Really really easy quilt pattern?

[wildflowersandweeds]

I come from a totally non-creative family, and the one thing I really wanted, but was never going to get with DD1 was a patchwork quilt. It seems wrong to go any buy one because then there's no sentimentality, so when I had DD2 I decided that come hell or high water she was going to have a quilt. I signed up and went to some sewing classes aimed at making baby clothes, so I now can do very basic stuff on sewing machine, except that now as an NHS worker, I've been asked to come back off maternity leave early

It seems so minor in the grand scheme of things, but amidst all the other things that lockdown is making DD miss out on; time with grandparents, other kids, and now time with me, it's somehow become one compromise too many to not give her this!

I've had a bit of a look online, but the snatched moments while breastfeeding aren't giving me a chance to work out what is the absolute easiest quilt I could do- I'll be working the day's my DH isn't so I'll maybe have 30mins in evening after he comes home and girls are in bed. Or should I just accept that doctors don't get to be seamstresses and this is a ridiculous pipe dream?

Hi @wildflowersandweeds

The very very easiest way to make a quilt is to sew together pre-cut squares. You need a charm pack - they contain around 42 x 5 inch squares (which become 4.5 inch squares when sewn with 1/4 inch seams). So for example one pack would give you a quilt of 22 x 36 inches (5x8 squares) or 27 x 31 inches (6x7 squares), if my maths is correct. You could add a border to make it larger. If you google Charm Packs you'll see how many there are to choose from.

You don't wash pre-cut fabric before sewing, so you can get started as soon as it arrives. When you do wash the finished quilt it will pucker and soften and start to take on an aged quality which is quite attractive.

There are many places to get help online, eg www.diaryofaquilter.com/2009/04/charm-pack-baby-quilt-tutorial.html

I hope you manage to find the time to do this, and I wish you well on your return to work. Feel free to message me if you'd like any advice once you get started.

i made a fake cathedral window one with jeans and old shirts....

jeans cut into circles, shirts cut into a square that just fits in the circle...wadding cut to same size as shirt material

press the circle edges over the square edges and then you use the creases as markes to seam the circles together

then you put back the wadding and shirt squares and decide if you want it to be tidy...sew around the circle edge to give the fake stained glass window or if you are lazy and fancy a frayed fringey effect you just seam up parallel to your seams and the denim will fry every time you wash it.

... making a much better fist of explaining than I did! :o

Thanks so much! I am determined to get it done; or at least right now I am, that may all change when I go back to work. Re-reading my OP I sound a bit mopey and miserable- sorry! Shouldn't post when I'm having a wobble about going back to work!

Pre-cut squares are a great idea. To make it easier, don't make a checkerboard design, because that will show up where the corners of the squares don't meet exactly, if they don't (it happens to us all). Instead, sew the squares into strips & offset each strip so that the horizontal seams where 2 squares meet lies at the mid-point of the squares in the strips on either side.

www.rachelmhayes.com/single-post/2018/08/28/Free-Brick-Quilt-Pattern

is sort of what I mean, only using random squares. Hope that makes sense.

Also google 'quilt panel baby' to see quilts & products. Pre-printed panels are lovely on their own or with borders added. Just tack wadding & backing onto the panel & quilt round the designs however you want to.

Hope the return to work is going well.