'Toy Chest' Cot Quilt Tutorial

I made this cot quilt and wrote the tutorial for the Penny Rose blog back in 2015 - before I was a fabric designer for Riley Blake! Someone recently reminded me of it and gosh I love it so much!

The collection I used for this cot quilt is called 'Toy Chest' - it is long out of print now but if you look around you may be still able to find it. I heard Fabric Pixie still has some in stock. It really is the perfect fabric for a cot quilt, with frolicking lambs, fluffy bunnies, and birds on see saws!

And here is the quilt I designed. I went for a simple design with a vintage feel, and no fiddly points so it's beginner friendly.

It has been quilted on a long arm machine, in a sweet floral swirly pattern.

Here are the steps to make this sweet quilt.

Toy Chest Cot Quilt Tutorial

Finished size 35" x 47"

All seams are 1/4"

RST = Right sides together

Fabric Requirements

All requirements based on fabric 42" wide (WOF)

Fat Quarter bundle of Toy Chest (patchwork centre and pieced border)

3/4 yard Toy Chest Little Lambs Pink (border)

1/2 yard Toy Chest Bunnies & Balloons Aqua (binding)

1/2 yard Ivory Solid Quilting Cotton (border)

41" x 53" batting

41" x 53" backing fabric (1.5 yard if using Toy Chest)

Cutting Instructions

From the Toy Chest fat quarter bundle

24 - 4.5" squares in mixed colours (A)

120 - 2.5" squares in mixed colours (B)

20 - 4 1/4" x 1 1/2" rectangles in mixed colours (C)

14 - 4 1/2 " x 1 1/2 " rectangles in mixed colours (D)

From ivory solid

2 - 24 1/2 " x 1 1/2 " strips (E)

2 - 38 1/2" x 1 1/2" strips (F)

2 - 40 1/2" x 1 1/2" strips (G)

2 - 30 1/2" x 1 1/2" strips (H)

From Toy Chest Little Lambs Pink

2 - 42 1/2" x 3" strips (I)

2 - 35 1/2" x 3" strips (J)

From Toy Chest Bunnies & Balloons Aqua

4 - 2 1/4" x WOF strips (for the binding)

Quilt Top Assembly

The central patchwork of this quilt consists of 24 blocks, laid out in a 4 x 6 grid. Each block consists of a large square surrounded on two sides by two small squares. These blocks are rotated throughout the patchwork to give an overall random effect.

Layout the fabric squares on a flat surface / design wall until you are happy with the configuration of the blocks and colour distribution. Pay attention to directional prints during layout and assembly, so you don't end up with upside-down ducks in the finished quilt.

To make one block, sew two B squares together, then place along one side of the A square RST, sew in place. Press seam towards the B squares. Sew the remaining three B squares together, place along the other edge of the sewn rectangle RST, carefully pinning and checking that the seam intersections match. Sew in place. Press the seam towards the B squares.

Make 24. Place the finished blocks together on a flat surface, rotating them as required. Sew the blocks together in rows, press seams in alternate directions, then sew the rows together, nesting the seams at the intersections. 

Sew an E strip along the top and bottom edges of the central patchwork. Then sew an F strip along the right and left edges.

Sew 10 C rectangles together for the strippy border. Make two. Sew each strippy border along the right and left edges.

Sew 7 D rectangles together. Make two. Sew along the top and bottom edges.

Sew a G strip along the right and left edges. Then sew an H strip along the top and bottom edges.

Sew an I strip along the right and left edges. Then sew a J strip along the top and bottom edges.

Your quilt top is now complete.

Finishing

Make a quilt sandwich with your quilt top, batting, and backing, and quilt as desired. Join the binding strips using diagonal seams. Press the entire binding in half lengthwise, wrong sides facing. Starting half way down one side of the quilt, place the binding strip on the quilt, raw edge to raw edge. Sew it onto the quilt, mitreing the corners. Join the ends of the binding, fold it over to the back of the quilt, and slip stitch it by hand along the back edge of the binding.

And your sweet quilt is ready! Thanks so much for stopping by today, I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!