The holidays can be stressful for pets, with new noises, guests, changes in routines, travel, and more. I’m sharing a beginner-friendly pattern for a Holiday Pet Quilt designed to give your furry friend some additional comfort during the holidays. Alternatively, you can donate your Holiday Pet Quilt to a local animal shelter as a kennel or crate quilt. This post is also part of the fifth annual Christmas in July Make Along.
This post contains affiliate links. I may receive compensation (at no added cost to you) if you make a purchase using these links. I am a Baby Lock Brand Ambassador and a Benartex Brand Ambassador and this post is part of our ongoing collaborations. Additional supplies were provided by Cricut, Oliso, and Sewing by Sarah.
I’m so excited to be joining off the fifth annual Christmas in July Make Along with this easy Holiday Pet Quilt pattern! To join the Christmas in July Make Along:
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- By the end of the Make Along, you’ll have up to 31 awesome projects. Get ready for the handmade holiday season while having fun with us!
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This week’s theme for the Christmas in July Make Along is Pets. While many pets love the holidays, others find them stressful. My cats are the biggest fans of anything handmade I create. They love to soak up the smells of my hands and cuddle on any blankets I make. If you don’t have your own pets, you can also donate pet quilts to many animal shelters, who will use them to make crates and kennels cozy and cute.
If you’re new to sewing for charity, check out the Ultimate Guide to Sewing for Charity for more tips and information about the Snuggles Project, an organization that encourages handmade donations for shelter pets. Another organization you may want to check out is Patient Pet Advocates, who has information about their requirements for donation on their Crafting Change page. This Holiday Pet Quilt is about 23″ square when finished, making it ideal for a small to medium dog or a cat.
I used seven fabrics from Benartex’s Night Before Christmas Fabric collection for my version, including a panel for the back, which puts this firmly in (almost) cheater quilt territory. You can finish this Holiday Pet Quilt up super fast!
I chatted more about this quilt and my inspiration in last week’s Christmas in July Virtual Fabric Show with Benartex. You can watch the video below or here on YouTube.
If you make your own Holiday Pet Quilt, I’d love to see it! Share your progress and questions by tagging me on Facebook as @Underground Crafter on on Instagram as @ucrafter. You can also share a picture in the Underground Crafters Facebook group. Sign up for my weekly newsletter and get a coupon code for your choice of one of my premium crochet or knitting patterns patterns and private access to my vault of subscriber goodies. Plus, you’ll never miss one of my free patterns again!
Holiday Pet Quilt
Sewing Pattern by Underground Crafter
Pets love handmade gifts! This beginner-friendly quilt is ideal for a cat or small to medium sized dog. It uses simple squares and strips for the quilt top and a one-piece panel for the back.
Finished Size:
- Approximately 22.5” (57 cm) square.
Tools
- Sewing machine such as the Baby Lock Brilliant. Watch my Baby Lock Brilliant unboxing video below.
- If you can’t see my unboxing of the Baby Lock Brilliant above, click HERE to watch the video on YouTube.
- Cricut 45 mm rotary cutter, cutting mat, and acrylic ruler.
- If you’re new to working with a rotary cutter, the video below demonstrates how to use a rotary cutter safely.
- If you can’t see the video above demonstrating how to safely use a rotary cutter, click HERE to watch the video on YouTube.
- Fabric shears.
- Oliso Mini Project Iron and Sewing by Sarah Wool Press ‘n Lock Tiles™ with Nifty Notions Mist Spray Bottle.
- Quilting pins.
- Basic sewing supplies (seam ripper, thread snips, etc.).
- Optional: 1/4″ quilting presser foot with guide for seaming.
Materials
- Universal sewing needle.
- 100% cotton thread in coordinating or contrasting colors for bobbin and top thread.
- 100% cotton quilting fabrics – I used fabrics from the Benartex Night Before Christmas collection. You’ll need approximately 1/4 yard in each of 6 different fabrics (Fabrics A-F) for the front and approximately 2/3 yard of a panel fabric for the back.
- For my version, Fabric A is 16035-07 Ornaments Cream; Fabric B is 16033-10 Wreath Red, Fabric C is 16033-07 Wreath Cream, Fabric D is 16035-56 Ornaments Navy, Fabric E is 16030-10 Santa Wreath Red, and Fabric F is 16030-54 Santa Wreath Blue.
- The back panel is 16028-55 Night Before Christmas Panel Multi.
- 100% cotton batting (approximately 24″ square).
Pattern Note
- Pets often enjoy and find comfort in the scent of their owner. If making for your own pet, wash the fabrics and batting before sewing and then give it to your pet without washing again, to keep your scent on the fabrics. If donating to an animal shelter or other pet charity, be sure to wash before donation (after sewing) following the organization’s guidelines.
Pattern Instructions
Prepare Fabric
- Press fabric to remove wrinkles.
- With rotary cutter, mat, and acrylic ruler, cut 4 squares (each measuring 5″) in each of 4 different fabrics (Fabrics A-D in my version). Cut 1 strip (each measuring 5″ x 24″) in each of 2 fabrics (Fabrics E & F in my version). Cut panel fabric and batting to each measure approximately 24″ square.
Assemble Quilt Top
- Using a 1/4″ seam allowance and a straight stitch, sew 5 squares together. Repeat twice more to create 3 rows of 5 squares each.
- Press seams flat or in the same direction.
- Alternate rows of squares with strips as shown below, using a 1/4″ seam allowance and a straight stitch.
- Press seams flat or in the same direction.
- You can find my assembly diagram below.
Assemble Quilt
- Position pieces as follows: Place batting on bottom. Place quilt panel in center with right side up. Place quilt top on top with wrong side up so that fabric pieces have right sides together. Make sure that quilt top and panel fabrics have the same orientation so that the tops/bottoms of directional fabrics are at the same edges.
- Pin around, making sure that seams are flat.
- With 1/2″ seam allowance, sew along three sides completely, and partially along fourth side, leaving approximately 3” unseamed on last side. Trim excess fabric or batting.
- Clip all corners.
- Turn the quilt right side out through the opening on the final side.
- Fold the unseamed section inwards. Pin closed.
- Using reinforcing stitches at start and end, seam the opening closed with a topstitch around the entire quilt using an approximately 1/4″ seam allowance.
- Press to remove wrinkles. Quilt or tie as desired, following the instructions on your batting to make sure you don’t have too much space between quilt lines or ties.
