Sometimes we just need a little more simple in our lives right?
Today I’m sharing a super simple tutorial that will result in a quilted blanket that looks like it was a lot of work.
** wink, wink**
This may be your perfect handmade Christmas present.
In fact, it’s SO simple that I did not take pictures of the process.
Trust me, you won’t need them.
Just a few measurements, cuts, stitching and you’ll have yourself a blanket.
I’ll even give you two options for binding … one traditional and one SIMPLE.
Okay, let’s get started!
Finished size: 44″x 64″
Materials Needed::
- 2 YD cut of {front} fabric
- 2 YD cut of {back} fabric
- 1/2 YD cut of {binding} fabric
- 46″x 66″ Piece of batting {Warm & Natural}
- Coordinating thread
Helpful Equipment::
- Rotary Cutter
- Cutting Mat
- Walking Foot
Step 1.
Cut fabrics.
- Square up and trim front fabric to 44″ x 64″
- Square up and trim back fabric to 48″ x 68″
- Cut batting to 46″ x 66″
- Cut binding fabric into {5} 2.5″ x width of fabric {wof} strips
Step 2.
Create your “quilt sandwich”.
Your sandwich is: your back fabric right side down, batting and then your front fabric right side up. There are several good tutorials on how to do this in greater detail. The larger your “quilt” the more accurate you need to be. Because this is a small quilt {and because I didn’t want to clean my floors} I am sandwiched the blanket on my ironing board table. Start with your back fabric down, layer on your batting and then place your front fabric right side up, making sure you have at least a 1.5″ border of the backing showing all around (if you cut correctly, it should be a 2″ border). {To make it easier to see my backing, I cut my batting so that it was just slightly bigger than the front piece, but smaller than the back.}
Iron all three layers and begin to pin in place using quilting pins {they look like curved safety pins}. Carefully shift all three layers on the ironing board and smooth everything out, iron and pin. Make sure you keep checking you have at least a 1.5″ border of your back fabric on all sides.
Step 3.
Quilt your “quilt sandwich.”
I chose to straight line stitch the blanket on the diagonal, spacing my stitching lines 2″ apart. I then repeated the stitching on the opposite diagonal creating a diamond pattern that would quilt up nicely. You have a couple of options to keep your lines spaced evenly. I chose to use a disappearing ink pen and actually draw out my lines for better accuracy. You could also use a quilting arm that attaches to your walking foot or washi / masking tape to create your lines.
Step 4.
Trim quilt sandwich and bind blanket.
Chose your binding method and then follow the directions for that method. Traditional binding is just that, the traditional way that quilts are bound using a strip of fabric folded in half, sewn to the front and then hand or machine stitched to the back. Cheater binding uses the back fabric to fold over to the top of the blanket/quilt creating the look of binding on the front.
Traditional binding –
Square up and trim all three layers of your quilt sandwich to an even rectangle. To add interest, round your corners slightly using a bowl as a template. Sew strips of binding together to create one long piece of binding and bind quilt in your preferred method. Great tutorial here and here.
Simple {“cheater”} binding –
Trim ONLY your batting to match the front fabric. Then trim your back fabric leaving a 1″ border on all sides {i.e. your back fabric will be 1″ bigger on all sides then your front fabric}. These two tutorials walk you through the cheater binding method to finish your blanket.
That’s it! See … SO simple!!
Throw your blanket in the washer and dryer and it will come out all nice and crinkly with all the look a quilt, without all the work!
Thank you to Robert Kaufman & Emmie K for letting me be a part of the release of Geo Pop Canvas.
You can see all the colorways available in this fabulous line here.
