In addition to being very sweet, the tassel-like ties hold the quilt together in lieu of stitches—in fact, they're called "quilt knots." And if there's no newborn in your circle, the finished product also makes a nice lap warmer on cool nights.
What You'll Need
Materials
- Fabric (Pictured: Kiyohara Kokochi double gauze fabric, in Dots Silver Grey, $21 per yard, purlsoho.com)
- Batting (Pictured: Quilter's Dream cotton batting, in Crib Size, Supreme Weight, $13, purlsoho.com)
- Sewing machine and supplies
- Iron and ironing board
- Quilting safety pins
- Embroidery floss (Pictured: DMC embroidery floss, in 3779 Ultra VY LT Terra Cotta, 3821 Straw, and 721 MD Orange Spice, 52¢ each, michaels.com)
- Fabric scissors
- Hand sewing needle
- Tailor's chalk
Instructions
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Cut fabric and batting to desired size (quilt shown measures 40 inches square). Lay back piece right-side up. Place front piece on top, wrong-side up. Top with batting, and pin all three layers together at edges. Machine-sew around sides with a 3/4-inch seam allowance, leaving an 8-inch gap in middle of top side.
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Snip off corners and turn fabric right-side out through gap. Poke out corners so they're pointy, then hand-stitch gap closed. Press with iron, lay flat, and secure layers with quilting safety pins every 5 to 7 inches.
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Measure and mark where to tack quilt together by placing ties, no more than 7 inches apart; check batting packaging for instructions. (On this fabric, we placed a bow on every tenth dot.)
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Thread needle with three strands of embroidery floss. Insert, pull through, and then bring back up 1/8 inch from insertion point. Tie a square knot—cross left strand over right and pull tight, then cross right strand over left and pull tight again. Snip ties to desired length, and fluff. Remove pins.