Okay, calling this thing a quilt is a stretch. Or possibly an insult to quilters everywhere. But! It does make a fantastic baby toy. I whipped this up in a hurry one day when I was in need of quiet baby toys. Olive’s got a thing for scrunching up textiles. (hooray!) My goal with this was to make something with a variety of textures for her to enjoy.
Here’s what you need:
- 3 – 4.5″ x 12″ (11.4 cm x 30.4 cm) pieces of cotton
- 1 – 12″ x 12″ (30.4 cm x 30.4 cm) piece of fabric for the back (I used a cheap, silky one…the better for scrunching.)
- 4 – 4″ x 12″ (10 cm x 30.4 cm) pieces of fleece (Please ignore the obviously 14″ long pieces in the photo. I was going to try something else, which wound up not working. IGNORE!)
Step 1- Sew together the cotton
Placing the right sides together, sew the long sides of two pieces together.
Connect the third piece in the same way. You’ll wind up with something like this:
Press the seams open in the back:
Step 2 – Assembly
Pin the back fabric to the front, wrong sides together. Lay one of the fleece pieces underneath at the top, and fold about half of it over like so:
Pin into place, and sew the bottom edge. Repeat this process with the opposite edge:
Place another piece of fleece on one of the open sides, making sure to overlap the already sewn on fleece. Pin, and sew as you did the last two. Add the final fleece piece in the same way. (Yes, I could have been typing “binding” all this time, but you have to admit “fleece piece” is much more enjoyable to say. Try it.)
Using a 1/2″ seam allowance, sew around the outside edge of the quilt:
Trim the threads, and baby, you are done!
Notes:
- This is totally machine washable. And dryable. Unless you use some fancypants fabric that is not, alas, machine washable.
- I wish I had spent a little more time on this project, honestly. The tiny format would be perfect for trying out new patterns.
