Have you ever wanted to make a little quilt but you don't know how to sew? Or maybe you just want to have a cute bit of fall decor finished in a hurry? Then you should consider making a no-sew tiny quilt. I also considered calling this a fabric pixel art project, because that's kinda what it is. I see it as a blend of crafts that I love: quilting and cross stitch. But this takes WAY less time.
I started making these tiny quilts this fall when my friend Kristin of Woolly Petals announced her Ghost Party Sew A Long. I love her quilts (and even collaborated with her to make embroidery patterns for one!), but I knew that making a quilt was not gonna happen before Halloween. But I still LOVED those little ghosties made of so many fabrics. And an idea materialized.
What if I made just one ghost and made it tiny? Now, Kristin has an add-on to make her pattern much smaller than usual, but that would still require sewing and I'm not fast at that. So instead of sewing, I fused the tiny squares to felt. No sewing!
By the way, when I say tiny, I mean the squares on my finished project are 5/8". Because I'm fusing them, there's no seam allowance, so you cut the squares the actual size you want them. You could make them smaller. You could make them bigger. Also because I wasn't sewing, I decided to add some curves to my tiny qhost, which wasn't part of the Ghost Party pattern. They are a little wonky, but that's part of how this how thing goes.
When I made the ghost, I captured the process on video, but really just for fun. Not a whole tutorial. But people asked me more about how I did it, and so I thought I'd make a coordinating pumpkin and show the process better.
For this one, I didn't add curves, but kept the shapes more like traditional quilting. So half-square triangles. But I think it still absolutely works. You'll also notice that the backing and way I added a hanger is different from the ghost. That's mostly for variety!
These are hanging out together at my house, and having them not look exactly the same works well. But I also think that having different ways to make, essentially, the same thing is good. But now let's dive in and make a tiny quilt!
You will need:
Fabric scraps in orange, pink (or another background color), and a tiny bit of brown
Wool or wool blend felt - at least 4-1/2" for the tiny quilt and 5-1/2 x 6" for the backing
Heavy Duty Wonder Under or paper-backed fusible web - 4-1/2" square
Embroidery floss
Wood or bamboo skewer
Perle cotton
Rotary cutter, ruler, and cutting mat
Iron
Tracing paper
Needle
Scissors
Craft glue
Note: When choosing a color for the felt you'll fuse the fabric to, be mindful that some felt may show through a bit. I used white felt, but pink would blend well with all my colors.
Cut the fabric scraps into 5/8" squares. You will need one brown square, 18 orange squares, and 30 pink squares. Cut two pink and two orange squares in half from corner to corner.
Iron the Wonder Under to the felt you're using for the tiny quilt. Once it's cool, peel off the paper.
Arrange the fabric squares on the area of the felt with the fusible web. Follow the grid pattern below:
Try to keep the pieces all straight and lined up with each other. But also know that it's almost impossible to have them be perfect. That's par of the charm of this.
When you're satisfied with the placement of the pieces, gently lay a piece of tracing paper (or the paper backing from the Wonder Under) over the pieces. This is important so you don't end up with adhesive on your iron.
Iron to fuse the fabric to the felt.
Trim the edges with a rotary cutter so there's no extra felt showing on the sides. This is also when you can make your tiny quilt more square.
If you want a face on your pumpkin (and why wouldn't you? it's super cute!), embroider the face with six strands of embroidery floss. Use French knots for the eyes and a scallop stitch for the mouth.
Next, cut the backing felt to 5-1/2 x 6" if you haven't already done so. Cut the skewer to the same width as the tiny quilt. Utility scissors are helpful for this.
Stitch the skewer piece to the top of the felt backing. Use perle cotton and whip stitch to make two sets of stitches at each end as shown.
Slide your needle under the skewer between the sets of stitches to create a hanger. Make a loop and tie the ends together.
Glue the tiny quilt to the backing with a thin layer of craft glue.
Once the glue is dry (which doesn't take long!), you can hang your tiny quilt and enjoy pumpkin spice season! This is truly a quilt project you can make in an hour or two. No sewing machine needed.
For spooky season, these two tiny quilts are ready to hang out together. And ideas for more fall or Halloween designs are in the works, along with more tiny quilts for other holidays and cute stuff.
I think these would look especially adorable on a wall full of embroidery hoops and other artwork. Right? Pull out your scrap bins and start sewing...er...ironing!
