Friday, August 28, 2015

Quick and Easy Charm Square Baby Quilt



I'm back today with a quick finish and a tutorial.  I needed to make a baby quilt for a co-worker at work, but after many hours of paper piecing this past week, I just wanted a quick and easy pattern.  I had a bunch of charm squares (5" square) leftover from a fat quarter bundle of Maritime Modern by Riley Blake that I had already made 2 baby quilts from (you can see the first and the second here) and I thought that a disappearing 9-patch fit the bill perfectly.  

Here is a quick tutorial so that you can just grab your supplies and start piecing to have a baby quilt finished in no time:

Finished size: 39" x 39"
This size is wonderful for a quick baby quilt because you can use a single width 
fabric for the backing, no piecing of the back :)

Materials needed:
  • 81 charm squares (5" square). You can use scraps or 2 Moda charm packs
  • 1 ¼ yards backing
  • ⅜ yards binding
  • 42" x 42" batting (I pieced together some batting scraps for mine)

Piecing Instructions:

Step 1:  Sew your charm squares into 27 sets of 3 charm squares each.


Step 2: Sew 3 charm square sets together forming a 9 patch.  Repeat to form 9 total 9-patches.


Here are all of the 9-patches laid out together.  You could sew the 9-patches together for a great simple patchwork quilt top (like is shown here at the bottom of the post).


Step 3: Cut each 9-patch in half once horizontally and vertically.  The cut should be 7" from the side and 2 ¼" from the inner seam.



Step 4:  Mix the cut blocks up in any new 6 block x 6 block arrangement.  Here are two options I tried.  I decided on the more randomly mixed up version.



Step 5:  Sew the blocks into rows and then sew rows together.  I prefer to press my seams open so that the quilt top lays flatter.


Step 6:  Layer the quilt top, batting, and backing together.  Quilt as desired.  I decided to go with a random hook/wave looking pattern to mimic some of the wave designs in the fabric.

Step 7:  Form the binding from 5 strips 2 ½ x WOF. (I was actually able to make the binding using only 4 strips with just a couple inches to spare).

For the binding, I tried glue basting with Elmer's glue and using the machine to stitch down the binding (I almost always hand stitch the binding).  It worked great and I got very nice, crisp edges and corners.  I will be employing this method more in the future.



Congrats, you have a super quick, but great looking quilt ready for your special someone!



I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, if you have any questions, please e-mail me or leave a comment below.

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17 comments:

  1. Such a cute baby quilt Cheryl! I noticed how perfectly your quilting went with the fabrics. It's great to have your tute to refer to, thanks for sharing it! I love how the blocks look random but really aren't.
    Gluing works great for hand sewn bindings too.

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  2. I seem to really struggle with how to use charm packs and other precuts, but remembering the beauty of a disappearing nine patch is a great idea! Lovely tutorial and I hope your co-worker really appreciates the gift!

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  3. Excellent tutorial! A friend of mine has made several of the Disappearing 9 patch quilts that always turn out cute and cuddly. I have never tried one, but need to make a few baby quilts and think I will try out your tutorial for at least one of them. Thank you for sharing and have a wonderful creative day!

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  4. Super cute. We need to be reminded that not every quilt has to be complex and intricate. So what is the glue for in the binding? So you don't have to pin? And does change the feel of the binding? Make it stiffer or anything?

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  5. Great idea to make a quick quilt with charm squares. I have seen several quilts made with the disappearing 9 patch pattern but have not tried it.

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  6. That is the exact process I came up with when I used my first layer cake. It was also the first quilt I made as a gift. Cute quilt. I love nautical.

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  7. What a great quilt. Thanks for the tutorial.

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  8. Those colours look so great together, perfect baby quilt.

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  9. Very cute baby quilt. I need to put that disappearing 9 patch on my bucket list.

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  10. I sew enjoy a disappearing nine patch quilt. Have the blocks done but have one pinwheel square in each block to make it a bit different, now need to plan on a design to sew them together, always hard as I have trouble getting down on the floor and even more getting up again

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  11. love the D9P pattern. Super cute! Thanks for sharing at TGIFF!

    :) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

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  12. The double nine patch worked out really great with these charm squares. I like the random look you chose and the wave quilting is perfect with the fabrics.

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  13. What a cute quilt, and a lovely way to really show off the charm square fabrics

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  14. A very cute quilt, Cheryl! Wonderful colours and your quilting is so perfect!

    -Soma

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  15. I love d9p and sometimes do one with a "double" cut . Love the bonding corner polls dots

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  16. so cute, I'm sure it will be well loved.

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  17. Looking good! Much better than plain squares. Thanks for sharing!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!