Quick Bunny Appliqué Mini Quilt

This Quick Bunny Appliqué Mini Quilt features optional heavyweight thread/yarn embroidery in a “punny bunny” phrase. The bunny appliqués have cute expressions that help welcome springtime, too. With quilting, appliqué and embroidery, this mini quilt has it all! Read on for the how-tos.

Finished size: 20″ x 24

BUNNY MINI QUILT SUPPLIES

• “Bunny Blocks” Bunny Appliqué Templates from Shiny Happy World
• Sulky Perfect Appliqué Fusible Web
• (2) coordinating 20″ x 24″ rectangles of quilting cotton fabric (top & backing)
• Binding fabric (approximately two 2 ½” x WOF strips) or pre-made double-fold bias binding
• 20″ x 24″ rectangle of low-loft batting
• Sulky KK 2000™ Temporary Spray Adhesive
• (2) coordinating solid fabrics (bunny appliqué)
• Sulky Thread
  • 50 wt. Cotton Thread (appliqué & binding)
  • 30 wt. Cotton Blendables® Thread (quilting)
  • 12 wt. Cotton Thread (hand embroidery)
  • 12 wt. Filaine Thread (optional; hand embroidered lettering)
• Stick ‘n Stitch™ Stabilizer Sheets (optional; for embroidery transfers)
• Thin yarn (optional; for hand embroidered lettering)
• Large-eye hand embroidery needle

BUNNY QUILT PATTERN DETAILS

The great thing about this quick Bunny Appliqué Mini Quilt (and what makes it so quick) is that there’s no piecing. The Bunny appliqué is fused to the top fabric, and that’s the focal point of the quilt. So, choose a fabric print for the top that has a fun print but won’t compete too much with the bunny appliqué.

Since this is a “whole cloth” quilt, the quilting (and thread!) takes center stage, second only to the bunny. Sulky 30 wt. Cotton Blendables Thread is a great choice for the quilting, as it’s a thick thread that really pops off the fabric surface. The quilting is done before the appliqué is fused, so you can really have fun with the quilting process without having to navigate around the Bunny.

Use a lighter weight thread in the bobbin, such as Sulky 50 wt. Cotton. Or use the same 30 wt. Cotton Blendables Thread in the bobbin to have a matching look on the quilt backing.

QUILT PREP

Place the backing fabric wrong side up on a flat work surface. Spray the wrong side with Sulky KK 2000 Temporary Spray Adhesive.

Next, center the batting over the backing fabric, smoothing to adhere.

To finish the quilt sandwich, place the top fabric right side up over the batting. Use more KK 2000 to secure.

QUILTING OPTIONS

If this is your first time quilting, you may want to opt for straight line quilting. Plot the quilting lines you want to stitch first, using a removable fabric marker. Then, stitch straight lines through all layers, following those lines. Straight line quilting is either done horizontally or vertically. Or, stitch straight lines from corner to corner, spacing the quilting equidistantly. If you have a quilt guide, insert it into your machine to make sure your’e quilting each line equidistantly, even if you plotted the lines ahead of time.

Grid quilting is a popular option among novice quilters, too. After straight line quilting in one direction, rotate the piece and quilt in the opposite direction, creating squares (if moving in a horizontal or vertical direction) or diamonds (if moving in a cross-hatch direction).

Because this Bunny Quilt is “mini,” it’s also a great time to try quilting in the hoop of your embroidery machine. Choose a digitized quilt design in the largest size per your available hoops. Learn more in this post (and grab a free End-to-End Quilting Design from Designs by Juju). Always refer to the designer’s chart to complete the design. Align subsequent designs, if needed, to quilt the entire piece.

Free-motion quilting is another stellar choice for this piece. Drop the feed dogs on your machine and have fun creating your own whimsical design! If you’re too scared to try free-motion quilting, I highly encourage you to check out this Quilting Session with Sulky. After registering for the Session, you get access to tons of expert videos, plus several quilting templates to transfer to your fabric for practice and the real thing.

After quilting the quilt sandwich in the manner of your choice, trim the edges so they’re even.

BUNNY APPLIQUÉ

The featured Bunny Blocks appliqué templates come with three face shapes, three ear pairs and three faces to choose from. Determine your desired combination and trace the shapes needed onto the paper side of the Perfect Appliqué Fusible Web. (If desired/needed, trace the mirror image of each shape onto the fusible web. I found that they weren’t too “rigid” as far as orientation, so I didn’t trace the mirror images.)

Fuse the head and two outer ear shapes onto the wrong side of the darker solid fabric; cut out. Fuse the inner ear shapes to the wrong side of the lighter solid fabric; cut out.

Remove the paper backing from the appliqué pieces but do not fuse in place yet.

BUNNY FACE

After the appliqué stitching is complete, transfer the facial features of your choice from the templates to the right side of the Bunny Face. There are a couple of ways to do this:

1. Print the desired Bunny Facial Features page onto a sheet of Sulky Stick ‘n Stitch Stabilizer. Then, cut out the face leaving a bit of a border. Place the transfer “sticker” onto the fabric right side. This method requires water removal.
2. Eyeball the chosen facial feature placements and mark them on the fabric right side, using a removable fabric marker.

After transferring the Bunny Face to the appliqué, hand embroider the details using a combination of straight stitches (mouth) and satin stitches (eyes and nose). Use Sulky 12 wt. Cotton Petites Thread for the embroidery.

Place the Bunny appliqués along the quilt lower edge, along the right, left or center. (Be sure to be mindful of the binding so it won’t overlap an ear or cheek after sewing.) Place the outer ear lower edges slightly under the head upper edge. Then, overlap the outer ears with the inner ears, tucking the inner ear lower edges in the same way.

Once satisfied with the Bunny appliqué placement, fuse the pieces in place on the fabric top right side.

Set the sewing machine for a decorative stitch. Stitch the appliqué edges to secure, switching 50 wt. Cotton Thread colors to match each appliqué element.

Repeat to add as many Bunnies as desired to the quilt top.

OPTIONAL BUNNY PHRASE EMBROIDERY

If desired, add a “punny bunny” phrase to the Mini Quilt. Open a word processing program and type the desired phrase for example, “Everybunny’s Welcome.” Play around with fun fonts until you find one you like best. Size the letters according to the quilt measurements and the phrase/word length. The featured tallest letters measure approximately 3″ H.

Print the word(s) onto a sheet (or sheets) of Sulky Stick ‘n Stitch Stabilizer. Be sure to print on the fabric-like side and set the printer for the lowest ink setting, if possible.

Cut out the word(s), leaving a bit of a border.

Place the transfer stickers onto the fabric right side where desired.

Thread a large-eye needle with either two strands of Sulky Filaine Thread or one strand of thin yarn (shown).

Hand embroider along the printed letters using a chain stitch. Try to go through only the top fabric layer and bury the fiber ends between the fabric and batting layers.

Note: If adding the heavyweight thread/yarn embroidery, this is no longer a “quick” quilt! But the lovely texture and additional embellishment is totally worth the extra time!

QUILT FINISHING

Bind the quick Bunny Appliqué Mini Quilt in the manner of your choice.

For some great decorative binding techniques, refer to this post.

If needed, remove the Stick ‘n Stitch Stabilizer by running the quilt top under warm water. Agitate the stabilizer a bit with your fingertips to ensure it washes away cleanly. Once the stabilizer is removed, let the Mini Quilt dry flat. Then, press if needed, avoiding the stitching as much as possible.

Hang the Mini Quilt on the wall, front door or gift it to a friend to celebrate springtime!