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Elizabeth’s Fabric Focus ~ Charm Squares Baby Quilt

Every month Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson! shares a new project featuring one of our current fabric collections. We love everything she creates but Elizabeth’s quilts are especially wonderful and she has a series of great tutorials on Oh, Fransson! to guide you through various quilting steps. Today’s Charm Squares Baby Quilt is a perfect Scrap Buster project and incorporates so much of what we love about Elizabeth’s quilts. Download your free Charm Squares Baby Quilt PDF Pattern today!

If you don’t have a charm pack around, you can make your own with scraps. It only takes a few minutes. Get out your rotary cutter, take a stack of your scraps and simply cut them into 5″ x 5″ squares. You’ll need 38 squares for this project.

You can find all of Elizabeth’s free monthly tutorials on our blog: Advent Calendar, Stack & Nest Quilted Blocks, Laptop Sleeve, April Bags, Pincushion Organizer, Ponytail Scarves, Sawtooth Stars. Elizabeth also has PDF patterns for sale in her Etsy shop.

From Elizabeth: I love to make handmade quilts as baby gifts, but find that I often run out of time. (As I write this, I have a stack of baby announcements on my desk to which I have yet to respond. Yikes!) I wrote this quick and easy quilt pattern with efficiency in mind. It takes advantage of precut charm (5″ x 5″) squares and uses few other materials, cutting out a lot of prep work and making it possible to finish the whole quilt in a single afternoon.

For my quilt, I used a package of charm squares from Tula Pink’s Hushabye collection. These cotton candy, kiwi, aquamarine and cocoa prints are perfect for a baby quilt, but have a refereshing level of sophistication. They also include Tula Pink’s signature animal motifs, which makes them lots of fun to look at! Essex cotton/linen in Sand makes lovely coordinating sashing.

Because precut fabrics like charm squares are not intended to be prewashed, I didn’t prewash my binding, backing or sashing fabric either. If you would prefer to use something you can prewash (or just can’t find what you’re looking for in charm packs) cut 5″ x 5″ charm squares from 1/4 yard or fat quarter cuts of fabric. In general, you can expect to be able to cut 8 squares from 1/4 yard of fabric and 12 squares from a fat quarter.

Regardless of what charm squares you use, machine wash and dry your finished quilt to make it clean, soft and crinkly before giving it to the recipient. As long as you use cotton batting, your quilt will crinkle whether or not you prewash your fabric.

The PDF directions are mainly concerned with piecing. If you’re looking for more detailed instructions about quilt construction, I’ve written about my methods here:

Making a Quilt Sandwich

Free-Motion Quilting

Making and Sewing Binding

Download your Charm Squares Baby Quilt PDF Pattern and enjoy! Have you made something with Hushabye, charm squares or a handmade baby gift? Show them off in one of our SMS photo pools!

Win a Scrap Bag from Sew,Mama,Sew! Comment on any post this week for your chance to win one of two Scrap Bags from the shop.

Also: Enter the Scrap Buster Tutorial Contest today! 3 Winners will receive a $50 gift certificate to Sew,Mama,Sew!

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 7:07 am and is filed under Scrap Buster Month, Tutorials & Projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

72 Responses to “Elizabeth’s Fabric Focus ~ Charm Squares Baby Quilt”

  1. Julie GM responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 7:31 am →

    Wow! I love it! I’ve alwalys wanted to make a quilt! I’m just hoping I can finish by Xmas! {zero time!} I have to sew in my sleep! =) thx for the chance & the free Tutorial!

  2. Margaret responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 7:31 am →

    It’s always a treat to see something from Elizabeth. Her sense of colour and simplicity of style let the fabrics speak for themselves.

  3. Maggi responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 7:36 am →

    I love charm squares and coiny quilts, and Oh Fransson! makes lovely things! We have been in some swap groups together. Thanks for showcasing her lovelies.

  4. MamaBee responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 7:43 am →

    Ooh, lovely! Thanks for the pattern!

  5. brandy responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 8:13 am →

    So beautiful!

    http://minivanlife.wordpress.com

  6. Jen Eskidge responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 8:14 am →

    I LOVE charm patterns. They are just so cute, so its wonderful to have so many ways to use them. Thanks!

  7. Christina responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 8:24 am →

    This is beautiful and such a great idea! As a quilter, I’m always looking for ways to make quick gifts!

  8. qsogirl responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 8:28 am →

    very pretty! I’d love to make a quilt like this!

  9. Kolleen responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 8:41 am →

    This looks like a great “quick” pattern–I never understood cutting up the charms a dozen ways–might as well buy yardage. The single cut adds variety without taking away the convenience. Thank you!

  10. Luvzbooks responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 8:42 am →

    I love this quilt pattern…and the fabrics chosen for the pictures are so pretty! Thank you for sharing this.

  11. Rochelle responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 8:52 am →

    Always love to see Elizabeth’s projects!

  12. Lea-Ann responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 8:59 am →

    Beautiful quilt! Thanks for the pattern!

  13. Jennifer J responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 9:01 am →

    It’s beautiful! I have fallen in love with the Hushabye line, and I think that I might actually be able to make this quilt! Thanks so much for the pattern!

  14. wendy responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 9:02 am →

    That’s beautiful! I’m so glad I have some pregnant friends right now to give me an excuse :D

  15. Nicole responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 9:35 am →

    Thanks for the free tutorial! I haven’t made a quilt before, but I am going to give this a try. Perfect timing since two of my friends found out they are pregnant and due in April and May! Thank you again!

  16. Katie Bowlby responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 9:59 am →

    Thanks for the pattern! I’ll definitely put this one on my list of things to make.

  17. Amy responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 10:39 am →

    The colors are very nice. I am working on a baby quilt at the moment too!

  18. Katie responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 10:42 am →

    This is so awesome. I want to make the EXACT same quilt – same fabric and everything. I’m a huge Elizabeth fan. I recently completed my first ever quilt with her excellent tutorials. Oh and I made her Advent calendar, too.

  19. Lorajean responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 10:49 am →

    I was just sitting here wondering what to make for a baby shower. You all are mind readers!

  20. Diane responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 10:59 am →

    Adorable!

  21. Sarah responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 11:02 am →

    very cute I’ve always wondered about the precuts. I could never wrap my head around buying smaller scrap size cuts. This is lovely and I get it now…variety for cheeper. I think I might be inspired to buy my first charm pack.

  22. Ali responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 11:26 am →

    Beautiful!!

  23. Lauren responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 11:44 am →

    A while back I was looking for an online pattern for a quilt using Charm Packs and was hard-pressed to find one…. This would have been perfect. I will have to shop around for my next stack : )

  24. Ellen Ban responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 12:00 pm →

    Love the Hushabye in the quilt. Looking forward to making one of these with my charm packs. Thanks, Oh Fransson!

  25. Jennifer responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 12:08 pm →

    I’ve never used charm squares… I think I’ll have to fix that!

  26. Bethany responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 12:26 pm →

    I love making baby quilts! This is a great tutorial, thank you.

  27. Julia M. in MI responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 12:37 pm →

    This is a beautiful quilt.

  28. Kadybug responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 12:41 pm →

    Thank you for the wonderful free pattern. I am very excited to try this one out.

  29. Celeste responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 12:44 pm →

    Just lovely! This is going in my to-make pile for our little one on the way.

  30. amanda responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 2:36 pm →

    This is fantastic…I started buying charm packs recently but have yet to use any of them. :)

  31. Kim K. responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 2:49 pm →

    What an easy and adorable project! Thanks for the tutorial!

  32. abby responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 2:58 pm →

    Simply beautiful! I’ve been a fan of Oh Fransson since stumbling across her web sight months ago. I’ve bought her wristlet pattern and her mixtape quilts and have made both. Great stuff!

  33. Lisa responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 3:02 pm →

    Elizabeth’s creations are always inspiring….I have two charm packs that I need to put together. Thank you for the charm baby quilt idea!

  34. Heather B responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 5:23 pm →

    Gorgeous – I love that green fabric!

  35. Mary on Lake Pulaski responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 5:28 pm →

    Very cute and quick baby quilt and I love it made out of Hushaby!

  36. Brina responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 5:38 pm →

    Im thrilled to see this pattern in pdf … i have a couple of charm packs and just look at them and wonder why i bought them…THIS quilt is why i bought them. Thanks…gonna get right on this!

  37. Brooke responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 5:50 pm →

    Wonderful quilt. Love the fabrics.

  38. Amy responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 5:58 pm →

    I have that very same package of charm squares…now I know exactly what to do with it!

  39. Liz responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 6:07 pm →

    so cute! i just love prints combined with solids.

  40. renee responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 6:36 pm →

    very nice

  41. Deborah S. responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 10:53 pm →

    Thank you for so many great ideas. I also have a pile of baby announcements and this quilt seems like a great, quick gift idea for all of those baby showers that I am invited to this month.

  42. Celia responds:
    Posted: October 1st, 2009 at 11:19 pm →

    The quilt looks quite sophisticated. I love the look of this stacked blocks of pattern. I am in the process of doing something very similar for my daughter at this moment.

  43. Holly responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 3:21 am →

    i love the colors!

  44. Peta-Jane responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 4:08 am →

    Simple. elegant.achievable. LOVE IT !!

  45. Stéphanie responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 4:55 am →

    Thanks for that lovely tutorial !! I am looking forward to get some more free time to do my very own quilt and this model seems very nice to sew !

    Thanks

    Hello from France

  46. Monika responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 5:30 am →

    You´re so right – such a lovely fabric for a baby quilt! Thank you for sharing:)

  47. Barbara responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 7:24 am →

    Oh what a wonderful way to use the charm packs. This is such an adorable baby quilt.

  48. Christine responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 8:14 am →

    I have always loved scrap quilts, and not only is this one easy, but it (possibly) uses many different fabrics, which is so fun to look at. I’m sure a baby will have fun looking at all the patterns.

  49. mel responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 8:23 am →

    Thanks so much for the tute! I’ve been holding onto a nice stash of FQs for a quilt for my baby girl. It’ll be my first go at quilting and making one for The Niblet is very exciting!!

    Thank you again for sharing!!

  50. Kerneknop responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 8:46 am →

    The fabric for the backside of the quilt is really great. So pretty. As is all of the quilt.

  51. BeckyS responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 8:46 am →

    Wow! I love doing patchwork but quilting scares me. Lovely job! Great tutorial.

  52. Bobbie responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 10:22 am →

    I just ordered these charm squares and I’m so excited to try this quilt, thanks for the pattern.

  53. Linda T responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 10:45 am →

    Thanks for the instructions. I love the one that you’ve completed.

  54. Tally responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 11:08 am →

    Lovely. Happy baby and mother to receive this quilt.
    Hello from Germany
    Tally

  55. Anne responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 12:49 pm →

    This is a gorgeous quilt. Thanks for the tutorial

  56. Donna responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 2:53 pm →

    You always do such quality work and your tutorials are excellent. Thanks for your effort!

  57. KatieV responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 3:41 pm →

    I am just finishing my first quilt top and might try this for my second! :)

  58. Natalie responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 4:02 pm →

    I’m a late bloomer…I taught myself to sew for my granddaughter using your tutorials. I’m expecting (hoping, crossing my fingers) for more grandchildren and would love to make this quilt for the next one. The tutorial is really clear and I think I could do it!

  59. JSB responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 5:15 pm →

    Adorable! I am going to try this with the Monaco!

  60. KariS responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 6:21 pm →

    Perfect! I have been looking for something to pass along to my mom who is wanting to get back into quilting. I’m thinking this would be a great start. Maybe she can decide on some gorgeous fabrics and whip up a couple for the girlies for christmas?!?!

  61. Tanya F responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 8:08 pm →

    those colours are fabulous… i have a moda charm pack i have been meaning to use for a year now and this is the perfect project! thankyou!

  62. Jon responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 8:29 pm →

    great quilt as always. love it:)

  63. Paige responds:
    Posted: October 2nd, 2009 at 9:10 pm →

    Beautiful quilt, and I really love that line of fabric!

  64. __L__ responds:
    Posted: October 3rd, 2009 at 1:02 am →

    It’s really lovely! Perfect for a baby!

  65. Ramona responds:
    Posted: October 3rd, 2009 at 8:16 am →

    I’ve been looking for a cute and easy baby quilt pattern. Love it.

  66. Ruth responds:
    Posted: October 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 pm →

    This quilt is lovely. I have a stack of 6″ squares that will be perfect for an adaption of this pattern. Thank you.

  67. Grace Wong responds:
    Posted: October 4th, 2009 at 12:52 pm →

    this is so pretty!

  68. Ali responds:
    Posted: October 4th, 2009 at 4:21 pm →

    What a great idea with a charm pack. I hope SMS will carry more charm packs in the future! hint, hint. :)

  69. Krystina responds:
    Posted: October 5th, 2009 at 8:12 am →

    I love everything that Elizabeth does. really beautiful quilt. I’ve been coveting that hushabye fabric a while… darn you SMS! I’m trying to cut back!

  70. Jan responds:
    Posted: October 6th, 2009 at 7:35 pm →

    Really cute quilt! I think I may try it for the next baby gift. Thanks for sharing it!

  71. Elizabeth responds:
    Posted: October 7th, 2009 at 6:54 pm →

    I love it! I have several baby gifts to make and I am going to use this pattern. Thanks so much!

  72. Itaya responds:
    Posted: November 3rd, 2009 at 11:47 pm →

    Looks like the PDF file is damaged. Just thought I’d let you know as I’d really like to have this adorable quilt pattern. :)
    Thanks!

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