My daughter loves to put her Barbies to bed. For Christmas I made her a full sized toddler quilt and a matching lap quilt in Frozen movie themed colors to go with her posters and toys. It's her favorite movie right now, she loves to sing all the songs and enjoys anything Elsa and Anna related. With the leftover tiny scraps I decided to make a Barbie sized quilt to match. This is a fun and easy project to do with your little quilt scraps.
These are the leftover squares from making the larger quilts, they were originally cut as 4 1/2" squares to allow for 1/4" seams.
After considering how to get the most tiny squares out of my scraps, I cut the 4 1/2" squares into 1 1/2" squares. That allowed for 9 tiny squares per block.
After cutting as many 1 1/4" squares as possible, I used my quilting grid to lay out my squares in a pattern. I always start with the boldest color and then fill in around it.
I used the main pattern of my daughter's toddler bed quilt so they would match, and I had already spent a lot of time working out the pattern to look like a snowflake starburst.
Next, I folded over the second row on top of the first, then stacked the pairs from bottom to top to be fed through the sewing machine in that order, sewing the right edge on each pair. This helps me keep the blocks organized.
Here are some of the paired rows sewn together in long strings, like those Mexican flags. You can open the pairs up and press them with an iron before continuing.
Next I sewed the pairs together in long columns. There was one column of three at the end because I used an uneven number of rows. Try to iron in between each step, it makes the seams come out more evenly.
After I sewed the tall rows together, I needed a few more inches to make it Barbie bed sized. Since this was my first doll quilt, I really didn't know how big to make it. You could add a few more rows of squares, or several borders, depending on your taste. I had some long skinny strips left over that fit perfectly.
I used the finished, ironed top to measure out a backing piece. I also had leftover material from putting the backs on the bigger quilts.
I sewed the top and back together with right sides facing, leaving a hole about 3-4 inches long in one side to flip the whole thing right-side out later. In a similar manner, I used the measurement just inside the outer seam to cut a piece of extra batting. This could be made of felt, or skipped altogether for something as small as a doll blanket.
Now it was time to flip! My mom always told me to roll the edges inward and that helps keep the batting in place while you push it through the hole.
To flip everything right-side out, stuff it all through the hole you left and carefully spread it out, pushing the corners out and straightening any clumped batting inside. Hand-stitch or machine sew the hole closed on the edge.
Here's the finished quilt! Some people use embroidery floss to make little ties at the corners and keep the batting in place, or "quilt" the top using "stitching in the ditch" in certain areas, and the more skilled quilters do elaborate swirls and such. I doubt the batting on a doll quilt is going to move much, but I stitched a few lines around the middle square and outside of the pattern to keep it all in place.
I think the two doll quilts turned out super cute! The doll bedding will match her toddler bed and lap blanket perfectly. She seemed very happy when I handed them to her, and that's all I care about. What a great use for those tiny scraps... I'm sure I will be making more in the future!
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