Hey everyone. Today you will learn how to make a whole-cloth quilt with no piecing at all, just one gorgeous fabric doing all the work.
Here we go.
Meet the fabric first
This is the Acorn Luxe Cuddle Milan Clouded Leo, from Shannon Fabrics.
It is a Luxe Cuddle minky plush, 58/60 inches wide, sold by the yard.
The print is a tasteful leopard from the Clouded Leopard collection. The color is Acorn, a warm brown that goes with just about any room.
The texture is the real story, folks. Milan has a luxuriously high 15mm pile. Run your hand over it and you will feel it.
It is knitted with elastic, so it is extra stretchy. The fabric is 75% polyester and 25% spandex.
That stretch makes it cascade into a soft, rippling effect. You get pattern, softness, and movement, all in one fabric.
Read this part before you order
Milan is measured and sold fully stretched. That changes your math, so slow down here.
One stretched yard yields about 26 inches once the fabric relaxes. Plan on buying about 30% more fabric than your finished size calls for.
The example Shannon Fabrics gives is a 60 by 72 inch back-to-back blanket. For that, you need about 5½ yards total, or 2¾ yards per side.
We are using those same numbers today. Real numbers keep surprises away, y'all.
Why this fabric suits a whole-cloth quilt
A whole-cloth quilt means no blocks, no seams across the top, and no piecing. One fabric is the whole show.
That is perfect here. This leopard print and rippling texture do not need any help. Cutting it into little pieces would just break up the cascade.
And here is your permission beat, friends. Your quilting lines do not have to be perfect. A gentle wobble just looks handmade, and handmade is the whole point. You are your own worst critic on this. Take your time. It is not a race.
Materials list
- Acorn Luxe Cuddle Milan Clouded Leo — about 5½ yards for a 60 by 72 inch finished quilt, front and back
- Optional: a thin batting layer, cut about 62 by 74 inches, for a little extra body — completely up to you
- Rotary cutter, long ruler, and your biggest cutting mat
- Pins or clips — lots of them, every 1 to 2 inches
- Walking foot for your machine
- 90/14 ballpoint or stretch needle
- Polyester thread, and a 3.0 to 3.5mm stitch length
- Binding: about 2½ yards of a coordinating Cuddle, cut into strips
- Spray baste or safety pins for layering
Brief steps
1. Let the fabric rest. Lay it flat and relaxed a few hours before measuring. Never measure or cut Milan while it is stretched.
2. Shake each cut outside. Cut minky edges shed a little fluff. That is normal.
3. Cut the front and back each about 62 by 74 inches, measured relaxed. That gives working room around a 60 by 72 inch finish.
4. Layer the quilt. Back face down, batting in the middle if you use it, top face up. Check the ripples on both layers run the same direction.
5. Baste well. With stretchy fabric, basting is not optional. Pin or spray every few inches so nothing travels.
6. Quilt it simply. I like wide-spaced straight lines, about 4 to 6 inches apart, sewn with the walking foot. You can echo the ripple for a softer look. Completely up to you.
7. Go slow. Let the feed dogs move the quilt. If you pull on stretchy fabric, your lines will wave and the quilt will pucker.
8. Trim square to 60 by 72 inches, then bind all the way around. Just like that, you are done.
Practical tips
Keep quilting simple and spaced out. Dense quilting crushes that beautiful 15mm pile flat, and the pile is why you bought this fabric.
Lengthen your stitch to 3.0 or 3.5mm. Short stitches and stretchy plush do not get along.
If a line wanders, leave it. I have pulled out more quilting stitches than I can count, and most nobody would ever have noticed. Learn from my mistakes, folks.
Measure relaxed, every single time. Write it on a sticky note for your machine. That one habit will save this whole project.
Oh my goodness, when this one comes off the machine, you will pet it more than you use it. It is super duper cozy, and really really pretty in that Acorn brown.
Thanks so much for sewing along with me today. We'll see you next time. Bye.
Shop the Acorn Luxe Cuddle Milan Clouded Leo 58"/60" Fabric per yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
