleece set, patterned with firetrucks, ambulances and police cars (which she helped pick out). But after it was finished, she refused to bring it to school. (You see a pattern here re: my post about the slippers.)

So this has gone to little brother Eliot, who is much more accommodating when it comes to wearing or using the things his mother makes.

This was a really simple set to sew up, and experienced readers will not need any instructions here.  But since I've benefited from very basic tutorials -  I thought, why not write one anyway for all my friends out there who don't fancy themselves crafty.  Children's bedding tends to be expensive, so if you're inclined to make your own - read on, its a cinch.

Materials

• Fleece - 1.5 yards (adjust for bigger or smaller sets)
• 13 inch pillow insert (Ikea carries a really inexpensive one)
• Sewing machine & coordinating thread
• Ball-point sewing machine needle (suitable for knit fabrics)
• Disappearing ink fabric or chalk marker

Instructions

Lay out your fleece fabric on your cutting surface wrong side up, measure and mark a rectangle 36" x 48" for the blanket . With the remaining fabric, mark a rectangle 14" x (14" + 6") for the pillow.  The extra 6" will form the overlap for the envelope closure.  My pillow insert is 13" square, so the 14" width gives me a half inch seam allowance on each side.  If you want a poofier pillow, make the rectangle 13" x (13" + 6"), and it will give the pillow a nice squeeze.

Make sure you mark both rectangles before you start cutting.  Since mine was a patterned fleece, and I wanted to make sure I got a couple of the firetruck/car images intact on the front of the pillow, I didn't end up with the most efficient/fabric saving layout.

For the Pillow

 

With the wrong side of the fabric up, fold in a half inch seam on each of the short sides of the rectangle, pin and stitch.  If you feel comfortable, you can start stitching and fold as you go along.

When you are done sewing the seams on the two short sides, fold the fabric over so that it overlaps as shown in the photo above.  The wrong side should be facing you, and the distance from the top to the bottom folded edges should measure 13".  Secure the side edges with pins.

You can flip open the flap, to check that you have it folded correctly.  Take the time to make sure that your pillow front will show the pattern that you want to end up with.  The pillow front is the bottom most layer in the photo above.  You can adjust the location of the flap to ensure this.

Stitch a half inch seam on the sides, (where you have secured with pins).  You should end up with a seam as shown in the photo above.

Flip the pillow inside out.  You now have a finished pillow cover, with an overlapping flap as shown (otherwise known as an envelope closure).   That overlap is what allows you to insert your pillow and keep it secure without zippers, buttons and what-not so little fingers don't get into trouble.

 

Flip it over to see the pillow front.  If you've checked on the position of your pattern in the previous step, you should end up with a happy outcome - voila!  One intact firetruck and ambulance!  Stuff your insert and you're done!

For the Blanket

This is the simplest part - just fold in a half inch seam on all 4 sides and stitch.  And there you have it - your finished blanket and pillow set all ready to keep your little one snuggly and warm.