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5 simple sewing notions make fun blocks for a fidget quilt

by Christine Baker

Yesterday on QUILTsocial I showed you how to use UNIQUE SEWING Self-Gripping Fastener Strip – 25cm (10″) – White,  UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) – White, an ELAN Trench Buckle – 45mm (134″) – Brown, ribbon and twine from the UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack – Black & White and beads to make 3 different blocks for a fidget quilt.

Today, I’ll use 5 more sewing notions to make the remaining activity blocks.

Magnetic snaps block

To make the first block, I’ll use 2 packs of UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps – Sew-On – 12mm (12″) – 2 sets,  and some wool felt along with ribbon from the UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack – Black & White.

The first step is to insert 3 magnet halves into one of the 5½” x 6½” quilt sandwiches, between the quilting lines and underneath the top fabric, and stitch around them to keep them in place.

A hand holds a small quilt sandwich made of white and gold fabric. A small magnet sits on the batting, and a green cutting mat can be seen in the background. UNIQUE SEWING Self-Gripping Fastener Strip - 25cm (10″) - White, UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) - White, ELAN Trench Buckle - 45mm (13⁄4″) - Brown, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Black & White, UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps - Sew-On - 12mm (1⁄2″) - 2 sets,  SOFTKUT Pinking Shears (Scissors) - 81⁄2″ (21.6cm), COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) - White - 1700, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Red & Green, OLFA RTY-2/DX - Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm, UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small - 12 pcs, UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle - Plastic - 25mm (1″) - White, CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons - Pink Tones - 75g (2.6oz), UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m - White, free tutorial

Slide 3 magnet halves inside the quilting lines and between the layers of the quilt sandwich.

Next, I’ll cut 2 – 2″ squares from 3 different colors of wool felt and stitch them together, leaving 1 side open to slip a magnet half inside.

A hand is holding a square of dark green wool felt with a magnet poking out the side. A green cutting mat can be seen in the background. UNIQUE SEWING Self-Gripping Fastener Strip - 25cm (10″) - White, UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) - White, ELAN Trench Buckle - 45mm (13⁄4″) - Brown, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Black & White, UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps - Sew-On - 12mm (1⁄2″) - 2 sets,  SOFTKUT Pinking Shears (Scissors) - 81⁄2″ (21.6cm), COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) - White - 1700, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Red & Green, OLFA RTY-2/DX - Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm, UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small - 12 pcs, UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle - Plastic - 25mm (1″) - White, CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons - Pink Tones - 75g (2.6oz), UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m - White, free tutorial

Sew 2 squares of wool felt together to make a pocket and then insert one half of a magnetic snap.

I’ll trim all 4 edges of the wool felt squares with my  SOFTKUT Pinking Shears (Scissors) – 812″ (21.6cm), slide in a 6″ piece of ribbon, and sew the remaining side closed.

A hand holds a small pouch made of red wool felt. The end of a white ribbon with black polka dots is slipped into the open edge of the pouch. A green cutting mat is in the background. UNIQUE SEWING Self-Gripping Fastener Strip - 25cm (10″) - White, UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) - White, ELAN Trench Buckle - 45mm (13⁄4″) - Brown, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Black & White, UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps - Sew-On - 12mm (1⁄2″) - 2 sets,  SOFTKUT Pinking Shears (Scissors) - 81⁄2″ (21.6cm), COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) - White - 1700, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Red & Green, OLFA RTY-2/DX - Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm, UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small - 12 pcs, UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle - Plastic - 25mm (1″) - White, CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons - Pink Tones - 75g (2.6oz), UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m - White, free tutorial

Slip a ribbon inside the pouch and stitch it closed.

To complete the block, I’ll stick the felt magnets to the magnets in the quilt sandwich and arrange the ends of the ribbon so they line up with the edge of the quilt sandwich. I’ll use my UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small – 12 pcs to secure them in place and my sewing machine to baste the end of each ribbon to the edge of the 5½” x 6½” quilt sandwich.

A hand holds down the edge of a white, gold, and black quilt sandwich. White ribbons with black polka dots have green, red, and blue wool felt squares attached to their ends, and are clipped to the edge of the quilt sandwich.  A green cutting mat is shown in the background. UNIQUE SEWING Self-Gripping Fastener Strip - 25cm (10″) - White, UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) - White, ELAN Trench Buckle - 45mm (13⁄4″) - Brown, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Black & White, UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps - Sew-On - 12mm (1⁄2″) - 2 sets,  SOFTKUT Pinking Shears (Scissors) - 81⁄2″ (21.6cm), COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) - White - 1700, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Red & Green, OLFA RTY-2/DX - Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm, UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small - 12 pcs, UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle - Plastic - 25mm (1″) - White, CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons - Pink Tones - 75g (2.6oz), UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m - White, free tutorial

Clip the ends of the ribbons to the edge of the quilt sandwich and baste in place.

Zipper block

For the next block, I’ll topstitch the COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) – White – 1700 and 2 lengths of red gingham ribbon from the UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack – Red & Green to 1 of the 3½” x 9½” quilt sandwiches.

A sewing machine stitches along the edge of a red gingham ribbon and a white zipper while a hand holds the zipper pull away from the foot of the sewing machine. UNIQUE SEWING Self-Gripping Fastener Strip - 25cm (10″) - White, UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) - White, ELAN Trench Buckle - 45mm (13⁄4″) - Brown, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Black & White, UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps - Sew-On - 12mm (1⁄2″) - 2 sets,  SOFTKUT Pinking Shears (Scissors) - 81⁄2″ (21.6cm), COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) - White - 1700, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Red & Green, OLFA RTY-2/DX - Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm, UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small - 12 pcs, UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle - Plastic - 25mm (1″) - White, CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons - Pink Tones - 75g (2.6oz), UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m - White, free tutorial

Topstitch 2 pieces of ribbon and a zipper to the quilt sandwich.

Next, I’ll sew a length of the green heart ribbon on top of the zipper ends and trim the ends of the ribbon with my OLFA RTY-2/DX—Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm.

A yellow rotary cutter trims off the ends of a ribbon with green hearts sewn across the end of a zipper on a small quilt block. A green cutting mat is in the background. UNIQUE SEWING Self-Gripping Fastener Strip - 25cm (10″) - White, UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) - White, ELAN Trench Buckle - 45mm (13⁄4″) - Brown, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Black & White, UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps - Sew-On - 12mm (1⁄2″) - 2 sets,  SOFTKUT Pinking Shears (Scissors) - 81⁄2″ (21.6cm), COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) - White - 1700, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Red & Green, OLFA RTY-2/DX - Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm, UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small - 12 pcs, UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle - Plastic - 25mm (1″) - White, CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons - Pink Tones - 75g (2.6oz), UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m - White, free tutorial

Sew a ribbon across the ends of the zipper and then trim the ends even with the quilt sandwich.

Parachute buckle block

For the parachute buckle block, I’ll topstitch some red gingham ribbon onto 2 – 11” lengths of UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) – White. The UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small – 12 pcs easily keep the ribbon and webbing together while I stitch.

Small purple clips hold pieces of white webbing and red gingham ribbon. A green cutting mat can be seen in the background. UNIQUE SEWING Self-Gripping Fastener Strip - 25cm (10″) - White, UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) - White, ELAN Trench Buckle - 45mm (13⁄4″) - Brown, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Black & White, UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps - Sew-On - 12mm (1⁄2″) - 2 sets,  SOFTKUT Pinking Shears (Scissors) - 81⁄2″ (21.6cm), COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) - White - 1700, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Red & Green, OLFA RTY-2/DX - Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm, UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small - 12 pcs, UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle - Plastic - 25mm (1″) - White, CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons - Pink Tones - 75g (2.6oz), UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m - White, free tutorial

Center and clip 1 length of red gingham ribbon to each piece of webbing.

I’ll fold the 2 lengths of webbing in half and thread them through the 2 sides of the UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle – Plastic – 25mm (1″) – White then take the raw ends of the webbing and clip them in place along the 2 short ends of a 4½” x 6½” quilt sandwich. The last step is to baste the ends in place with my sewing machine.

Small purple clips hold together a black and white quilt block and the ends of white webbing with a red gingham ribbon sewn down the center. The webbing is threaded through a white parachute buckle. A green cutting mat can be seen in the background. UNIQUE SEWING Self-Gripping Fastener Strip - 25cm (10″) - White, UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) - White, ELAN Trench Buckle - 45mm (13⁄4″) - Brown, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Black & White, UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps - Sew-On - 12mm (1⁄2″) - 2 sets,  SOFTKUT Pinking Shears (Scissors) - 81⁄2″ (21.6cm), COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) - White - 1700, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Red & Green, OLFA RTY-2/DX - Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm, UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small - 12 pcs, UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle - Plastic - 25mm (1″) - White, CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons - Pink Tones - 75g (2.6oz), UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m - White, free tutorial

Thread the webbing through the sides of the parachute buckle and then secure the ends to the sides of the quilt block.

Buttons and elastic block

For my last activity block, I’ll use large buttons from the  CRAFTING ESSENTIALS

Bottle of Buttons – Pink Tones – 75g (2.6oz) and 4 – 4″ pieces of UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m – White. I’ll attach them to the last quilt sandwich that is 5½” x 6½”.

A hand holds a blue package of braided elastic beside a bottle of pink buttons. In the background, a piece of fabric with a black and gold chevron pattern sits on a green cutting mat. UNIQUE SEWING Self-Gripping Fastener Strip - 25cm (10″) - White, UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) - White, ELAN Trench Buckle - 45mm (13⁄4″) - Brown, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Black & White, UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps - Sew-On - 12mm (1⁄2″) - 2 sets,  SOFTKUT Pinking Shears (Scissors) - 81⁄2″ (21.6cm), COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) - White - 1700, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Red & Green, OLFA RTY-2/DX - Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm, UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small - 12 pcs, UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle - Plastic - 25mm (1″) - White, CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons - Pink Tones - 75g (2.6oz), UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m - White, free tutorial

Use buttons and narrow elastic to make the last activity block.

This block is super simple to make. First, I’ll fold the pieces of elastic in half and baste the ends to the edges of the quilt sandwich. Then, I’ll sew on the buttons so each fits inside 1 of the elastic loops.

A hand holds a loop of braided elastic sewn to the edge of a quilt sandwich of white, black, and gold fabric on top of a green cutting mat. 3 additional elastic loops and 4 pink buttons have been sewn onto the same quilt square. UNIQUE SEWING Self-Gripping Fastener Strip - 25cm (10″) - White, UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) - White, ELAN Trench Buckle - 45mm (13⁄4″) - Brown, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Black & White, UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps - Sew-On - 12mm (1⁄2″) - 2 sets,  SOFTKUT Pinking Shears (Scissors) - 81⁄2″ (21.6cm), COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) - White - 1700, UNIQUE CREATIV Trim Pack - Red & Green, OLFA RTY-2/DX - Deluxe Ergonomic Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm, UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small - 12 pcs, UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle - Plastic - 25mm (1″) - White, CRAFTING ESSENTIALS Bottle of Buttons - Pink Tones - 75g (2.6oz), UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m - White, free tutorial

Sew on the folded elastic pieces and then the buttons.

Wow! That’s all the activity blocks finished. It was fun experimenting to see how notions such as UNIQUE SEWING Invisible Magnetic Snaps – Sew-On – 12mm (12 ″) – 2 sets, UNIQUE Braided Elastic 3mm x 3.7m – White, UNIQUE SEWING Double Adjust Parachute Buckle – Plastic – 25mm (1″) – White, UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) – White and COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 20cm (8″) – White – 1700 can be used to make different aspects of the quilt.

I can’t wait to see what this fidget quilt will look like when it is all sewn together, and tomorrow’s the day! See you then.

This is part 4 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 3: Use hook and loop tape to make peek-a-boo windows in a fidget quilt

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