Kids' Quilts Blog Hop: Day 3

Welcome back for Day 3 of our Kids' Quilts Blog Hop! Today Emily from Mommy’s Nap Time is here, sharing a tutorial for a quilt with a heartwarming message using pieced letters. Emily used the Doodle Dog by Greta Lynn for Kanvas to make this quilt. 

Check out Emily's instructions for easy free-form pieced letters (she'll show you "HOPE" but you can use the technique to make any word you want!), and then don't miss learning how you can create quilts for NICU babies, as well as a chance to win a bundle of Doodle Dog prints for yourself!

Hi, I'm Emily from Mommy’s Nap Time. I'm a wife, mother, and part-time bookseller. I have a love affair with shrinking complex quilt blocks down to teeny tiny sizes and can’t get enough of the bold saturated colors found in modern fabrics. My heart aches for the littlest babies who spend time in neonatal intensive care units (NICU)- whether they're there for a few days of a few months - so I created a quilt to give to my local NICU. I hope this quilt provides them comfort. 

See the Doodle Dog prints:

Fabric Requirements:

1 yard of a medium to large scale print

1/2 yard fabric A (background)

1/2 yard fabric B (accent / letters)

1 ¼ yard (quilt back)

½ yard (binding)

Supplies:

Sewing machine and standard quilting tools.

Cut:
Cut 3-4 strips from fabric A (background) and fabric B (accent). These strips should be varying widths from 2.5” – 1.5” x width of fabric. Don’t over think, just cut. This bit of randomness will produce more free-form letters. Try not to worry too much. Be free.

Sew:
Sew a pair of strips (fabric A and fabric B) together, right sides together, along the long side. Press seams open. This will be referred to as “strip set.”

Assemble Letter Blocks:

Each letter block will be approx 6” tall finished.

H –

• Cut a 2.5” piece off of the strip set.
• Cut a 2.5” piece of fabric A (cut this from one of the varied width strips cut previously).
•  Sew together.
• Cut (2) 6.5” pieces of fabric B and sew them to either side of the pieced section.

O –

• Cut a 2.5” piece of the strip set.
• Cut a 2.5” piece of fabric B.
• Sew together.
• Cut (2) 6.5” pieces of fabric B and sew to either side of pieced section.
• Cut (4) 2” x 2” squares.
• Place a 2” square at one corner of the block and sew across the diagonal. Trim the excess leaving ¼” seam allowances. Press seams open. Repeat for the other three corners.

P - 

• Cut a 1.5” piece of the strip set, trim fabric A section to leave about 1.5” of fabric A.
• Cut a 1.5” piece of fabric B.
• Sew together.
• Trim pieced section to about 3.5” x 1.5”
• Cut a 3.5” piece of fabric B and sew to the right side of the pieced section.
• Cut (2) 1.5” x 1.5” squares.
• Place a 1.5” square at one (right side) corner and sew across the diagonal. Trim excess leaving ¼” seam allowances. Press seams open. Repeat for the other (right side) corner.
• Cut a 3.5” x 3.5” square of fabric A.
• Sew to the bottom of the pieced section.
• Cut a 6.5” piece of fabric B and sew to the left side of the pieced section.

E –

• Cut (2) 3” pieces of the strip set, trim both fabrics A and B so the strip set is aprox. 2.75” x 3”
• Cut a 1.5” piece of the strip set.
• Sew the above three pieces together according to the diagram.
• Trim pieced section to neaten the edges.
• Cut a 6.5” piece of fabric B and sew to the left side of the pieced section.

Sash blocks:

• Trim the letter blocks so that they are the same height. This may require adding a strip of fabric A to the top or bottom of a letter if the block turned out a little smaller than the rest (see letter P in the example quilt). Trim the sides as needed to neaten the edges.
• Cut a strip of fabric A 2.5” x width of fabric. From this strip cut (3) sashing pieces 6.5” x 1.5"
• Sew the sashing pieces between the letter blocks, joining them as one unit.
• Sew the remaining 2.5” strip to the top and bottom of the pieced unit.
• From fabric A cut a piece 10.5” x width of fabric. From this strip cut a piece 10.5” x 4”
• Sew the 10.5” x 4” piece to the right side of the pieced unit.
• Sew the rest of the 10.5” strip to the left of the pieced unit.

Add background:

• Cut the background fabric into two pieces by cutting off a 4” x 36” piece (along the selvage edge).
• Sew this piece to the bottom of the pieced unit.
• Sew the larger piece of background fabric to the top of the pieced unit.

·         Trim edges and quilt as desired.

About the charity: 
Today's focus isn't about a specific charity, but rather about a group of children who would benefit from donated quilts--babies spending time in the NICU. According to the March of Dimes, during a study done in 2009 and 2010, approximately 14% of newborn babies spent time in the NICU. 
Emily says:
I'll be donating this quilt to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago. My guild is gathering quilts for Lurie's NICU. These quilts will provide comfort for the infants and families cared for in the NICU. At the end of their stay, the NICU patients are sent home with their quilt.

To make a donation, contact your local NICU. Many hospitals have specific requirements for these quilts, so it is best to check with your local hospital.  

Head over to Emily's blog to find out how you can enter to win a FQ bundle of Doodle Dog.

Make sure you check out all the tutorials from the Kids' Quilts Blog Hop:

Day 1: by the Benartex Blog Team, featuring Monkeying Around
Day 2: by Nikki from The Girl Who Quilts, featuring English Rosey
Day 4: by Sarah from Confessions of a Fabric Addict, featuring Yard Dog