A Royal Baby

This baby quilt is small enough to whip up in an afternoon. It comes with a free PDF applique pattern to print, and a video showing my favourite (can't mess it up) applique method!

Finished size is 24" x 24", perfect for a tummy time blanket for any royal baby you know! Great shower gift too!

We donate this size baby quilt to the local hospital for premature babies, check your local hospital to see if they have a similar charity!

Materials (All fabrics should be cotton, if possible)

• 24" square piece of background fabric
• 4 - 6.5" squares of contrasting fabric for corner triangles.
• 1 - 10" square of gold fabric for crown applique shape
• 1 small strip/scrap of colourful fabric for circle applique shapes
• 1 small strip/scrap of colourful fabric for the diamond applique shapes
• 26" square of fabric for backing
• 26" square of batting (any kind, I prefer cotton batting)
• 2 packages of double fold bias tape for binding

Tools/other materials

• Fabric scissors
• Paper scissors (to cut out applique shape)
• Printer (to print applique pattern)
• Iron
• Sewing machine
• 505 Basting Spray (or any other fabric spray temporary adhesive)
• Glue stick (regular school glue such as Elmers)
• Hand Sewing needle
• Thread

Preparing your Fabric

First thing to do is to iron out all your fabrics, no wrinkles or creases will ensure a better finished product.

Now you need to print out the applique shapes included with this pattern.

Click the link HERE to open up the PDF. When printing, make sure your printer does not scale the image, this will ensure the proper size for your applique.

After printing your applique, place them onto your fabric (right side up) and cut out the shapes. The 1/4" seam allowance is already on the printed shape, so you simply cut out the shape as is.

You should end up with 1 crown, 1 large circle, 2 small circles and 4 diamonds.

The Triangle Corners

We are going to be using the 'snowball' technique to create the triangle corners on our quilt.

Using a hot iron, press the 6.5" squares in half, right sides together. When you open the fabric back up, a crease line will be easily visible across the square.

Now we place the squares in the corners of our quilt. Right sides of the fabric together. You need to place them in a way so that the crease line is going diagonally across the the fabric (see picture). Pin the squares down and sew on the creased line.

Once sewn, use scissors and trim off the excess fabric (see picture). Now open up the triangle corners and press seams. Repeat for all four corners.

Applique

Video Link - Applique Tutorial - Glue and Spray Basting!

My applique process uses two of my favourite sewing tools, basting spray and a regular glue stick. Both products will wash out of your quilt completely the first time it is washed, so do not hesitate to use them. If you are using a lot of spray baste, you may want to be in a well ventilated area so you do not breathe it in. Having a window open was sufficient for the small amount I use on this quilt.

To start, take your shape, for example, the crown. With the wrong side of the fabric up, use your glue stick and spread glue all around the edges. Now, fold a 1/4" of the fabric over and stick it down with the glue. Keep going until all edges of your shape have a 1/4" folded in.

With your background fabric smooth and ready nearby, it is time to apply some spray baste. I like to put an old towel on my work surface to protect my table, then with my applique pieces wrong side up, I spray the basting glue onto the fabric. Then, take your applique pieces and stick them where you would like them on your background fabric. You can follow the title picture as a guide to place your pieces in the correct spot. The great thing about spray baste is that it is not permanent, feel free to peel it up and re position if you need.

When your applique pieces are in the spot you want them to be, thread your hand sewing needle and sew all around the edges to permanently attach them to your quilt. I sew a hidden stitch on my applique (basically enter your needle slightly on the back of the applique piece, and do not go through the top of your applique). You could also machine applique with your sewing machine.

Quilting this Baby Quilt

My favourite way to baste projects is to use 505 Basting Spray. You can use any temporary basting spray you like, as long as it is temporary and will wash out in the washing machine.

To start, press your backing fabric, spread it out on a clean hard surface, wrong side facing up. Now using masking tape, secure it to your surface.

Apply your spray basting glue, and lay your batting on top. Smooth out the batting so there are no wrinkles.

Take the wrong side of your quilt top and apply the spray basting glue, then flip it over and place in on top of the batting. This creates a sandwich effect of three layers, which become your quilt.

For quilting this quilt, I decided to straight line quilt around the edges. I quilted 5 lines, an inch and a half apart start from the outer edge. Then, leaving a large square in the center unquilted, I echoed the applique design. For the triangle corners, I echoed the triangle shape inside twice.

Beginner Chunky Chevron Lap Quilt

Hey folks, this quilt tutorial will live here on the homepage but will be moving to a new "Tutorials" button within the coming weeks! (so much content, so little time).

I love this quilt -- it honestly takes less than an afternoon to put together. The colours are totally up to you, they could be contrasting, but they don't have to be. This quilt would look good I believe with any three fabrics - hey, lets be crazy make it more than three! Important part is to have fun! Make a quilt!

Cutting:

• From each of your three fabrics you need to cut 10 squares.
• Each piece should measure 10.5" square.

Marking:

• On all 10 of the white squares, and 5 of the yellow squares, you need to mark a diagonal line on the wrong side of your fabric.
• Using a quilting ruler is a great way, and the ink can be permanent. The drawn line will be hidden in the seam allowance, it will not show in your quilt.

Pinning

You need to pin your fabric with right sides together.

5 white squares to 5 yellow (unmarked) squares

5 white squares to 5 grey squares

5 marked yellow squares to 5 grey squares.

Sewing your blocks (The best part!)

Now you need to sew a 1/4" seam on either side of the line that we had drawn down the middle of our pinned squares.

Once you have sewn down either side of the line, use the drawn line as a cutting guide and split the sewn blocks in half! Press with your iron to open up the 2 squares you have created.

Sew all 15 blocks, and cut down the middle to make 30 blocks.

Now that you have sewn your blocks, start assembling them into rows.

Use the title picture of the quilt as a layout.

Sew your vertical rows, then join your rows together to finish your quilt top.

I like to use pins during this stage to keep my rows from shifting around while I sew.

Making Holiday Memories with Intention

Good- very cold - morning! Its a chilly -17 out today and I really wish the garbage would take itself out. We are finally winding down from all the fun events the holiday brought to our family. In the last few years we have started some family traditions of our own (our family only being 5 years old) and it got me to thinking about traditions.

Matching dresses Christmas Day

When you are little, traditional activities like Christmas cookies, cards, movies to watch and places to visit, all just happened at the holidays. It was effortless, it was magical, you could just feel it. It isn't until we are much older we realize that all those special things took effort from someone. These activities and traditions took intention - an intention to create memories, and intention to pass on ideas to the next generation. As a mom, this en devour lands on my plate.

We take our family to Parc Omega every year (a few times a year actually) but always once between Christmas and New Years. There is something about a giant Wapiti (type of large deer) sticking its slobbery nose in your car for a big carrot that makes everybody laugh. I really have a passion for nature and animals. I feel that the more children are exposed to nature and animals, the more they will make healthy choices for themselves and their planet. The more we understand nature, we understand that we are a part of nature. 

So even though this meant packing up the kids, packing food, budgeting the activity, messing up our nap schedule, it did not bother me. These are memories. This was going great -- but then my husband decided he had some intentions and traditions to create too. My lovely husband decided he would get our daughter excited for skiing this year! So I am all.... "Yay! Physical activity! Showing bravery! Being outdoors! Learning things together!!".... Unfortunately I am terrified of skiing! 

We survived our Camp Fortune ski trip!

This put me in a bit of pickle... I had to put my money where my mouth was. It is 2016 after all, it is a great time to conquer a fear, be healthier, spend time with family... all good new year type of stuff. So I am happy to report that we had an amazing time and I definitely conquered my fear! We got the little one babysat and spent a whole day with our big girl (a blessing in itself!). 

So basically I am writing today about setting a positive intention for your family - put effort into making memories, into making traditions. Your children may never thank you, but when they have families of their own, they just might keep that positive intention and actions going. I will be so sad the day the I have to drive to the reindeer park by myself and look a little crazy clapping as I usher over giant deer with my carrot!

Enjoy the new year! Lots of quilting coming up next week when I show you some awesome family projects I have started, a wool coat that is free motion quilted and a free paper piecing project with a local Ontario theme!

Coming up: