Sweet Dreams Baby Quilt

Baby quilts are so much fun to make and gift. This Sweet Dreams quilt is a cute, adorable example of a baby quilt to sew.

The crib-size quilt shows a family of bears sleeping under a patchwork quilt.

The baby quilt pattern is an exclusive design from Annie's Craft Store that provides detailed instructions on how to stitch the quilt along with bear templates.

Are you new to quilting and want to make a baby quilt, this Sweet Dreams Baby Quilt has a skill level easy making it a baby quilt for beginners.

If you want to learn about this Sweet Dreams baby quilt, we've created a video tutorial for you to watch. Simply click on the link below to go to our YouTube video tutorial.

In addition, below we provide information on this quilt along with helpful tips.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Sweet Dreams Pattern (link to the pattern at end of this post)
• Scrap fabric
• 1 1/2 yard border fabric (and binding)
• 1/2 yard binding fabric (optional)
• Fusible Web
• Rotary cutter, quilters ruler and mat
• As with most sewing projects, sewing machine, iron, ironing board, scissor and pins

Information and tips for making sweet dreams quilt:

tip 1: fabric

First, to make the patchwork any combination of assorted squares can be used and it's a great way to use up scrap fabric.

This baby quilt was made as a baby shower gift.  The nursery room theme was purple walls with teddy bear decals.  So, the Sweet Dreams Quilt pattern was a perfect choice to match a quilt with nursery decor.

Selecting a color palette for a quilt pattern can be the toughest part. For the color palette for this quilt, the color was purple.   A variety of purple, green, yellow and pink assorted tonal and printed fabrics were chosen.  

This quilt adapts well to any color combination you want.

To make the patchwork I chose the flower daisy patterned fabric first.   This was my main fabric which is sometimes referred to as the foundation fabric.  After selecting the main fabric, I selected a range of light, medium and dark fabrics from my scrap bin to achieve a pleasing complimentary contrast of colors.

For the bears, chosen was a combination of two neutral colors.

The border fabric was chosen and purchased after the patchwork section of the quilt was completed.

tip 2: the patchwork

Although the pattern starts by making the appliqued panel first, I chose to begin the quilt by making the patchwork first. 

To make the patchwork from the chosen fabric cut 4 1/2"  squares; 72 of them. Note: I actually cut a few extras.

After cutting the squares, using a table as a design wall, I arranged and rearranged the 4 1/2" squares into a pleasing pattern to form 8 rows of 9 squares each as stated in the pattern.

Carefully using the chain piecing technique, I sewed together each row and then sewed the rows together to form the patchwork below. After finishing the patchwork, off to the quilt store I went, to find complimentary border material.

TIP 3: tracing APPLIQUE BEARS

Once the patchwork was completed, it was time to move on to the applique section.

Using the bear templates provided with the pattern, trace all bear template pieces onto the paper side of the fusible web (I use Heat n Bond Light). 

There are a number of ways to trace the designs onto the fusible web.

1. Simply lay the fusible web on top of the pattern and trace.
2. Use a lightbox to trace it.
3. Window Glass Method – Tape the pattern to a window glass so it won't move, put the fusible web over the pattern and trace.

After tracing, cut around the applique pieces about 1/4" outside the pencil line.  You don't have to be precise. Do not cut on the drawn lines.

TIP 4: FUSING PIECES TO FABRIC

Let me explain how to fuse the applique pieces onto the fabric.  It's fused to the back side of the fabric.  

Begin by preheating the iron to a medium heat setting or setting specified by the fusible web manufacturer. Then press the fabric to remove any wrinkles. 

Place the pretty side of the fabric down on the ironing board (the wrong side is facing up).  Place the adhesive side of the fusible web (the rough side) onto the wrong side of the fabric.  You will be ironing the paper side of the fusible web.

Fuse the fusible web to the fabric by ironing the paper backing according to the directions that came with the product.  Don’t use the steam function.

If the design is large, you may need to lift the iron and move to another section to continue fusing.

TIP 5: APPLIQUE BEARS panel

Let the applique pieces cool for a few seconds before doing anything with them.  After all the pieces are adhered to the fabric and cooled, cut out each individual shape exactly along the drawn lines.

Prepare the panel to which the bears will be appliqued.

The pattern wants you to fuse all the pieces to the panel at one time and then machine blanket stitch around them. 

After previewing the appliques, I noticed that if I did as the pattern stated when blanket stitching around the head it would be interrupted because of the paws.  

So my tip is to fuse the heads and ears first and blanket stitch around them before adding the paws. 

Before machine blanket stitching around the bears, try out the stitch on some scraps. Then play with the various stitch width and length settings and see which one appeals to you. 

Then, begin blanket stitching the pieces in place.

To ensure the blanket stitches don't unravel, a tip is to use a needle to draw the thread (beginning end ending thread tails) to the back of the applique panel and tie a knot.

After blanket stitching around the head and ears, fuse the paws, snout and nose in place and machine blanket stitch them in place.

TIP 6: machine stitching eyes

The pattern called for machine stitching the eyes after the entire quilt was machine quilted.  I decided to transfer the sleeping eyes patterns to each of the bear heads and double-stitch over the lines with black thread now.

WHY?

• It's much easier to stitch when the applique panel is not attached to the patchwork section
•  Much, much easier to stitch before the quilt sandwich is made
• Won't have to worry about the bobbin thread showing on the quilt surface

TIP 7: BORDER FABRIC

The pattern instructions say to purchase 1 ½ yards of fabric for the border fabric strips.  And these strips are cut as one long continuous border along the length of the fabric (parallel to the selvage). 

Cutting the borders parallel to the fabric selvage meant that there would be no piecing involved (which is a plus).  But, it results in a lot of leftover fabric. 

The leftover fabric could be stored away for another project but to save some money the same fabric can be used for the binding.

TIP 8: machine QUILTING

Once the quilt top was completed it was time to make a quilt sandwich and machine quilt.

 For the patchwork, I simply stitched a diagonal line through the blocks.

In the appliqued bear section, I used echoing.

In the borders, I straight line quilted two lines close together.

TIP 9:  Finishing up

When the quilting was complete, square the quilt and trimmed the backing and batting even with the raw edges of the top. 

Prepare the binding and stitch it to the quilt. Explore the many ways of binding a quilt here.

That's it.  I love the way it turned out and am excited to gift it.  

I hope you enjoyed seeing this adorable Sweet Dreams baby quilt come together and appreciate some of the tips and things I learned while making it.

here is A list of fun and free baby quilt patterns

These free baby quilt patterns will have you creating a special gift for the new addition to your or someone's family.

• Easy Charm Pack Quilt
• I Spy Quilt
• Pinwheel Quilt

If you love to quilt you may be interested in these related posts:

35+ Potholder Patterns to Make

30+ Free Quilted Kitchen Decor Patterns

Scrap Quilt Patterns