Puppy Quilt Block Tutorial

I was looking for puppy quilts and quilt blocks one day and discovered that most were applique, or the puppy looked very square. There was one good block that I based mine off of. I made some extreme changes to the puppy's head and ears, and slightly altered the little paws you can see on top of the basket. Here's the link to the original: http://www.fatquartershop.com/media/blog/Snapshots/4-Snapshots-PuppyLove%20.pdf


The block measures 13.5" x 14.5" unfinished. This is a great scrap fabric project as it uses little pieces. It would also work well if you made multiple blocks and then sewed them together to make a big puppy quilt.

The pieces you need to cut from your puppy fabric are:

2-2 1/2" squares, 8-1 1/2" x 2 1/2", and 1-3 3/8" square

From the background fabric:

6-1 1/2" squares, 2-1 1/2" x 2 1/2", 2-3 3/8"squares, and 4-2 1/2" squares.

From the basket fabric:

3-3 3/8" squares, 2-1 1/2" x 2", 2-2 1/2" x 2", 2-2" x 5 1/2", 4-1 1/2" x 2 1/2", 4-1 1/2" squares, and 2-2" x 5 1/2"

For the bow:

1-1 1/2" x 1 1/2", 1-1 1/2" x 2 1/2", 1-1 1/2" x 5 1/2", and 2-3 3/8" squares

For the nose, you will need 1-1 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangle from a dark fabric.


First, make all the half square triangles (HST). Use your 3 3/8" squares to make them. You will need one 3 3/8" square from the puppy fabric and one from the background, one from the basket fabric and another from the background, and 2 each from the basket and the bow.

Trim them so that they measure 2 1/2" square. Make the paws and ears, puppy chin, and the puppy's nose. Take the 4-1 1/2" squares of basket fabric and 2 of the 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" puppy fabric pieces to make the puppy's paws. For the ears, use 2 more 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangles from the puppy fabric, and 4-1 1/2" squares of background fabric. Make them as you would a flying geese block. Use the last 2 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" puppy fabric pieces and the dark fabric piece to make the nose. To make the nose, you do it like a flying geese block, only you lay the fabric rectangles perpendicular to each other. See the puppy nose picture.

Make the pieces for the bow. The 2" x 5 1/2" basket strips and the 1 1/2" x 5 1/2" bow strip make the large section on the right. To make the little piece that goes between the HST blocks, use the 2" x 1 1/2" basket fabric pieces and the 1 1/2" square of bow fabric. The medium sized section on the left is made from the 2 1/2" x 2" basket fabric pieces and the 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" bow fabric piece. Refer to the picture above.

Lay out all your pieces and separate them into 5 rows.

Sew together the pieces in each row that are smaller than the largest block in the row. Like on the row with the puppy nose, you need to sew together the two chin pieces, then sew them to the nose so that they match the height of the 2 1/2" squares on the ends.

Sew together your rows, and if you want you can add border strips of background fabric to add space around the sides, the puppy's head, and the bottom of the basket.

If I were going to make multiples of this block and sew them together, I would leave off the extra background fabric strip and just put sashing around each block. For this one I added the extra background because I haven't decided what to do with it. It could be a pillow, a table topper, place mat, hot pad, or a wall hanging. Hand sew either felt circles or buttons on for eyes. I used felt so I could add the little white dots.


Layer, baste, then quilt. Bind to finish, or turn it into a pillow.


And your puppy quilt block is finished!