4 easy steps to create texture in a quilt with Stitch-N-Steam

This week on QUILTsocial I’ll make a fidget quilt featuring many different textures and interesting elements. I’ll use an easy, quilt-as-you-go method that will work well for this project.

UNIQUE QUILTING Stitch-N-Steam – 157 x 45cm (62” x 18”) will help us add texture to plain fabric.

Fidget quilts are small lap quilts with moveable objects that people can use to fidget or keep their hands busy. They’re great for kids and people with dementia, Alzheimer’s, or autism. They usually have a variety of fabrics, zippers, buttons, toys that move, snaps, ribbons, and other notions. Fidget quilts can serve as entertainment to pass the time, engage a patient’s mind, and help them focus. They can also help someone calm down if they’re upset.

An assortment of useful crafting products to create a fidget quilt

Today I’ll use a product called UNIQUE QUILTING Stitch-N-Steam – 157 x 45cm (62″ x 18″) and one of the fat quarters from the  FABRIC CREATIONS Fabric Bundle (5pcs) – Metallic Gold – 45 x 53cm (18in x 21in) to create a wonderfully textured fabric to add to my little quilt.

Later on this week, I’ll use other products like my

Oliso M2Pro Mini Project Iron

FAIRFIELD Low-Loft® Quilt Batting – Crib – 114 x 152cm (45″ x 60″)

UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips

OLFA CHN-1 – Chenille / Textile Cutter

UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack – Black & White

FABRIC CREATIONS Burlap Fabric – Oyster – 45 x 61cm (18″ x 24″)

FABRIC CREATIONS Faux Fur Fabric – Zebra – 45 x 76cm (18″ x 30″)

UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle – Plastic – 25mm (1″) – White

CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons – Pink Tones – 75g (2.6oz)

UNIQUE  SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps – Sew-On – 12mm (¹⁄₂″) – 2 sets

…and other fun notions.

First, I’ll cut the fabric pieces I need for all the different segments in the quilt.

If you’d like to make your own fidget quilt, here’s what you’ll need:

fabric

• coordinating fat quarters
• 30” [75cm] for outer border
• 18” [50cm] for sashing and binding
• crib-size quilt batting

From the fat quarters, cut the following:

• 4 – 3½” x 9½” rectangles
• 2 – 6½” x 9½” rectangles
• 8 – 4½” x 6½” rectangles
• eight 5½” x 6½” rectangles

From the batting cut:

• 2 – 3½” x 9½” rectangles
• 1 – 6½” x 9½” rectangles
• 4 – 4½” x 6½” rectangles
• 4 – 5½” x 6½” rectangles

Make the quilted backgrounds

Now I’ll make quilt sandwiches with two pieces of fabric and one piece of batting in each of the different sizes and use  UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips to hold them together. I’ll quilt two or three lines across the sandwiches to hold them together.

Make quilt sandwiches with two pieces of fabric and one piece of batting.

Add texture to fabric

Step 1 Cut fabrics.

UNIQUE QUILTING Stitch-N-Steam – 157 x 45cm (62″ x 18″) is a 100% Polyester, steam-activated product designed to add texture to fabric. Use it to create amazing decorative details on home décor projects, quilting, apparel & crafts, anywhere you want to add textured interest to fabric. After steaming, the fabrics will shrink approximately 30%, so I’ll cut both the FABRIC CREATIONS Fabric Bundle (5pcs) – Metallic Gold – 45 x 53cm (18in x 21in) and the Stitch-N-Steam 10″ x 10″ so I’ll be sure to have a big enough piece to fit into my quilt.

Cut the Stitch-N-Steam and the fabric at least 30% larger than you need for your finished fabric.

Step 2 Layer and clip.

Next, I’ll clip the Stitch-N-Steam to the wrong side of the fabric. Don’t worry if the UNIQUE QUILTING Stitch-N-Steam—157 x 45cm (62″ x 18″) has wrinkles; they won’t affect the shrinking process.

Clip the fabric and Stitch-N-Steam together with UNIQUE Clever Clips.

Step 3 Stitch together.

Now I’ll stitch lines both vertically and horizontally on the fabric. The more stitching lines and the closer they are together, the more textured the finished fabric will be. I’m not worrying if these lines are straight or crooked. I don’t think they’ll show up in the finished fabric.

Stich horizontal and vertical lines through the fabric and Stitch-N-Steam.

Step 4 Steam.

Now that the two fabrics have been stitched together, I’ll use my Oliso Pro TG1600 Pro Plus Smart Iron to steam them. At this step, it’s important to hold the iron above the fabric and press the steam button only. I don’t want to press down on the fabric at all, as this will flatten it.

Step 5 Trim to the desired size.

Now I’ll trim my textured fabric to 5½” x 6½” and clip it to one of the 5½” x 6½” quilted sandwiches. A quick basting stitch all the way around will keep the layers together.

Trim to 5½” x 6½” and then clip to one of the 5½” x 6½” quilted sandwiches.

Burlap and fur-textured blocks

Now, I’ll get my burlap and fur-textured blocks made. The first thing I’ll do for these is cut a

5½” x 6½” rectangle of the FABRIC CREATIONS Faux Fur Fabric – Zebra – 45 x 76cm (18″ x 30″) fabric and a 4″ x 5″ rectangle of the FABRIC CREATIONS Burlap Fabric – Oyster – 45 x 61cm (18″ x 24″).

Cut a 5½” x 6½” rectangle of the faux fur fabric and a 4″ x 5″ rectangle of the burlap fabric.

Baste the faux fur on all four sides to one of the 5½” x 6½” quit sandwiches.

Baste the faux fur along all four sides to one of the 5½” x 6½” quilt sandwiches.

Pull two threads out from each edge of the burlap rectangle to make a fringed edging, then center it on top of one of the 5½” x 6½” quilt sandwiches. Keep these layers together using some UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Large – 12pcs.

Center the burlap rectangle on one of the 5½” x 6½” quilt sandwiches and clip it in place.

A wide zigzag stitch perfectly secures the burlap to the quilt sandwich and prevents the edges from fraying.

Use a zigzag stitch to secure the burlap to the fabric and prevent the edges from fraying.

Three of my textured blocks for the fidget quilt are now done. It was fun trying out the

UNIQUE QUILTING Stitch-N-Steam – 157 x 45cm (62″ x 18″) on the FABRIC CREATIONS Fabric Bundle (5pcs) – Metallic Gold – 45 x 53cm (18in x 21in). I love watching it shrink the fabric to make such a cool texture.

In my next post, I’ll use the OLFA CHN-1 – Chenille / Textile Cutter to make fuzzy chenille fabric for my last textured block. See you tomorrow.

This is part 1 of 5 in this series

Go to part 2: 5 easy steps to make chenille fabric

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