Every idea I have ever had solves a problem that I face. Some problems are more important than others, but even the small issues bring me joy to vanquish.

My dear little Emma girl, now 5.5 months, is at that stage where she is no longer happy sitting on my lap or being held all the time, but gets easily bored on the floor. Her brothers love sharing toys with her, but they often get pushed away by her less than perfect grip and then she gets mad that she can no longer reach them.

Enter the Tummy Time Quilt… it is circular and full of little play things so she can scoot around and play. It has been occupying her A LOT this week and will hopefully tide her over until she crawls, which is looking more and more eminent. I sketched it out right after New Years and worked on it over the course of a few evenings. Because it is small with only 36 blocks total, it came together in under 10 hrs. I love sketching out my ideas on graph paper. You can draw it yourself, print it out, or buy this notebook like I did!

If you are interested in making a tummy time quilt… here is how I made mine.

Materials:

• 7 fat quarters of quilting fabric ( 6 for quilt and 1 for straps)
• 1.25 yards for the backing
• 3.5 yards of bias binding
• thread
• buttons
• snaps and snap setter ( you could also use velcro)
• 42″ x 42″ square of batting
• toy and rings to attach

Instructions:

• Cut 36 squares that are 7″ x 7″. I cut 6 from each fat quarter. This will result in your quilt being 39″ across. Lay them out in a 6×6 block grid in whatever order you like.
• To one corner add ribbon loops. I cut 10 lengths of ribbon about 4″ long. I basted those about 1/8″ from the edge. I did mine in a zig zag type fashion.

• In the other corner, add your fabric strips. I cut two strips 2″ wide from a fat quarter. I ironed the strip in half, long ways, and then folded each side in again and ironed it. I sewed both edges, one to close to fabric sandwhich and the other side to make it look even.
• Add these to your blocks diagonally. I based my strips 1/8″ from the edge and tacked them down about half way down the block. These strips are perfect for adding plastic or wooden rings.

• The next corner is for buttons. I chose to add my buttons after the quilt was all done… which means my threads are visible from the back. If I make this quilt again, I will add them before I assemble the quilt top. I was blessed to be able to use buttons from my grandma’s stash after she died last year. Hopefully Emma will feel her love and mine through this quilt.

• For the final corner, I cut 6 strips of fabric 2″ by 4″. I folded each in half, sewed up three sides, and turned them right-side out using a tiny ruler and crochet hook. I topstitched down the tabs and basted them in, two at a time 1/8th inch from edge of fabric. I added my snaps on the ends after I finished the quilt, but you could add snaps or velcro now.

• Assemble your quilt top, taking special care to keep the ribbons and tabs free from being stitched down. If you need some help with quilt top assembly, check out Nesting Your Seams under my Quilting basics posts.
• Cut the quilt top into a circle. I measured 18″ out from the center point and marked with a water and air soluble marker like this one. Moving the outside of the ruler a little, but keeping the start of the ruler in the center, I drew my arc along 1/4 of the quilt only. Cut that quarter and then fold the fabric up and then over to trace around the rest of the circle.
• Assemble your quilt sandwhich of backing, batting and quilt top with quilt basting spray. Ready this post… with my first ever video… to learn more about it.
• Quilt the quilt. I used a walking foot and quilted about 3/8″ away from each seam line on both sides.

• Trim the excess binding and batting and finish the edges with bias binding. The binding has to be cut on the bias or else it will not got around the curves of the circle.
• Add toys and ENJOY!!!

If you make a tummy time quilt and share it… please tag me @luckylemonshop to I can see it and love it!