Here it is, an alternative method for making your bubble quilt (aka biscuit quilt)! This method is a lot easier, but more time consuming (at least for me) because it requires hand stitching. If you want to see the original method I posted, you can check it out here. If you want to see some example of other biscuit quilts I’ve made and others have made you can see some here and here.
This blanket is a 28″x28″ square not including the ruffle (7 puffs by 7 puffs), but you can use the method to make any size blanket you want.
Materials:
1 1/4 yard worth of cotton fabrics for the top (you can do as many or as few different fabrics as you want)
1 yard fabric for the backing (I like minky which is just soft fuzzy fabric)
1 1/4 yard silky fabric for the ruffle
1 bag fiberfill stuffing (I use Poly-Fil)
Step 1: You’re going to need two sets of squares: the top squares that make your bubbles, and the bottom squares that you won’t be able to see. The top squares should be 6″x6″ and the base squares should be 4.5″x4.5″. Reminder: the base squares can be out of any old fabric you have lying around because it doesn’t matter what they look like because you won’t be able to see them. You need 49 of each.
Step 2: Now we’re going to do some pinning. Take one square from each stack. Line up the corners of one of the small squares to the wrong side of the big square and pin it in place.
Step 3: Now we’re going to make the pleats. Take the pinned square like so and pinch up the excess top fabric along one side. Pinch the fabric up just a little bit off center.
Step 4: Using a 1/8″ seam, sew all the way around the whole square. Don’t leave any openings.
Step 5: We’re now going to assemble the top of the quilt. This part is a breeze in this version and a bear in the other. Enjoy it! Take two squares and lay them right sides together. Using a 1/4″ sew them together along one edge.
Step 6: This next step needs to be done VERY CAREFULLY! Turn your quilt top wrong side up and pinch up the bottom square fabric, be careful not to pinch up any of the top bubble fabric with it!
Step 7: Stuff all of the puffs up with stuffing. With this method, you can pretty much fill them up as full as you want, so stuff away!
Step 8: Cut out your backing for your blanket, it needs to be 28″x28″.
Step 9: Take your completed bubble top and lay it out right side up.
Love this way! I double pleated all my bubbles! Hand stitching should still work right!?
Can it be done without the ruffle. It’s for a boy, and I prefer no ruffle…
Ruffle is nice even for a boy if you have the right fabric.
Pam, you could absolutely finish the blanket without a ruffle. You could do a regular quilt binding or you could do a mitered corner edging, or you could finish it really simply by sewing it together like it says in the tutorial but without the ruffle in it. You can finish it any way you want. I’m sure there are a million ways you could finish it! In the next week or so I will be showing how to do the mitered corner edging if you’re interested!
genius! I like this more:)
I’m glad I found this new method before I started. Thank you so much for your detailed instructions. Off I go to cut my bottom squares.
Love this method but need a bit of help…after I slit and stuff I’m having trouble stitching the opening shut. The fabric around the slit gets a bit frayed while I’m stuffing and it makes it very hard to stitch shut. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks in advance!!
Did you cut your slits on the diagonal of the square backing? The ones I cut straight up and down frayed a lot, but when I figured out to cut them diagonal I had hardly any fraying at all. If you continue having issues, I would suggest trying to cut the slit with pinking shears (the zigzag scissors) since they’re designed to cut fabric with no fraying. The slits would then be a little weird to sew, but better than a big frayed mess! I hope that helps! Thanks for stopping by!
I love these blankets and wanted to know if you sell these already made.
Thanks
VC
I do sell them in my etsy shop
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AwaitingAda
However, I only have one up for sale right now, but I do take custom orders! Just message me on etsy to set something up if you’re interested.
I did cut them diagonally, it may be that the fabric I’m using is quite old (probably from the 80′s!). I will try some better fabric and see how that works. I thought that some sort of “hem tape” or iron-on interfacing might do the trick to seal the slits but that didn’t work. I will keep trying! Thanks!
When the fabric frays, try some fray check. It always works for me.
I just completed mine using your old method – I WISH I’d seen this earlier haha Thankyou!
I am so close to completing my first Bubble Quilt!! Love it!! However, I can’t get my ruffle/minky to sew to my bubbles…Do you think I stuffed them to full? Thinking about hand-stitching the entire bottom on! Really loosing motivation…and the end is so close!
I would say that first you should try squishing some of the stuffing away from the edge and sew it on with a zipper foot. If that doesn’t work, totally just pop in a movie and hand sew the back on! Don’t loose hope, you’re going to love it!!! Happy sewing!
Hi This is great…I love this!….. I have everything waiting to start tomorrow.
How long would you think it would take to make a twin size? I was thinking about the “frayed” slits. Would frey check work on them before you stuff them but after you cut them? might not be able to put too “wide” of a line on the slit edges. It might make it a bit more difficult to sew together. just a thought. 
Lisa,
Well, the time it will take to finish a twin size is very dependent on your skill level and speed. I’d say anywhere between 30 to 50 hours. I think the fray check is a great idea! If you use it, let me know how it works! Happy sewing!
I was thinking, what if you quilted the finished quilt? I would think that you could skip the whole stitching the slits, if you could either hand or machine stitch around all the puffs! It would also stabilize the whole thing and make the back look neat with all the lil boxes on the back too! I want to try to make this for my new baby coming in May! But I need to do some figuring as I want it fairly large to fit both my 2 year old and the new baby for play time! Great tutorial, thank you so much for taking the time to make it!
I’ve thought about trying that, but never got around to it. I would be a little worried about sewing down the middle rows of the blanket because I’d be afraid they wouldn’t fit in my machine. I think it you had access to a long arm quilting machine, you could do this pretty easily and it would be beautiful and awesome not to do the hand stitching! Let me know if you try it and how it goes!
I made my first attempt at making this quilt this week, and I discovered a much easier way than either of your tutorials to assemble the top. First, I pinned the pleats onto each square, but did not sew all the way around the square. Then, I sewed the squares into rows, leaving the top and bottom edges pinned, and sewed up the ends of each row. Next, I sewed two rows of unstuffed puffs together, and left one edge of each row open. On the open edge, I unpinned the pleat of each square from the bottom square, careful to keep the pin in the pleat only on the top of the bubble. Once the entire row was opened up (but the pleats still pinned in place) I stuffed a whole row of bubbles. I carefully repinned the pleats back down to the bottom to close up the bubble (I used LOTS of pins…I didn’t unpin the top pleat), and then stitched up the entire row of full bubbles. Finally, I added the next unstuffed row to the stuffed row, pinning at the corner seams and again near the pleats. I just kept repeating the process of stuff a row, add a row. It was pretty quick, and I didn’t even have to use the zipper foot to keep the stitches close enough to the puffs. I was never sewing two full puffs to each other, so it wasn’t bad at all. And no hand stitching! yay!
That sounds really interesting, I’ll have to give it a try sometime! Thanks for sharing your method, it’s always interesting to hear how other people figure things out!
You should do a tutorial of this! This is great, thanks! And thanks skyler!!
I am starting one of these fun quilts & would like to try your method but am having trouble picturing your sewing sequence. If you get this message can we talk?
Laura, I’d be happy to help you out, just shoot me an email at skyler@awaitingada.com
happy to see you are using this new method when making the bubbles.last year a few of us suggested making the slit on the back after sewing the bubbles together it is much easier and works up faster.
Yes, thanks for the idea! I was worried about trying it with all the hand sewing, but it’s a way better method! Thanks for sharing your ideas, keep them coming!
Love this one even better!
I have been making these quilts for many years and they are always fun to make.I know them as biscuit quilts
Dear Skyler,
My granddaughter suddenly decided this is the one she wants for her college dorm bed. Her dorm bed is a twin, ex-long. I wanted to make it a double so her stuff under the bed won’t show. I am more than a beginner…this will be my first quilt. Help. How many squares do I need for a double. She loves the rainbow pattern…I am desperate at this point. I have a friend who has a mat and rotary cutter. I am clueless. I have only crocheted blankets. Have a condition now, hand go numb. Anyway, Please tell me howmany squares I will need for an ex-long double bed blanket.
I love it , it is very clever and fun.
Thanks fory our help, I really need it. Caroline
Caroline,
An average double size quilt is 72″x90″, so that works out to about 18×23 bubbles which is 414 total bubbles. Not to discourage you or anything, but I just finished a quilt about this size for my brother and it took me 60 hours of work and I’m pretty darn fast at making these bubble blankets now. I do think it’s possible for a first time sewer to complete this project, but it will be an incredible undertaking. You have a very lucky granddaughter! Happy sewing!
Thank you for your help. Fortunately I have until June to get it done. Her sisters quilt will be based of my bedspread..large squares and few piecing…that will help. Samantha’s wedding quilt will fortunately be in two years…no pressure on that one. : )
I was afraid it would be about 400 squares. Good thing I am retired. : ) Thanks again. Really cute…the revised tutorial on the bubblw quilt is quite a bit more simple. This is beyond my sewing quilts experience. Your directions are wonderful though. I will post or send you a picture when I am done. She wants the rainbow one…have no Idea how to do the colors, but will just have to plow into it. Thanks so much for your help.. Caroline
I have a hard time sewing by hand. I used no sew hemming tape and scraps from my trash just snipits from old projects and ironed the slits closed.
That’s a great idea! I’ve never used that stuff before, does it hold well in the wash? This is awesome, thanks for a great idea!
I thought the same thing! No need to sew if you use liquid sewing thread http://www.save-on-crafts.com/liquidthread.html
Angela, Could you have added too much stuffing?
Dannie, As I was reading all this, I decided that I will omit the ruffle when I make mine. I believe just binding it like any other quilt will be easier and last longer. With all the puffs, I don;t think the ruffle is necessary. Especially on a bed-size quilt.
hi thanks what a wonderful and easy way to do this puff quilts. I have tried other sites but looked cumbersome. I indeed appreciate that you have shared God Bless You
Just got done stuffing mine yippee! I do notice this quilt is very heavy and was wondering if they are more used for floor play ie: tummy time. Can you use them in cribs or as lap blankets?
My first one I stuffed the puffs really full, so it’s really heavy too. We use that one for floor play. My later quilts I’ve stuffed the puffs less full and then they make great lap blankets. I think they’d be good for the crib too once they get a little older, maybe sometime after they turn one, so that they are able to move the blanket around safely. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the tutitorial! Seen this on Pinterest and just had to try. After having four boys and finally getting my baby girl, my crafting is wearing out my sewing machine!
I have 9 rows of 8 – mainly just wanted to use up my scrap stash. Just have to finish hand sewing the slits and do the back and I’ll be done. Mine is fairly heavy and will only be using it for floor play or hang on the wall for decoration later.
As a side note…I have a 1 1/2 year old boy and I would not recomend putting this in the crib to sleep with…not for safety reasons but because babies that age get into mischief with their diapers. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to wash his sheets and blankets more than once in a week.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that you ROCK with this tut!
These are great quilts to make, if anyone has the triangle tree skirt for christmas, I would really like to do one, please post on me facebook page Leslie Biondolillo
I have had such a happy morning reading your comments and watching your tutorials for this adorable quilt. I am definitely digging up some quilting material and getting busy with this one. I have an arrangement of lovely tie dyed fabrics that I have been saving for a “special”project. THIS IS IT! Thank you for the super directions and I ,like many of your readers, appreciate the second method. Again ,a great big thank you!
Ohh, a tie dyed bubble quilt sounds fun! I’d love to see a picture when you finish! Happy sewing
Have you ever tried sewing the whole blanket together, minky back and all and then stuffing? I had mine all done but had a horrible time trying to sew the back to the puffs. I ended up having to cut open my stitch and unstuffing all the outer puffs so I could finish. I was wondering if sewing all first would maybe be easier?
Stacy, I haven’t tried doing that. I’d be a little worried about being able to close up all the holes after stuffing them once it’s already sewn together. I think it’s definitely worth trying though. If you do try that let me know how it goes! Sewing the layers together can be really tricky. I try really hard not to stuff my puffs too full even though it’s really tempting! Then when I’m sewing all the layers together, I use a zipper foot and smoosh all the stuffing away from the side I need to sew as best I can. Sorry you had to unstuff your bubbles, that must have been extremely frustrating!
Just wondering how many bubbles I’d need/dimensions for an average size crib quilt. I’m not very good at figuring out how to convert dimensions and what not. lol Love your tutorial, Thanks!!
Ashley, the average crib mattress is 27″ x 50″, so how big you want the blanket to be depends on how much bigger you want it than the mattress. The crib quilts I’ve made before are 32″x56″ which seems to be a pretty good size (at least to me). So, if you wanted to do one that size, you would need 8 puffs by 14 puffs. Hope that helps, let me know if you have any more questions!
Could this possibly work with large stuffed Yo-Yo’s??? Hasd anyone else thought of this, I am a Very very new Beginner at sewing and have just recently made a Pillowcase Dress. Aside from that i’ve only made tons and tons of Yo-Yo’s ready to be made into something. I absolutly Love your Bubble Quil!! Thanks so muchfor sharing this
I’m not sure about the large stuffed yo-yos. I know that they used to make blankets out of yo-yos, but you could totally try to stuff them and see how it goes! If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
I have just finished stuffing my puffs! I am a beginner and this is my first large project. I am worried that I will have trouble sewing the backing and ruffle onto the puffs as there does not seem to be much of a seam allowance… I am making the quilt for my first baby who is due in 2 weeks so I need to get this quilt sorted by then! Any advice on how to make the process easier? Please don’t tell me to hand sew the whole thing!
Kristy, No you don’t have to hand sew the whole thing! It is going to be a bit tricky though. Here are some tips: Take it slow, one puff section at a time. Do the best you can to smoosh all the stuffing away from the edge you need to sew. That way you’ll have room to lay the edge out all nice and flat with the backing. I also strongly suggest using a zipper foot. If you don’t have one, you might want to get one just to do this part, especially if you stuffed your puffs quite full. Also, do it in chunks. Sew one side tonight and another side tomorrow. That way you’re not spending a horribly frustrating hour trying to get the blanket finished, you’re just taking 15 minutes to work on it. This was important for me on my first one because it was just so difficult for me to complete, that I would kind of freak out and need a break! That’s pretty much the only advice I have, I hope it helps! Congrats on your baby!!! I’d love to see a picture when you finish
I think this way sounds MUCH easier! Besides, there are times when I WANT to just sit and hand sew.
*I have JUST started working on my own website where I choose popular pins (that I like too) and complete them…taking photos all the way. If I discover someway of doing it easier or just another way, I post my discoveries.
I ALWAYS have a large button on the top of each tutorial that LINKS BACK TO THE WEBSITE (not on Pinterest)
SO THAT FOLLOWERS ARE ABLE TO SEE THE ORIGINAL PIN AND SEE JUST HOW WELL I DID!!
**I would like to include a link back to this particular tutorial. I’ve wanted to make one anyway so why not take photos along the way! BUT I DO WANT YOUR BLESSING BEFORE I BEGIN. PLEASE SEND ME A PERSONAL RESPONSE IN MY ETSY SHOP….MY PHONE DINGS EVERYTIME I GET A NOTE THERE SO I GET THE MESSAGE FASTER.
I’m almost embarrassed to show you my website since it is in the early stages and I’m trying to do it myself without much experience!
Thank you so much an I hope I hear from you soon!
Many Blessings,
Laura Grisham
https://www.etsy.com/shop/lauragrishamdesigns
http://www.lauragrishamdesigns.weebly.com
I found your tutorial on pinterest and absolutely love it. The blankets are so cute. I am wanting to make one for floor play for my daughter. I am thinking a 40″x40″, not including the ruffle. Can you help me figure out how many squares I will need to make, and much of each fabric I will need to purchase? I have some experience sewing, but have never made a blanket before. Thank you so much for your help! I am excited to tackle this project
Tana, to make a 40″x40″ bubble quilt, not including the ruffle you’ll need a 10×10 bubbles, so 100 total. The amount of fabric you needs depends on how many different fabrics you’re going to use. If you come up with a design and know how many different fabrics you’re going to use let me know and I can help you figure out the yardage. Hope that helps!
I’m so happy that I have found your site with you wunderful work – yeeepy. And I’m also so glad now I know the name of the craft I’ve been looking for a long time: Bubble-Puff-Biscuit-Quilt. I love it, specially how you explain this. And as a beginner, I will start a new project.
I would like to make a bubble blanket for a cage at a cat expo. The cage has a standard metric size of 70cm x 70cm x 70cm (double cage 140x70x70cm) which is about 27″ x 27″. I think I’ll need a total of 49 bubbles for a blanket.
But I’m unsure what size the bubble should have. The blanket should have no ruffle and should have a complett size with 27″ x 27″.
Thank you so much in advance.
Greatings from France, Monica
Monica, first of all I’d like to say that’s one lucky cat! Anyway, I think you’re right, you should do a 7×7 bubble quilt, so that you have 49 bubbles total. If you do all the math it will give you a 28″x28″ blanket, but it does tend to crunch up a bit, so I think it’ll fit perfectly in a 27″x27″ cage. If you’re worried about it though, you can always make your seams a bit bigger than 1/4″ when you sew the bubbles together. So just to clarify all of that, you’ll need to have 49 base squares that are 4.5″x4.5″ and 49 top squares that are 6″x6″. I hope that all makes sense, message me again if you have any more questions!
Thank you for the quick answer:))) I’ll go and get some fabric for a sample… like you make.
Im hand cutting each square. Is therr an easier way .
Jamey, you can purchase a rotary cutter and self healing cutting mat, which makes cutting out fabric a zillion times easier. They can be found at any fabric store or online.
Thanks ill try that. Thanks for all the pics it really helps me as a beginner.
So here’s a thought I had…
If you are going to be sewing the bubbles & the backing together and then turning, why not leave the outer row of bubble unstuffed until after you sew the backing on? Then, right before you turn, you can go back & slit & stuff the bubbles along the outer edge. Leaves you with just a few puffy squares to contend with when you are hand-sewing the opening closed.
That’s a great idea, I tried something along these lines when I made my huge bubble blanket, but I should try it for the small ones too. Thanks for the great idea!
I have done two of these, one in pinks and one in blues! They are totally awesome! Thanks!
Any special washing instuctions?
Sarah, I wash my bubble blankets on a delicate cycle and then dry on a delicate cycle or hang it up to dry. Hope that helps!
Hi. How do you hand see the quilt closed? The very very last step? I’m so close, yet so far!
I use a hidden stitch to close my quilts up.
http://fernandfreckle.com/tutorial-invisible-seams-the-hidden-stitch/
Hope that helps!
How did you do the ombre? DIFFERENT fabric? Was it hard to find to do this ombre.
This ombre blanket is made all from the same fabric that is an ombre pattern. I used Riley Blake’s Ombre Dot in Aqua:
http://www.fatquartershop.com/store/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?sid=2273418154552273&Store_id=499&page_id=23&Item_ID=76725&Parent_Ids=
Hope that helps!
Sweet!!!! Thanks!!! Also,the ruffles,is there something else you can use be side ruffles?? It seems a bit complicated to make /:
You definitely don’t have to do the ruffle! Here are some tutorials of other options you can do.
Mitered edging: http://www.awaitingada.com/2013/02/mitered-edge-baby-blanket.html
Simple turned edge: http://www.awaitingada.com/2012/02/simple-baby-baby-blanket-with-quilted.html
Quilt binding edge: http://www.redpepperquilts.com/2009/11/binding-tutorial.html
You can see examples of each of these on bubble quilts here if you scroll through: http://www.awaitingada.com/bubble-quilts
And for the squares how did you measure it? Is there a specific tool?? I know they have already measured squares that you use the rotary tool to cut around it,but I forgot what its called /:
I think they do have quilting square things, but I just used a regular quilting ruler and rotary cutter. You just cut to length one way, and then the other!
http://www.amazon.com/TrueCut-6-Inch-by-24-Inch-Ruler-With-Accutrack/dp/B003VWHNJA/ref=sr_1_16?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1366320448&sr=1-16&keywords=rotary+cutting+ruler
Thank you so much!
I made this for my little boy! http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff502/Valerietillia/8_zpsebf0e168.jpg
Thanks for the awesome tutorial
It’s absolutely gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing the picture with me, I love to see other people’s creations. Plus, the super cute baby doesn’t hurt either!