Modern Quilt Inspiration: Critter Crew Patchwork

Shop for the Critter Crew Fat Quarter Bundle Here

Scrappy patchwork quilts have a special place in my heart. My mom has always made patchwork square quilts, it is the first thing I learned how to sew, and what I envision when I think "quilt." I even made my daughter a patchwork square quilt after making her another quilt using a pattern. It didn't seem right to have a baby without a patchwork quilt!

When my aunt asked me to make a quilt for a family member who was having a baby, I knew I wanted to put together a modern patchwork quilt, with just the right amount of whimsy. 

Baby Crew's nursery had woodland animal pictures on the wall and was painted a deep blue/green. The rest of the family's house was painted gray. I started browsing through Art Gallery Fabrics and came across the Pacha collection. Wild Friends caught my eye first - it was perfectly neutral, modern, and adorable. Then I came across Prickly Stroll and Mountain Pines from the Pine Lullaby Rediscovered collection - perfect for rounding out my selected woodland theme prints.

Since all of these prints were primarily black and white, it allowed me to mix in solid colors and prints to match the family's nursery decor. First, I added Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids in Northern Waters, Ocean Fog, and Mystic Gray. Then came Mindful Paths from the Luna and Laurel collection - it brought in the blue/green of the nursery walls, the black from the woodland prints, and added more geometric elements to the bundle. All of these cool tones needed to be balanced with some warmth, so in came Golden Bronze and Kantha Mica.

I now had a bundle of nine fat quarters that could be cut into 108 5" squares. My preferred layout for patchwork baby quilts is 9 squares wide x 11 squares long so I would need 99 squares to complete by quilt top.

Using a 1/4" seam allowance, the quilt ends up measuring approximately 40.5" x 49.5". This allows you to use crib size batting and does not require you to piece your backing. I've found this size is great to use on the floor with a baby and generously sized enough to use later as a toddler blanket.

I usually lay out patchwork quilt tops randomly, one row at a time. For this quilt, since I had nine fabrics to work with and my quilt was going to be nine squares wide, I decided to lay them out in the same order in each row, shifting their positions two columns to the right in each row.

I chose to back the quilt with the snuggliest Mammoth Organic Flannel in Oyster (1 3/4 yards) and used Northern Waters for the binding.

I quilted straight lines 1/4" away from all of the patchwork seams, creating a grid pattern that looked great with the plaid flannel backing, and made the quilt oh so cozy after washing and drying. 

 

 Ready to make your own Critter Crew project? Click here to shop the bundle!