Puff or Biscuit Quilt Tutorial - Part 2

 In my last post, I gave you a tutorial for making "puff" or "biscuit" quilts.
  Many of you commented that you remembered these from the 60's and 70's. Well, everything old is new again, as they say! I remember them also.
 We got as far as making the top, but now I'll show you how to put a back on it. (At the bottom of this post, I'll show you one made with much larger squares and a more adult color scheme.)
I chose a washable satin for my backing because I loved the look and feel of it with the puffy quilt top.

1. Measure across the MIDDLE of the back of your quilt in both directions. This will give you the size you need to cut your backing fabric. (Do not stretch the top as you measure.) If the measurement across the middle (from side to side) was 45" in one direction and 60" in the other, you will cut your backing 45" x 60".

2. Lay the RIGHT side of the backing down on the RIGHT side of your quilt. Pin at each corner and then down the sides.

 3. Sew all the way around the perimeter of the quilt, but leave about 12" open on one end so you can turn it inside out. Use a 1/4" seam.

4. Here is the opening I left. Reach into the opening and grab the opposite end. I like to grab a corner, but it doesn't matter.

5. Now put the opposite end through the hole and continue pulling the quilt out of the hole until it is completely inside out. You will have to poke a little at the corners to get them into a pointy shape. You can use a dowel or the handle of a wooden spoon to do this. I like to give the edges a little press with an iron to help it have a crisper edge. Press both raw edges in the opening to the inside 1/4".

6. Sew the opening closed. I like to do this by hand. If you have to, you can do this by machine, but it will not look as neat. By hand, pin the pressed down edges together like they would have been if you had sewn them. Run a threaded needle inside the fold of the edges back and forth from one side to the other to make a blind stitch to close it. Be sure and knot it off when you get to the end. Just make a stitch and before pulling it tight, run the needle back through it a couple of times and then pull it tight. You might want to do this twice to be sure you made a knot.

7. You can stop at this point and call it finished, but it is not hard to tack the backing to the front. I chose to put a decorative bow in each tacked spot. I decided to put my ribbons at the intersection of each square made by 4 blocks. I put a pin through each of 20 intersections. (You can decide how many you want, but space them evenly.)

8. On the back, where each pin shows, put a pin in and remove the one in front. The one in front was just there to show you where each intersection was.

9. I tied a very narrow satin ribbon over each pin. 

10. I then sewed across the knot of the bow a couple of times to make it secure. (You don't want a baby pulling the bow off and putting it in his/her mouth.)

                 11. Cut any loose threads and you're finished! 
I hope that if you're new to sewing, you'll give this a try. 
 Here is another one I made with a different color scheme. This one is not quite finished yet (needs a back) and I think I might try big buttons in the center of each puff. These are made with 11" squares on  a 10" backing. This is much larger than the last one (some of it is folded back in the picture), but didn't take any longer to make.

Be sure and join me for the Think Christmas blog hop!  I will be posting my own idea on Tuesday, July 31. Please come back, check out what I have to show and enter the giveaway I will be having! Until then.....