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Summer Sewing School {make a doll quilt}

I hope you have enjoyed the Summer Sewing School. We have had a great time here, it ‘s been something that my children have looked forward to each week. This is our last lesson and if you have done all the projects you have learned some basic skills that will enable you to create all kinds of fun stuff. If you haven’t finished all the projects, that’s okay the instructions will be here and you can get to them when you have time.

So, for our final project, we will be making a doll quilt. Phoebe made this one as a Christmas gift for a cousin. Although Esther thinks it’s for her!

Week 6 {Supplies}
Fabric ( 4-5 fat quarters which are fabric pieces that measure 17.5″ by 22″)*
Double fold bias tape
Batting (18″ by 22″)
Thread
Scissors
Straight pins
Seam Ripper
Ruler or measuring tape
Rotary Cutter (optional)
Cutting Mat (optional)
* You can use scraps or fabric by the yard, you don’t have to have fat quarters. You will want one piece that is 17.5X22 for the backing and then 20 – 4.5″ squares for the front.
Week 6 {Skills Learned}: piecing, quilting and sewing on binding

  •  The first step is to pick your fabric. Phoebe decided to use some polka dot batik fabric and some solid batik fabric that we had.
  • Cut out 20 square that measure 4 1/2″ X 4 1/2″  and 1 piece that is 17.5″X 22″
  • Lay them out to make sure you like it – you will  have 5 rows with 4 squares each
  •  Stack each row, from left to right – so that the square that was on the left is now on top of the stack and the square that was on the right is now at the bottom of the stack.
  • Pin a piece of paper to each stack showing what row it is – this is very important!
  •  Take your first row and put the first 2 squares right sides together and sew a 1/4″ seam down one side
  • Open them up and put the first square to the left
  • Next, take your third square for the row and lay it onto your second square, line up the edge on the right and sew a 1/4″ seam all the way down (this is the photo above)
  • Open them up and keeping your first square to the left
  • Lay your last square on top of the third square, line up the edge on the right and sew a 1/4″ seam all the way down
  • Your first row is now complete (you will notice that the first and the last squares are a little bigger than the middle ones, they are supposed to be. The binding will cover this.)
  • Repeat for your other 4 rows
  •  Press your seams to one side. We pressed them all towards the purple. We could have also pressed them all towards the right or left. It doesn’t really matter, just be consistent. You don’t want to press some rows to the right and some to the left because when you attach the rows it would make them very bulky in spots.
  •  Lay all your rows out in order
  • Take row 2 and flip it up onto row 1
  • Pin the edge where they are to connect – making sure that the the seams are lined up and that the seam allowances are not stacked up on top of each other. You should have one seams going one way and the other seam going the other.
  • Sew them together
  •  Now, lay your first two rows down by the third row and flip the third row onto the second
  • Pin just like you did before
  • Sew a 1/4 inch seam. (Photo above)
  • Repeat with last 2 rows
  •  Press the seams to one side, again it doesn’t matter which side.
  • Your top is completed!
  •  Lay out your backing piece – the 17.5″X22″ piece – wrong side up. Make sure that you have ironed this piece. You can even tape the four corners down to make sure it is nice and flat.
  • Cut a piece of batting that is the same size and put it on top of the backing
  • Lay your top on the batting
  • Pin in a few places – you can also use a basting spray.
  •  Phoebe decided to do diagonals, so she just sewed diagonally through the squares. If your child is younger you can use a disappearing ink or marks be gone marker to mark where she is to sew. You can also do straight lines instead of diagonals or a random pattern. I would caution about doing X’s which is just going diagonal 2 ways. Unless you have your fabric really tight and smooth you run the risk of the fabric bunching up when you do the second set of diagonals. Very frustrating for a child.
  • You will need to roll up the already sewn area to sew the last few diagonals (Photo above)
  •  Next, trim the excess batting and backing off
  •  We chose us round our corners to make the binding easier.
  • Mark each corner with a round “something” – we used a wide mouth canning jar lid
  • Cut that portion off each corner
  •  There are a million and one ways to attach binding. This is just the way that I like to teach children because it it pretty fail safe.
  • Open up your double fold bias tape.
  • Insert your quilt edge into the bias tape all the way to the seam (photo above)
  • Pin – I like to pin so that they are sticking out so that they are easier to remove.
  • When you get to the corners just tug a little on the bias tape- it is stretchy – so that the curves are nice and flat.
  •  When you get to the end you will overlap the ends  by about 1 inch. Cut off any extra bias tape.
  • Fold the raw edges of the last part over about a 1/4″
  • And pin it over the very beginning of the bias tape. Make sure that that it looks nice and that you can’t see the raw edges. This is the tricky part.
  •  To sew on the binding Phoebe used a large zigzag. If you have any extra binding put it in the machine and let your child practice the zigzag (or whatever other non straight stitch) until she finds one she likes. (The reason for not using a straight stitch is that you don’t have to worry about the front and the back lining up perfectly. With a zigzag it will all be sewn down and nothing will be missed.)
  •  Amazing! You now have a beautiful doll quilt for your self or to give as a gift.
  • This same “technique” can be used for any size quilt.

I want to thank all of you who have joined us this summer. Both in person and online. You have taught me alot about teaching a child to sew and have given me some great ideas about future projects.

If you have any other tips or suggestions leave them in the comment section so that we can all learn.

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Thanks for sharing with your friends!

SchneiderPeeps

Friday 5th of August 2011

Thanks, Jessica. I've fixed the problem with the email. Your site is great! I can't wait to have time to really browse it.

Jessica

Thursday 4th of August 2011

Hi Angi, I really liked your tutorial and wanted to let you know that I linked to it on my website (http://www.favequilts.com/Quilted-Toys/Simple-Doll-Quilt), but the e-mail address you have listed on your profile didn't work for me. Have you started using a different one?Thanks!jessica

The Schneiders

Thursday 28th of July 2011

That does sound good, Rachel! I can't wait to see the picture. I bet it is super cute.

Rachel E.

Tuesday 26th of July 2011

I am still working on that needle book. It is really looking quite cute. My kids have lost interest, but I have decided to make the Summer School into Homeschool Sewing Class. Sound Good? I'll post a picture of my book on my blog when I finish, okay?

The Schneiders

Monday 18th of July 2011

Rachel, you've had a very busy summer. I'm sure you'll get to it when the time is right.