Cozy Friday Night Baby Quilt

My dear friend Amy is pregnant with her first baby and I wanted to make her the coziest quilt for her tiny winter arrival. We recently got in Cloud 9’s organic cotton Fanfare flannel from Rae Hoekstra from Made by Rae. They are so plush and sweet, they made the perfect fabric for my project. Amy isn’t finding out if they are having a boy or a girl and this collection works so well for both genders. The flannel pairs perfectly with our Hobbs 100% wool batting.  By tying and turning the quilt instead of quilting it, the end product is much more lofty, fluffy and warm and I knew I could get the entire project done on Friday night! No quilting and no binding!

I chose a simple 8″ square block design that is 7 rows tall by 6 rows wide. This gave me a finished quilt size of 45″ x 52.5″ (perfect for using a single backing piece). My fabric requirements were:

• 1/4 yard each of the 10 Fanfare prints (quilt top)
• 1 1/2 yard Fanfare Confetti print (backing)
• 1 1/2 yard Hobb’s Wool Batting

Attach your walking foot and sew around the perimeter of the quilt with a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving an opening of 10″ or so on one side. Reach into the opening and turn your quilt right side out. Using your bamboo point turner, carefully poke out your corners and lay flat on a table. Whipstitch your opening closed. Lay your quilt on a flat surface and lightly safety pin baste again.

I wanted to tie my quilt, but didn’t really want the traditional yarn tied look. I searched for techniques on machine tying quilts with little luck. I did find one site that used a free motion foot and used a zig zag stitch over a piece of yarn and then tied the yarn, but again, that wasn’t the look I wanted. I glanced over at my rather vast collection of BERNINA presser feet and saw one of my favorites – the #18 button sew-on foot. This foot would be perfect for machine tying on a quilt!  I love finding new uses for presser feet.

Set your stitch for the button sew-on. On the BERNINA 3 series, it is either stitch number 11, 12 or 14 depending on the model. This wonderful stitch sets the length to 0 and creates a zig zag with an automatic locking stitch. I love this stitch – seriously, and now I have one more reason to do so! Simply place your foot on the intersecting corners and stitch it out. (Note: if you are using a BERNINA, you keep your foot on the foot control and the stitch completes itself) Once you are all done with this step, you are finished! This is a super soft, fluffy baby quilt that you can realistically get done in one evening. Enjoy!