Mini Quilt of the Month, April: The Vegetable Patch

This darling little quilt marks the fourth in our Mini Quilt of the Month series. Each month this year we are bringing you a pattern for a new mini quilt. These small projects are the perfect way to learn a new skill and make something beautiful in the process. To see all of our Mini Quilts so far please click right here.

For April we decided to do something in celebration of Springtime and inspired by nature. We all fell in love with the idea of a graphic image of root veggies growing in the ground using bright bold colors. The nature of this quilt makes it a perfect introduction to the world of machine applique which involves no turning under of seams or other tricky techniques. It’s just a simple, straightforward way to sew on any shape in a tidy manner. It's a great technique to learn if you're new to the sewing machine because it opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

This quilt will make such a beautiful wall hanging, perfect for a kitchen or nursery.  To create the quilt, you need lots of little pieces of fabric, so to make it easier for you we're offering this project as a kit.  Our Vegetable Patch Quilt Kit comes with just about everything you need to make this 25-inch x 36-inch quilt:

• A full color step-by-step printed pattern, complete with full size templates for all of the veggies
• Four 9-inch by 10-inch pieces of assorted green fabrics for the leaves
• Seven 9-inch by 10-inch pieces in hot pink, coral red, orange, curry yellow, tan polka dot, purple stripe, and purple dot for the vegetables and flower
• 1/2-yard of brown linen for the soil
• 3/4-yard of solid blue fabric for the sky and binding
• 3/4-yard of muslin for the backing
• 100% cotton batting
• 100% cotton thread in blue, brown, red, green, and yellow
• Embroidery thread in off white
• Fusible interfacing

You can find our Vegetable Patch Quilt Kit right here.  If you have all of the materials already or just want to pick your own, we are also offering just the pattern with the templates right here.  In the meantime, please visit our Mini Quilt of the Month, April: The Vegetable Patch Project Journal right here to see how it's done!

Comments

[Andi]

This is so cute!

[Ruth]

Wow! I love this! I might have to make one to hang in the kitchen!

[Laia]

Wow, it's so beautiful!

[michele]

Stinkin' adorable! Ya'll are so clever!

[Sarah @http://agirlintransit.blogspot.com/2011/03/]

Oh I am soooo in love with this! I've totally been into veggie patch stuff lately too. I think Peter Rabbit inspired me a bit =) Thanks for sharing.

- Sarah
http://agirlintransit.blogspot.com/

[rental elf]

Very nice, thanks.

[Buttonmad]

Oh that is fabulous!
We have only recently set up our button
blog and are amazed at all the lovely interesting work out there...thanks for sharing...

[Emily]

This is absolutely darling!!!! What a wonderful and creative idea!

[Jennifer H]

That is so very cute!!!!

[Misty]

So clever and pretty!

[Jan]

I'm thinking placemats! So cute!

[Jean@Quilted Cupcake 453 /blog/?p=453]

Reminds me of a book my kids loved when young - "tops and bottoms" - about a bear and a rabbit who shared a vegetable garden. So sweet!

[Loretta]

SOOOO Sweet.

[MB@YarnUiPhoneApp]

This vegetable patch would be a great way to teach children how a garden grows...you could even pin names of each veggie so they could learn how to read.

[flaky]

Very cute design. I just love the perky little garlic bulb....

[Josie]

This is especially cute. What I really love is the proportions of the backgrounds to the images...it makes it contemporary cool, not cloyingly cute.

[Stephanie Monroe]

Gotta love this piece. It's simplicity and organic beauty make it a perfect gift to make for a gardener. I would love to make this for my mom for Mother's day. She and my dad are having a gardening competition to see who can grow the most veggies this summer.

I think the winner will get this as a victory quilt. Lol.

[hena tayeb]

Adorable

[Cassandra]

Adorable! I just might have to make this. Simple, clean, and cute. Love!

[Jane]

Love love love this!!! so beautiful, vibrant and yummy!

[thezenofmaking]

Ah, yet another reason why I need to learn how to quilt.

[Heather]

I don't understand quite why you oriented the quilt vertically, though, for the vegetables. These measurements and this orientation seem more suited to a spreading oak with deep roots.

[Jessica]

I'm just about to sew the binding on this quilt--it's looking so cute, I absolutely love it! This is my first quilt, and my first applique project, and it was really very simple and fun (I bought the kit--these fabrics are so perfect). But I do have what may be a silly question: Can I machine wash and dry this quilt in the gentle cycle when I am finished with it? My zigzags got right to the edges of the veggies, which caused a wee bit of fraying, and I wonder if washing the quilt would clean up those little threads. But I'm also nervous! Thanks.

[purl bee]

Hi Jessica-

This quilt is not machine washable. To wash it (and to make it look neater) soak it in a phosphate free cleanser and then dry it flat and iron it. We carry a great smelling brand of fiber-friendly cleanser called Soak which is available here: http://www.purlsoho.com/purl/company/240-Soak

You can also trim the frayed edges right to the zig zag stitching to get them looking neat.

Thanks for your question!

- Molly

[Abby]

I'm making this into a wall hanging for my soon-to-be-born nephew. I'm adding a smiley earthworm in the bottom left corner and a 1/4-round sun in the top right corner, with rick-rack rays. It's looking pretty cute so far!