Speaking of Fidget Quilts, Ann had a wonderful suggestion: “Small children might like something with lots of different textures too. I think lap quilts made from the variety of textures might be nice for children who may ‘fidget’ during worship.” Great idea, Ann!

Here’s a variation for those who like to do appliqué. Some of you may even remember this quilt from back about 2005 I believe (more about Emmeline’s Menagerie here).
All the baby animals on this quilt are made from different soft and furry fabrics. Here are some tips if you want to try making one of your own for a special child in your life.

1). Choose an appliqué pattern with simple shapes. Modify an existing pattern or draw up one of your own. This cute brown bear came from Kari Pearson’s book Playful Patchwork Projects. I added a flower and then drew up more animal friends to go with her. Avoid sharp points and tight curves. Having to worry about difficult or even just unfamiliar fabrics and a complex pattern is a surefire recipe for unnecessary stress.

2). Prewash all fabrics to preshrink and test for durability if you plan for the quilt to be washed in the future. You can find lots of great washable fashion fabrics at fabric stores, which is fantastic, since kids quilts can get dirty quite often.

3). Synthetic suede is really easy to work with. The back is clingy so you don’t even need to fuse or pin it down. You can if you want to though. If you’re going to fuse just set your iron to medium and use a press cloth to prevent scorching. Sometimes you can find faux suede with a dappled/tie dye pattern. A great product to try is Zwade Fusible Synthetic Suede. Zwade comes with the fusible already on the back and is convenient, fun and easy to use.

4). Polar fleece is another good choice. It is clingy like synthetic suede and comes in many different thicknesses and textures. Berber fleece is a bumpy fleece, kind of like lamb’s wool.

5). Other textured fabrics that are easy to appliqué include Warm & Natural batting (use it as an outer fabric!) and wool felt (prewash in hot water for a terrific bumpy texture). Velvet is also not too hard as long as you choose the non-lycra variety.

6). In between easy-peasy and challenging are chenille (sew slowly as you go over the bumps for a nicely finished stitch) and Minky dots (don’t fuse this one, you wouldn’t want to smash those cute bumpy polka dots).

7). Save the furriest, most challenging fabrics for last. Hands are very smart. Think of accomplished guitarists, pianists, or knitters, who don’t need to look at their fingers because of all their practice. After you’ve sewn a dozen or so blocks your fingers will start to “remember” the shape of the appliqués as you guide them under the sewing machine foot. This was very helpful when I worked on this black puppy dog. It was not only the thickest fur on the entire quilt, but it was black too. I felt like I was sewing blind, but my hands knew how to turn the block because I’d already made 19 blocks, including 3 dogs. (I’m definitely not suggesting you should close your eyes while you’re sewing, just that you should trust your hands to know what they’re doing.)

8). If your furry fabric is just too plush to handle you can give it a “haircut” by trimming it down with scissors on the edge where you will be stitching.

9). Another trick is to use a difficult fabric on only part of the block, like the fluffy ears on this little pooch.

10). Don’t limit yourself to just one machine appliqué stitch throughout the entire quilt. Do tests with your scraps and try out the zig zag, satin, and blanket stitch if you have it. (Check out the pink kitty block below where I used both satin stitch and machine blanket stitch.) Non-ravelly fabrics can even take a straight stitch if you wish.

11). For faces, satin stitch the eyes and mouth. A straight stitch can often get lost in fluffy fabric. You can appliqué a piece of fabric for the nose. For children over 3 buttons make fun eyes and noses.

12). Fabric collars and bows make great safe embellishments. Try lamé and other glittery fabrics, brocade, corduroy, and pleather.

13). Have fun embellishing with ribbons and other doo-dads. Be sure to attach them securely because children can and will pull them off. Better to be safe than sorry when embellishing for children 3 and under. Save the beads and buttons for older kids or wallhangings that will be displayed safely out of reach. (Below are some blocks that Annika and I are working on for a wall hanging for her room.)

14). Be bright! Why not make a blue bunny, a pink kitty, or a red puppy? Color your animals with all the colors of the rainbow.