Today we will talk about a fast and easy sewing project for little folks. Introducing “I SPY QUILT”. This little quilt can be made in your choice of sizes and edge finishes. Each square in the quilt has a picture of some object that the child can identify. Examples would be: bugs, cars, cartoon characters, cats, etc.
Step 1 -- Decide on size of finished quilt and size of squares. I used 6” squares and made my quilt to fit the standard 45” by 60” crib size batting. Then figure out how many squares your quilt will take. Remember to subtract for seam allowances. Consider whether or not you want to add a border around the outside of the pieced quilt body.
Step 2 – Decide how many times you want to use each different fabric. I used each of my fabrics twice. That allowed me to play a matching game with my little grandson. It also cut down how many different prints I needed to find. Since my quilt was an uneven number of squares (of course), one of my prints was used 3 times. Once all these decisions have been made, you can gather up your fabrics.
Step 3 -- Cut your squares, and decide on the placement of the squares. If you have several blue background fabrics, they need to be scattered out. Colors that really stand out in the finished quilt are red and yellow.
Step 4 -- Once you have decided on the placement for your squares, sew pieces together, row by row.Then sew the rows together, and you have completed your quilt top, unless you want to add a border. Press the quilt top and check measurements.
Step 5 -- Next step will be to prepare the back and the batting. The back should be just a few inches larger than the quilt top. First lay the back right side down, then smooth the batting over the back. Lay the quilt top face up on top of the batting. Smooth and straighter, then either use safety pins to secure all 3 layers or hand-baste the layers together. At this point, I surge the layers together, but if you don’t have a surger, you can hand-baste or zig-zag the layers together around the outside edge.
Step 6 -- The binding is next. I like to use a continuous bias binding on quilts. Instructions will be attached.
Step 7 – Final step will be to hand-quilt, machine-quilt, or tie the quilt. On small quilts, it is not too difficult to machine-quilt using your home sewing machine. Tying the quilt is probably the easiest way to finish a quilt. Instructions on tying the quilt will be attached.
Recent Comments