Sapphires and Rubies Baby Quilt Pattern

Published by Shana | Filed under Free, Patterns, Quilting

Just a few days officially into summer, and I’m reminded of all the reasons this is my least favorite season. Sure, winter is dark and cold, but it’s a game of endurance and mental distraction. There is absolutely nothing enjoyable about the outdoors in winter, so hunker down, put on a sweater, and keep yourself busy. It is the seasonal equivalent of a graduation ceremony – no one wants to be there, but here we are and there’s no point in whining.

Summer, on the hand, puts forth a plethora of delights.  The sun stays up later than I do, there are things to grow, bodies of water to jump in, sports to play, carnivals to entertain. All of these things sound so wonderful. But then Summer layers heat on humidity on bug bites on sunburns and then screams right in your face, “ARE YOU HAVING FUN YET!?”. No, Summer, I am not, and you’re kind of an idiot. Summer is that guy that thinks a concert isn’t hopping unless people are suffering permanent hearing loss.

Taking this photo was the maximum amount of time I spent outdoors all day. Success.

So, while everyone else is outside pretending like feeding chiggers is SO MUCH FUN, I finished a quilt, holing myself up in where my air conditioner was barely keeping up. I’m really hoping that is due to the giant pot of wort (for beer), the washing machine, dishwasher and baking pan of brownies (if they’re Paleo, it’s okay to eat a fourth of the pan!*), and not the AC giving up hope.

It’s for the sister of the owner of this quilt, who should be arriving any day. I suppose this pattern could have worked just fine as a two-color quilt, but I liked the idea of toying with a contrast color, just to make things more interesting. And, since baby makes four, I settled on this.

*this is not true, but I won’t judge.

Sapphires and Rubies Baby Quilt

Finished size: 37″ x 54″ to fit a crib

Supplies

• 1 yard main color (blue)
• .25 yard contrast color (pink)
• 1 yard background color (beige) – 1 yard gives you no room for error, so you might consider buying a little extra.
• 1.75 yards backing fabric
• 3/8 yards for binding – if you are using the main color for the binding, you need 1.25 yards total of the main color
• Batting and typical quilting notions

Cut

From the main fabric, cut:

• 28 – 5″ squares
• 14 – 5  3/4″ squares

From the secondary fabric, cut:

• 4 – 5″ squares
• 2 – 5  3/4″ squares

From the background fabric, cut:

• 32 – 5″ squares
• 64 – 3 1/8″ squares

I put bright pink polka dots for the backing.

Piece Blocks

With the 5 3/4″ squares and the 3 1/8″ squares, create 64 flying geese following this 4-at-a-time tutorial. Quilting chalk will make it much easier to get .25″ seams.

Sew your well pressed flying geese to the top and bottom of 5″ square in the corresponding colors.

Press seams toward the center. You will have 32 total ‘gems’ – 28 in your main color and 4 in the contrast color.

Sew a 5″ background square to each gem, and press seams.

Piecing Top

Each piece has a background side where the background square was sewn and a gem-side where the point of a flying geese block is. The gems are sewn into four rows of 8, alternating having the gem on the left and the gem on the right.

Overview of quilt top

Starting each row with the gem on the left, sew:

• Two rows of all main color gems.
• One row that is 2 main, 3 contrast, 3 main.
• One row that is 3 main, 1 contrast, 4 main.

Press all seams well.

Sew the rows together in the same order they are listed.

Press all seams well.

Finishing

Back, bind and quilt your new baby quilt.

I think I should probably add some stitching in those gem. I probably won’t, but you certainly should. Shoddy craftsmanship if you don’t.

Print PDF

Having troubles? Check out the FAQs.