Fat Quarter Doll Quilt

Today I am participating a year long sew along with 11 other bloggers. This is actually my second project as part of this sew along, my first was a simple scrunchies tutorial that I shared earlier this year. You can find all of the details for the sew along on Underground Crafter. Basically every other week one of us will be sharing a small sewing project, a "little gift" idea. It will be something that takes 1-4 fat quarters, or less than 1 yard of fabric to make. They will all work as stocking stuffers, or for any other time you need a small gift. The idea is that by the end of the year you will have lots of little gift ideas perfect for Christmas stockings, or just building up a stash of gifts.

Along the way, if you make the projects and share them HERE (click the link then scroll to the bottom to find the linkup) you will be entered to win fun prizes from some of our favorite craft companies.

Today's project is probably one of the most simple fat quarter projects ever because you are basically just sewing the fat quarters together and adding some binding. There is very little cutting involved, mostly just trimming to even things up. 

My girls have been playing with dolls a lot the last few days and during that time I was trying to think of what I could make for this Little Gift post. Watching them play gave me the idea of making a doll accessory of some kind and I eventually decided on a quilt. 

At first I started sketching out ideas for a patchwork quilt thinking I would use 1 fat quarter for the back and then 3 others for the pieced top. I was trying to think of patterns that would work well with 3 colors and drew out a few different designs. Then I thought, if I am going to use a fat quarter as the back, why not make it super simple for myself and just use a fat quarter for the front too. Put 2 fat quarters together with some batting in the middle, bind the edge, and that's it, doll quilt made.

The fat quarters are the perfect size at 18" x 22" for a doll quilt. It is the perfect size to use with baby dolls or with 18" dolls like American Girl dolls. It will probably end up just a little smaller than the 18" x 22" of the original fat quarter because you will want to trim them just a little to make sure they are the same size, and really it just depends on how exactly they were cut in the first place, but either way it will be close to that size. 

It would be really cute if you had a fat quarter that was a cheater quilt type print so you could still get the pieced look without the work, but I didn't have any of those on hand and wanted to use what I had. All you need to make this simple quilt is a couple of fat quarters for the quilt, some batting, and either another fat quarter or similar sized piece of fabric or some bias tape for the binding. A few minutes of sewing and you have a cute little doll quilt ready to gift. 

How to Make a Fat Quarter Doll Quilt

You will need:

• 2 coordinating fat quarters 
• 18" x 22" piece of batting
• 1 more fat quarter, 1/4 yard of fabric, or precut bias tape for binding (I used a piece of fabric that was 12" x 26" and it was more than enough)
• rotary cutter, mat, and ruler
• sewing machine
• thread
• iron
• basting spray (optional, but it will help hold the quilt together while quilting)

Instructions:

First trim your two fat quarters so that they are straight and the same size. You shouldn't have to trim a lot, just even up any edges that aren't straight.

Lay one fat quarter right side down, if you are using basting spray then you will spray it, lay the batting on top, spray, lay the top fabric right side up. If you are not using basting spray you may want to pin the pieces together to try to keep it from shifting too much while you quilt. 

Quilt your quilt. I think straight lines are super easy for a simple quilt like this but you can do any design you want. I had a plaid fabric on the back of my quilt so I just followed those lines to give me my quilting pattern. 

I did not have any basting spray when I made my quilt and it shifted just a little bit while I was quilting. If that happens to you You can just trim it again before adding the binding to make sure all of the edges are even. 

Last you will need to add the binding. For my binding I cut 2 1/2" strips, sewed them together, folded them in half and pressed. Then I stitched the binding to the front of my quilt, folded it around to the back and carefully stitched it close to the edge of the binding on the back. I didn't want to hand sew the binding on a doll quilt so it was machine sewn on both sides, but that was just my preference. 

Once the binding is on the quilt is done. Roll it up and tie it with a bow or wrap it up and it is ready to give away.