SNUGGLE BUNNY

Sew the sweetest quilt for a new baby, complete with soft, floppy ears and a striking patchwork panel

YOU WILL NEED

■ Fabric A (white) 1¼yds

■ Fabric B (Grey) / yd

■ Fabric C (Green) / yd

■ Fabric D (Yellow) ¼yd

■ Fabric E (Orange) / yd

■ Fabric F (Pink) one (1) fat quarter

■ Fabric G (Black) one (1) 10in square

■ Backing fabric: 1¾yd

■ Batting: 40in x 60in

■ One (1) copy each of the Nose, Eye, Right Ear and Left Ear templates

FINISHED SIZE ■ 32in x 44in (excluding ears)

NOTES

■ Seam allowances are ¼in, unless otherwise noted.

■ Templates include seam allowances, where necessary.

■ RST = right sides together.

■ WOF = width of fabric.

■ HST = Half-square Triangle.

■ FPP = Foundation Paper Piecing

■ For templates see p87.

FABRICS USED

All fabrics are Kona Cotton Solids in White, Steel, Candy Green, Buttercup, Mango, Candy Pink and Charcoal from Robert Kaufman.

CUTTING OUT

1

From Fabric A cut:

■ One (1) 14½in x 32½in strip.

■ Eight (8) 2½in x 4½in strips. Save the remainder for the ears.

2

From Fabric B cut:

■ Four (4) 5in squares.

■ One (1) 4½in x WOF strip. Subcut into nine (9) 2½in x 4½in strips.

■ Two (2) 1in x 30in strips.

■ One (1) 4in x WOF strip. Subcut into nine

(9) 4in squares, and cut each one in half on the diagonal to make eighteen (18) HSTs.

■ One (1) 3in x 10in strip. Subcut into eight

(8) 3in x 1¼in pieces.

3

From Fabric C cut:

■ Two (2) 2½in x 32½in strips.

■ Two (2) 3¼in x WOF strips. Subcut into sixteen (16) 3¼in squares. Subcut each one in half on the diagonal to make thirty two (32) HSTs.

■ Two (2) 1¾in x 30in strips.

■ Eight (8) 3¼in squares.

4

From Fabric D cut:

■ Three (3) 2½in x 32½in strips.

5

From Fabric E cut:

■ Four (4) 5in squares.

■ One (1) 1¼in x WOF strip. Subcut into seven (7) 1¼in x 1¾in pieces and two (2) 1¼in x 2¼in pieces.

■ Two (2) 2¼in x 32¾in strips.

6

From Fabric F cut:

■ Two (2) 16½in x 8½in pieces for the ears.

■ Two (2) 2½in squares for the nose.

7

From Fabric G cut:

■ Four (4) 3in x 3½in pieces for the eyes.

PIECING THE DIAMOND ROW

8

Take one Fabric C 3¼in square and two Fabric B HSTs. Join the HSTs to opposite sides of the square to make a diagonal strip, referring to Fig 1 for placement. Press seams toward the HST units and trim the dog ears.

THE FEATURE PANEL ON THIS CUTE QUILT IS IDEAL FOR PERFECTING YOUR PIECING SKILLS

9

Repeat step 8 to make eight units. Join into a row, carefully nesting the seams (Fig 2). Join the remaining two Fabric B HSTs to the ends of the strip (Fig 3), then trim to 32½in x 4½in, centring the strip.

PIECING THE DASH ROW

10

Sew together eight Fabric B 3in x 1¼in pieces and seven Fabric E

1¼in x 1¾in pieces along the short edges, alternating the Fabric B and E pieces. Then sew one Fabric E 1¼in x 2¼in piece to each end (Fig 4).

11

Sew a Fabric E 2¼in x 32¾in strip to the top and bottom of the pieced strip from step 10. Trim the row to 32½in x 4½in, carefully centring the strip.

PIECING THE STRIPED ROW

12

Piece the eight Fabric A 2½in x 4½in strips and nine Fabric B 2½in x 4½in strips into a row, joining along the long edges and alternating the fabrics. Press seams towards Fabric B and trim to 32½in x 4½in, ensuring you trim evenly on either side.

PIECING THE CROSS ROW

13

Sew the Fabric C 1¾in x 30in strips to either side of a Fabric B 1in x 30in strip, along the long edge. Press seams towards Fabric B. Subcut the strip into sixteen 1¾in x 3½in pieces (Fig 5).

14

Sew eight of the subcut units along one side of the remaining Fabric B strip. Press seams towards the Fabric B strip (Fig 6). Join the remaining eight subcut units to the other side of the strip (Fig 7). Ensure the cross in the centre is lined up. Trim each cross unit to 3¼in square, carefully centring the crosses.

15

Add a Fabric C HST to opposite sides of each cross unit. Trim the excess and add two more HSTs to the remaining sides to make a square (Fig 8). Trim each cross unit to 4½in square, then join to make a 32½in x 4½in strip, pressing seams open.

PIECING THE HST ROW

16

Take the four Fabric E and four Fabric B 5in squares. Mark a diagonal line on the reverse of the Fabric E squares, from corner to corner. Place the squares together, RST, and sew ¼in from either side of the marked line. Trim down the line and press seams towards Fabric B.

17

Repeat step 16 to make eight HST units. Trim each to 4½in square and join together to make a 32½in x 4½in strip.

ASSEMBLING THE QUILT TOP

18

Join your pieced rows together along the long edges, inserting Fabric C and D strips in between pieced rows as shown in the Layout Diagram on the following page.

19

To shape the head, take the Fabric A

14½in x 32½in strip and mark 8in from the ends along the top edge, and 4in down from the top down along each side. Draw a line between these marks and cut along the line (Fig 9). Join the head piece to the top of the pieced quilt.

MAKING THE EARS

20

Foundation Paper Piece each Ear template, using the Fabric F pieces for Section 1 and the Fabric A pieces for Sections 2– 4. Trim along the outer dashed line of each template, and remove the paper template.

21

Using the FPP ears as a guide, cut one piece of batting to the same size and shape for each ear. Also cut two pieces of backing fabric in the same way. Be sure to cut one each of each ear, so you have two mirror image pieces of both batting and backing fabric.

22

Lay one pieced ear front on top of the batting piece, right side up, and lay the backing fabric on top, right side down. Stitch around the edges with a ¼in seam, leaving the bottom edge unstitched. Trim the corners and turn the ear right side out. Repeat with the second ear.

23

Topstitch around the edges of the ear, leaving the bottom edge unstitched. Quilt around the inner ear.

MAKING THE EYES AND NOSE

24

Place two Fabric F 2½in squares RST. Lay the Nose template on top and draw around the edges. Stitch along the drawn line and trim 1/8in outside the stitched circle. Make a small cut in the centre of one layer, and carefully turn right side out. Press.

25

Repeat step 24 with the Eye template and Fabric G pieces to make two eyes.

QUILTING AND FINISHING

26

Lay the quilt top on top of the backing fabric and trim the backing fabric to size. Put the backing to one side.

27

Repeat step 26 with the batting, but keep the quilt top in place. Position the ears right side down against the quilt top, aligning the raw edges with the angled edges at the top. Baste the ears to the top of the quilt top, through both the fabric and the batting.

28

Place the backing fabric over the quilt top, right side down, and stitch around all sides with a ¼in seam allowance, leaving a turning gap at the bottom edge. Trim the corners and turn the quilt right side out.

29

Slip stitch the turning gap closed and top stitch around the edge. Quilt as desired, carefully burying your thread ends. Kate stitched in the ditch with simple horizontal lines. Position the eyes and nose in place and stitch in place to finish.