One of the most fun and rewarding quilt sizes to make is baby-sized quilts.
Something about making a small quilt that you know a little mini person will use and love is so precious and sweet.
Today, we will go over several baby girl quilt ideas, including free and paid patterns.
We will also discuss some tips about making baby girl quilts and the best measurements to use for a baby quilt.
- How Do You Make a Baby Girl Quilt?
- What Is the Best Size for a Baby Quilt?
- What Size Squares Should You Use for a Baby Quilt?
- 27 Adorable Baby Girl Quilt Patterns
- 1. Butterflies in the Meadow
- 2. Ruffled Baby Girl Quilt Pattern
- 3. Infinite Hearts
- 4. Sweet Pea Flower Quilt Blocks
- 5. Take Me Home
- 6. Poppin’ Posies
- 7. Sleepy Babies
- 8. Giant Bear Claw
- 9. Pinwheel Dreams
- 10. Soft ‘n Snuggly Sensory Baby Quilt Tutorial
- 11. Personalized Baby Name Quilt
- 12. Stripey Baby Quilt
- 13. Ruffle Flower Rag Quilt Pattern
- 14. Darling Blossoms
- 15. Triangle Fade
- 16. Pretty Mermaid Scales
- 17. Charming Lucy
- 18. Baby Love Quilt Kit
- 19. Pitter Patter
- Uniquely Modern Baby Quilt Patterns
How Do You Make a Baby Girl Quilt?
When trying to figure out how to create a baby girl’s first quilt, I highly recommend a simple design.
Yes, it would be fun to “show off” your fabulous quilting skills, but keep in mind an infant/toddler will use this quilt for several years.
The baby will be more interested in the texture of the fabric and the pretty colors, and the momma will definitely want something machine-washable and dryable.
With all those caveats, let’s go over some simple steps you can follow when creating a modern baby quilt.
Step 1: Choose a simple yet fun pattern.
Babies love bright, happy colors, so I suggest focusing on fabric selection more than finding intricate, complex baby quilt patterns. Modern baby quilt patterns are awesome beginner quilting projects. You’ll see several modern patterns in our list below.
Step 2: Choose colorful, contrasting fabrics.
Try finding fun colors and patterns that babies would be attracted to. I also recommend choosing patterns that little ones will enjoy for years to come. Often, small children treasure their blankie or quilt and will want to keep it and use it for years.
Step 3: Create the quilt top.
Using the pattern and fabrics you chose, create your quilt top. If you select one of the many simple little girl quilt patterns available on the market, the construction of the quilt top shouldn’t take more than 8-10 hours.
Step 4: Quilt and Bind the quilt.
Again, since you will gift this quilt to a little one, I recommend not going “all-out” with fancy, intricate free motion quilting on a baby quilt.
Now, if you want to do that, then you go, girl! I just know from experience, the baby will be more interested in the colorful patterns and textures of the fabrics.
Once you finish the quilting, you can square up your corners and attach the binding.
What Is the Best Size for a Baby Quilt?
Sizing for baby quilts can vary tremendously depending on who you ask and the patterns you choose. I like to make baby quilts a bit larger than “standard” so the child can enjoy and use the quilt longer.
Standard baby quilt sizes are the following (these are approximate sizes):
- Crib: 36”x52”
- Newborn: (square)-30”x 30”
- Newborn: (rectangle)-30”x 40”
I’ve seen baby quilts as small as 24” square, which is barely the size for a playmat, let alone a quilt that a baby/toddler could cuddle up in.
When making a baby quilt for a family or a client, I like my quilts to be at least 40”x50”. This is technically a small throw-size quilt, but the child will be able to cherish the quilt for years and years with this size.
What Size Squares Should You Use for a Baby Quilt?
The number of squares you will need for a simple patchwork baby quilt will rely entirely on the size quilt you want to make and what size squares you want to use.
For example, if you make an approximate 40”x 50” quilt and want to use 5” squares, you will need 99 squares. This will create a quilt that measures 40 ½”x 49 ½”.
A 40” x 50” Baby Girl Quilt with 5” Squares
If you want a quilt approximately the same size, but you want to use larger squares like 10” squares, you will need 30 squares. This quilt will measure 47 ½” x 57”.
A 40” x 50” Baby Girl Quilt with 5” Squares
27 Adorable Baby Girl Quilt Patterns
Now that we’ve gone over some of the basics of creating a quilt for a sweet baby girl let’s look at ideas for this fun project. I tried to find a good mix of paid and free baby quilt patterns to give you a good idea of what’s available.
1. Butterflies in the Meadow
This sweet pattern includes instructions on how to create these adorable applique butterflies. Kids will love that added texture and dimension from the butterflies.
2. Ruffled Baby Girl Quilt Pattern
Aren’t these ruffled borders precious on this quilt? This pattern will show you how to create these beautiful ruffles along with the beautiful patchwork design on the quilt top.
3. Infinite Hearts
Using simple strip pieces, you can create this lovely pattern from Quilty Love for your new little one. The great part about this pattern is that it includes several other sizes, not just baby size, so if you have older children, you can create matching quilts for them.
4. Sweet Pea Flower Quilt Blocks
This flower power quilt top would look so adorable in a little girl’s nursery. This pattern is for several different size blocks that you can use to create various sizes of quilts, so even if you don’t want to make a baby quilt, this pattern would be a great addition to your pattern collection.
5. Take Me Home
Combining the timeless flying geese block with these large rectangles blocks will allow you to showcase some gorgeous fabrics for your little one. This is an excellent size for a toddler or small child as well.
6. Poppin’ Posies
Wouldn’t this make a lovely gift at a baby shower? This pattern will show you how to make this quilt which measures 42”x52”. The flowers are cute applique pieces, and the rest of the quilt top is simple piecing.
7. Sleepy Babies
Oh my goodness, have you ever seen such a precious baby quilt?! This quilt is fantastic for a baby because you will utilize minky fabric for the “blankets” on the quilt top, and babies will love seeing these sweet smiling faces on their quilt.
8. Giant Bear Claw
The bear claw block is a classic quilt block, but using these bright, fun fabrics gives it a cool modern feel. This is a free pattern, and the finished quilt will measure approximately 58” square.
9. Pinwheel Dreams
The pinwheel block is another traditional quilt block, but wow, how cool are these pink pinwheels? This is another free pattern, and the great part about this pattern is you can easily switch up the color palette and use this for a little boy too!
10. Soft ‘n Snuggly Sensory Baby Quilt Tutorial
Baby girls will LOVE this type of quilt, and I’ll tell you why. Little babies love to feel all kinds of new and exciting textures, and with the help of this free tutorial, you can create a texture overloaded quilt for a sweet baby. Mixing textures is a great idea for a baby quilt.
11. Personalized Baby Name Quilt
Personalized items are popular right now, and this is a great choice if you want to put the baby’s name and birthday (or something else meaningful) onto the quilt top. This pattern shows you how to make a 32”x37” quilt, but you can easily add squares to make it larger if you would like to do that.
12. Stripey Baby Quilt
This quick construction quilt pattern is perfect for a last-minute baby shower gift. The great thing about quilts like this one is it’s completely adjustable depending on what size you want.
13. Ruffle Flower Rag Quilt Pattern
Rag quilts are a popular quilt style for babies because of the fun texture those raw edges give to their little hands. With this pattern, you get to add yet another layer of fun with these cute flannel flowers.
14. Darling Blossoms
Here is a fabulous example of a modern quilt pattern that you can use for a baby quilt or other sizes if you want. The detail of the flowers, which is comprised of four hearts, is SO adorable!
15. Triangle Fade
This pattern is another excellent example of a modern quilt design that looks fantastic in a baby-size quilt. I love the color choices the designer chose for this example quilt. This pattern gives you three sizes to choose from as well.
16. Pretty Mermaid Scales
What little girl doesn’t love mermaids, right? This one is another perfect pattern to highlight gorgeous, vibrant fabrics to catch your little one’s eye.
17. Charming Lucy
This design is a gender-neutral pattern, as it doesn’t scream “girl,” which would make a wonderfully versatile pattern to have in your collection. This one is a well-made free pattern, perfect for beginners.
18. Baby Love Quilt Kit
If choosing fabric and cutting pieces seems too overwhelming for you, have no fear! Baby quilt kits for sale online give you everything you need to make beautiful quilt tops. This quilt kit comes with all the fabric and will show you how to make a 36” square quilt.
19. Pitter Patter
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Uniquely Modern Baby Quilt Patterns
Now let’s look at a few modern baby quilts patterns that are perfect for modern families. All of these patterns are beginner-friendly and will make beautiful gifts.
20. Boho Rainbow
This modern baby quilt pattern is an excellent example of a trendy image like the colorful rainbow, turning it into a timeless quilt design. The finished quilt will measure 40”x 40”, and the rainbow pieces will be created using applique techniques.
21. Eyelet Lace
Isn’t this quilt pattern and color palette a sweet combination? The example quilt above is the throw-size of this pattern, but the instructions include a baby size (45”x 45”), and I think this would be a gorgeous addition to any baby girl’s nursery.
22. Circles and Rings
Here is a fun applique-style quilt pattern that mixes circles, stars, and rings to create a fun, quirky design. The pattern includes several layout options, and the finished quilt measures 37”x 45”.
23. Jack’s Boxes
Here is a super simple modern quilt pattern that you could use to make girl or boy baby quilts. The maker made a great decision using horizontal straight-line quilting on this quilt since it adds to the overall design. The finished quilt is 36”x 44”.
24. Simple Squares
This baby quilt pattern is the perfect beginner quilt project. The pattern has detailed instructions, which will help you make this simple, yet modern 36”x 48” quilt.
25. Sweet Pea
This lovely pattern features large Sweet Pea quilt blocks that are beginner-friendly and fun to make. The pattern has three sizes, including a baby-size measuring 45” square.
26. Giraffes in a Row
Isn’t this giraffe quilt beyond adorable? This beautiful quilt pattern includes two baby quilt sizes: 39”x 39” or 57”x 57”, and it would look fantastic in any color combination to match your nursery.
27. Kinfolk
This pattern uses different types of quilt blocks to spell out the word “LOVE” and would be a sweet gift for any new little one. The finished quilt measures a generous 44”x 44”.
This quilt pattern has the best of both worlds with a rag and a traditionally pieced quilt. The hearts are raw-edge appliqued, and once you wash the quilt, the edges start to fray, giving that fun texture just like a rag quilt.
This selection of baby quilt patterns has been such a fun list to curate for you, and I hope it has been fun for you to look over too!
Creating quilts for little ones is truly one of the most fun projects I get to work on, and if you haven’t made one yet, I highly recommend it.
Don’t forget to have fun with it and enjoy the entire process of picking out the pattern, fabric, piecing it, quilting it, and, yes, even binding it. Happy Quilting!