DIY: Hourglass Baby Quilt with Appliqued Dachshund

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A few weeks ago, my best friend from grade 5 had a baby, so of course I had to send something to her in Finland! I sewed this hourglass baby quilt in various shades of yellow and green, since my friend didn’t know if she was having a boy or a girl. A variety of sunny yellows were the main colour since I had several yellow fat quarters and scraps, but you could easily switch out the colours.

Hourglass Baby Quilt with Appliqued Dachshund

Supplies

60 4″ squares of white fabric

40 4″ squares of yellow fabric

20 4″ squares of green fabric

1 metre backing fabric

1/2 metre yellow fabric for the binding

quilt batting

white thread

scrap of black fabric for the applique

Directions

1. Draw a diagonal line in pencil from corner to corner on the wrong side of each white square.
2. Pin a yellow or green square and a white square right sides together, with the pencil line facing up. Sew 1/4″ from the line on each side for all squares.
3. Place a square on the cutting mat, and cut down the pencil line from corner to corner. Cut another diagonal line from the other corner to corner on the same square. You should now have four equal triangles.
4. Press the triangles towards the yellow or green fabrics. You should be able to lay out 2 hourglass blocks from this one cut square.
5. Match and pin the center seams, right sides together, then sew the pieces together to make 2 hourglass blocks. Press seam to either side or open.
6. Trim the hourglass squares to 3″ squares.
7. Lay the yellow and white blocks out in 8 rows of 10 blocks each, rotating every block. If using several different colours, they can be completely random or sewn in a rainbow gradient. Sew the blocks into rows, right sides together, and press the seams towards the coloured fabrics. Pin and sew the rows together to finish the yellow part of the quilt top.
8. Lay the green and white blocks out in two rows of 10 blocks each, rotating every block. Sew to the top and bottom of the yellow portion.
9. Lay the remaining green and white blocks out in two rows of 10 blocks each, rotating every block. Sew to the left and right sides of the quilt top. You should now have a green hourglass border around the yellow and white ones.
10. Trace out a wiener dog silhouette using the black fabric; I used this one I found searching Google images. Pin it to the corner of the quilt top and use a narrow zig-zag stitch to applique it to the quilt.
11. Create a quilt sandwich with the backing, batting, and quilt top. Baste into place, and then sew along the quilt squares and around the applique, by hand or by machine.
12. Cut out 4-inch strips of the binding fabric and sew them together at 90° angles. Bind the quilt using your favourite technique – I used this method.
13. The hourglass baby quilt is ready to use!