Happy Zombie

I recently found out about a do-something-good quilt making event for the new NICU at Providence Portland Medical Center through my guild (the Portland Modern Quilt Guild), so on the fly I wanted to jump into action and make a quilt. Problem was I didn’t know what to make. So I came up with a simple plan and whipped up an itty bitty quilt. I wanted my quilt to be meaningful and full of effort, but I also wanted it to be quick as well.

Seems like every time there’s a do-something-good quilt making opportunity there’s not a whole lot of time involved, so I thought I’d share my cutting instructions.  Patchwork hundreds of fabric pieces together and you snuggle one baby.  Share a baby-quilt pattern and hundreds of babies get snuggled.   Tiz my hope.  It’s not a rocket-science pattern by any means, but hopefully it’ll be a project that others will want to do as well.  Fast and yet meaningful,  and stitched with love.  I came up with the itty bitty quilt, and I also wanted to make fabric gathering a simple task, too. Two 2½” strips of print fabric + one 5″ strip of background fabric = four 8″ finished blocks.

I decided to make two quilts, one in citrus colors…

… and the other in by-land-and-sea colors. The quilt requirement for the Providence quilt is 36″ square, so I’m adding a simple border on my 32″ square quilt to plump it up to 36″.

What’s also nice about this pattern is that each block can be alternated in direction so no seams need to be met on the blocks when joining them into rows (and then joining all the rows). Perfect for beginner and young quilters. I think it would be fun for youth groups (any groups, for that matter) to make itty bitty quilts for some nice do-something-good project.

CUTTING FOR EVERY 4 BLOCKS:
From two 2½” strips of print, cut each:
2) 2½”x 8½”
2) 2½” x 4½”
4) 2½” x 2½”

From one 5” strip of white/background:
2) 4½” x 4½”
4) 2½” x 4½”
4) 2½” x 8½”

*for a 32″ square quilt you will need 8) 2½” strips of assorted prints and 4) 5” strips of white (⅝ yard)

I mocked up some different size quilt tops and the fabric needed:
4 x 4 grid | 32” square
8) 2½” strips of assorted prints
4) 5” strips of white (⅝ yard)

4 x 5 grid | 32” x 40”
10) 2½” strips of assorted prints
5) 5” strips of white (¾ yard)

4 x 6 grid | 32” x 48”
12) 2½” strips of assorted prints
6) 5” strips of white (⅞ yard)

5 x 7 grid | 40” x 56”
18) 2½” strips of assorted prints
9) 5” strips of white (1⅜ yard)

I have a cutting chart/alternate sizes in PDF format available here. My intention is to provide a free, simple, and meaningful option for anyone who wants to make a do-something-good charity quilt or just make an itty bitty quilt for a teenie weenie person you love.

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