Hey everyone. Today you will learn how to turn scrap squares into a rainbow ombre puff quilt, one soft little pocket at a time.
Every square puffs up like a tiny pillow. And the color does all the talking.
We are not reinventing the wheel here. A puff quilt, some folks call it a biscuit quilt, is old-school simple. You make a pocket. You stuff it with a pinch of batting. You close it up. Just like that.
Why does batting make it work? The loft lives inside each square. So the throw stays puffy and even. No big wrestling match under the machine at the end.
The ombre part is the clever bit. Sort scraps light to dark, or red to violet for a full rainbow. Completely up to you. The gradient makes mismatched scraps look planned.
Materials
- Scrap squares for the tops: cut 4 1/2 inches, about 80 to 120 for a throw
- Plain backing squares for the pockets: cut 4 inches, same count, muslin or light cotton works great
- High-loft polyester batting, cut or torn into small handfuls
- Backing fabric for the finished quilt
- Binding fabric, about 1/2 yard
- Thread to match, I use a 50-weight for piecing
- Size 80/12 universal needle
- Pins or clips, a chopstick or turning tool, and tweezers if you have them
Here is what I use and why. For puffs, I reach for lofty polyester batting. It springs back. Cotton packs down faster in these pockets. Tear batting into golf-ball-size pieces. Soft edges puff nicer.
How to make it
- Sort your rainbow first. Lay all your top squares on a table. Line them up light to dark, color to color. Take a phone photo. Oh my goodness, that photo will save you later when rows get shuffled.
- Make the pocket. Place one 4 1/2-inch top square on one 4-inch backing square, right side of the top facing up. The top is bigger on purpose. Pinch a small pleat on each side of the top square so its edges meet the smaller backing. Pin at each corner.
- Stitch three sides. Sew around three sides with a 1/4-inch seam. Leave the top edge open. Go slow on the pleats. Slow down or the needle snaps is not the worry here, but a pleat can shift. A steady pace keeps it tidy.
- Add the puff. Push a small handful of batting into the open pocket. Use your chopstick to get it into the corners. You want it plump, not bursting. If you cannot pinch the open edges together easy, take a little out.
- Close and join the row. Pinch that last pleat on the open side. Pin it shut. Then sew this puff to the next puff in your row, right in color order, with a 1/4-inch seam. That seam closes the pocket as you go. Super duper easy once you do two or three.
- Build row by row. Finish a whole row before you start the next color. Check your photo before sewing rows together. Then join rows with a 1/4-inch seam, matching corners as best you can. It does not have to be perfect. Puffs are forgiving. They hide a wobbly corner like a champ.
- Finish the back. Lay your joined puff top right side up. Place backing fabric right side down on top. Pin around the outside. Sew around all four sides with a 1/2-inch seam, leaving an 8-inch opening for turning. Trim corners, turn right side out, and push each corner out gently.
- Close and bind, or just topstitch. Tuck in the opening and topstitch around the whole quilt about 1/8 inch from the edge. That closes it neat. If you love binding, add binding instead. Both ways work. I topstitch the first one, just to keep it simple.
Tips and variations
Keep the stuffing even. Judge handfuls by feel. If one puff looks flat, open two stitches, add a pinch, and restitch. I have done that. The fix takes a minute.
Watch your stitch length. I piece at about 10 to 12 stitches per inch, roughly a 2.5 setting. Strong enough to hold, easy to pick out if a pleat lands crooked.
Take your time, it's not a race. Do one color row a night if you want. You are your own worst critic, and these rows look better finished than fussed over. If I can do this, y'all can do it.
Try a different order. Not a rainbow person? Do one color only. All blues, light to navy, is really really pretty. Or try pastels for a baby mat.
Alrighty. Sort those scraps and let the batting do the puffing. Thanks for sewing along, folks. We'll see you next time. Bye.
Shop Hobbs Cloudloft Polyester Batting Package — Queen 90" × 108" at Linda's Electric Quilters.
