Have you guys seen the home sewn series happening over at Living With Punks? It’s a great little series all about sewing for the home. Well I made a quilt. Not just any quilt but a quilt for my map loving geography obsessed son. So I made a quilt of the world. (check out the rest of the series)
Normally I make things that can be done in a day, or in one sitting, so this project was a bit of a leap for me. Also I had to hear “is my quilt done yet?” from Jude everyday for a few weeks, since he is also used to me doing something in an hour I guess. So this is not a quick project but it’s a great project to have and work on from time to time, I would sew a few of the quilting lines from time to time, and eventually it was done.
I have never made a quilting pattern before, or used one, (not a quilter) but I did put together the pattern I used to make this quilt.
Get the pattern HERE
You will need:
- 1/4 yard for Antartica (pieced together due to length)
- 1/4 yard for Australia
- 1/2 yard for Asia
- 3/8 yard for Africa
- 1/2 yard for North America
- 1/4 yard for Europe
- 3/8 yard for South America
- 2 yards for front (ocean)
- 2 yards batting (60″X40″)
- 1 1/2 yards fusible interfacing
- 2 yards backing
Start by printing out the pattern (I know it’s a lot of paper but not a ton of ink) cut the edges and tape it together. It’s the full size of the quilt. (think lap blanket) Trace the outlines of the continents on to the fusible interfacing. Fusible side facing up.
Press the interfacing on to the wrong side of the fabric of your choice. Then follow the line and cut out the continents.
I used a cream cotton that was fairly see through so I could place it right over the paper and see the continents through it.
Then place all the continents all cut out on the cotton front piece following the outlines for placement. I used several safety pins to secure the pieces in place. ** Also tip I used disappearing ink to trace around some of the tricky parts so I would make sure it was sewn in the right place.
Then to secure all the pieces in place I simply stitched around the edge. You can do a satin stitch if you don’t want any of the raw edge but with the interfacing and then the quilting on top the raw edges stay pretty secured.
Then layer top piece with batting, and the back. I used safety pins to secure all three layers together, pull the layers tightly to get them all as smooth and straight as possible.
Then it’s time to “quilt” it. I used a wavy stitch line to sew lines across the quilt, making sure everything is as smooth as possible. If you are a perfectionist, then good luck 🙂 There were little wrinkles popping up every now and then and I just stitched right over it, by the time it’s done you hardly notice.
Once you are done quilting trim up the sides to make sure everything is all squared up. I bound my quilt by wrapping the back around to the front. (I am sure that’s wrong??)
So I double folded the sides up and pinned around the edge.
When I got the corners I just folded the top down and then the side over. I stitched a few rows of lines through the border to secure.
Then the quilt is done. I will say at first when I was doing the lines across the quilt I was so bored, like really bored. Then it became peaceful and relaxing.
I love the new quilt for our home which is the perfect blanket for cuddling up with. It’s basically the size of a lap blanket since that’s as big as I wanted to go. It would make a perfect crib size quilt.
So there you have it, the whole world on a quilt.
Also note, the pattern is fairly detailed, when I was cutting the pieces out I cut some islands, and blended some into a chain piece since they are so small, but you can feel free to be as detailed as you want.
It's beautiful. I love it!!!
Thanks!
I love the simplicity! It could make a nice wall hanging too.
Thanks! It totally would make a Great Wall hanging!
This is great! Thanks for sharing it. I may try it.
very very cool!! great job! I love the wavy quiliting too 🙂
Thanks! I like the waves because it hides errors 🙂
This is awesome. Thank you for sharing all your time and hard work!
This is fantastic! My boys are not that interested in what I make these days but this quilt might just be a hite!
Yes! Jude is the same way with the things I make but he loved the quilt 🙂 and it will last longer than his clothing 🙂
Amazing!<br />
I adore this. I am definitely making one. Thanks for the pattern!!
Love it Girl! Seriously – so inspirational. Thanks for all your hard work and for contributing such a beautiful project 🙂
You bet! Thanks for inviting me in the fun series!
Shauna!!! This is AMAZING! I am so in love with it!
Love this! And so would my daughter!
This would definitely make a great wall hanging in my family room. The grandkids will love it too. Thanks for the pattern. Your quilt looks amazing. This would be great in a classroom, too.
This is great, I love the fabric choices! So masculine. Also, there's never a wrong way to bind a quilt 😉 you did awesome!
Jude surprised me, I let him choose the fabrics and I was sure it would be something crazy or ugly but he did a good job 🙂
Technically it's a continents of the world rather than the whole world as my country of birth New Zealand is not included as are many of the small countries, it's so sad when we don't make it onto the map, beautiful design for the big countries!
Sorry Sew Ruby, thanks for pointing that out, I'll add the other countries when I make mine. Good Point too thank you.<br />
Actually the pattern does include many small islands that I left off while sewing some were due to time constraints some because they were so small that they kept getting lost. It's why I included the note that the pattern has more detail than the quilt that I made.
You left off part of Australia (the island state at the bottom, Tasmania) :(. Other than that, I love it!
I did leave off several small islands while sewing but the free pattern included does include them
Great Quilt! Thank you for the pattern 🙂
Really cool! One of the best posts on the Living With Punks series.
Thanks!
Thanks so much for the pattern. Ill have add more in the Caribbean. But this will likely be my first quilt 🙂
The pattern does include more detail than I added to my quilt, but yes the fun thing is you can add as much detail as you want 🙂
Love it!! Thanks for including NZ on the pattern =0)
You are welcome 🙂
love it! just wondered IF Korea & China are on it?
Yes they are both on the asia continent. You could break the continents down by countries if you want, the pattern is broken up into continents.
This is utterly amazing….i.Love.It!!
This is beautiful. I've been looking for something like this for years to put on grandson's wall- those 2 are now grown up but Now I have 3 very little ones I am going to do this for. (I think their father will love it too)
This is brilliant! Really love how it looks.. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Wow amazing!!! I have just finished making my very first quilt for my daughter. While making it i thought oh i feel so bad my son isnt getting something so special like this. My 7 year old son loves the world map and this is going to be perfect to surprise him with!!! and il be adding New Zealand on his one haha as thats where we are from 🙂
I think you did a fabulous job, I know that was a ton of work! My 3 year old daughter is fascinated with maps and squealed with joy when she saw this blog post, lol. I failed home ec in school, is there any way I could pay you to make a girly one? 😉 Pretty please!
You are simply amazing!!! This is awesome and you did an extraordinary job on it. Thank you for sharing the pattern for free too. You are an inspiration. I love it just the way you made it. Your boy is one lucky kid. 🙂
I think it's beautiful. I checked to see if I had the wave stitch on my machine and I don't. I was planning on using it to make some quilts. You did an outstanding job and should give yourself a pat on the back.<br />
I love this! Would it be very difficult to make it a larger size? Like for a twin bed?
This comment has been removed by the author.
I did it!!! Made my 2nd quilt ever! For my sons 8th birthday coming up on the 6th May! He is going to flip over this! He loves studying the world map so this is definately perfect for him<br />
Absolutely LOVE THIS
Wow! What an impressive quilt! I've always wanted to make a quilt, but never started because I couldn't decide on a design that's worth all the labor, I usually make much smaller projects, too. But this is so cool, I might actually try and make it 🙂 Thanks for sharing the pattern and tutorial!
Lovely idea! I have just made the map details/continents/islands in various B&W fabrics, and is planning for the border in coloured pieces.<br />Thanks for sharing the pattern of the map-quilt to a seamstress in Sweden.
Usually a free pattern is for non commercial use. I wonder if you would give me special permisson to make this quilt for an auction to benefit young women in crisis pregnancies. It is a super cool quilt.
Love your quilt, thank you for the tutorial. I made it a twin size for my grandson. Big hit!
What a coincidence, my son ask me this sunday for a quilt wallhaging of a world map and I find your web side with this free pattern, I thank you so much for sharing this beautiful pattern for free… I just hop now that I can do it because I’m a beginner in sewing…….Another great thanks from France
Your quilt is so lovely. Thank you so much for the pattern. I’ve just printed the pattern and I’m about give it a go as a “welcome to the world” gift for a newborn. I just hope mine turns out as nicely as yours.
This is amazing. Your quilt is stunning, I love the fabric that you used and I can’t believe your incredible generosity at sharing your pattern. Thank you very much, Julie x
Love your quilt, it’s so fun! I am in the process of making one now for my soon-to-be son! =) I was wondering what type of fusible interfacing you were using? Or if it mattered?
hello! Thank you so much for this ! here is my version of your amazing patern:
http://www.ritalechat.com/2014/11/world-map-coudre-monde/
Best regards,
Camille.
What a great idea! I am going to make this for my Missionary son. Any details that are too small to appliqué could be added with embroidery. You did a rolled binding, and no it is not wrong. It is perfectly acceptable and so much easier than a bias binding. Great job!
Love this! I’m making 2 of these with fabric from Africa – one as present (for my sister who bought the beautiful fabric) and one for myself! I’m going to try longitude and latitude lines for quilting
How big did you print off the continents? I dont want to print them off then they all end up different sizes.
The pattern is all scaled, so it prints out exactly what is shown here, not just the individual continents.
I LOVE this quilt and am making one similar for my husband, who is a geographer. I’ve never done the actual ‘quilting’ of a blanket… How did you make your wave pattern? Did you start from the center and then follow your previous stitch lines as you went along? Or…? Thank you for the guidance and beautiful inspiration!
Your stuff is awesome, can’t wait to work on these projects!!
What was the name of the cream cotton you used for the quilt? I’ve been looking online but it’s nearly impossible to know whether or not it is fairly see through.
Thank you so much for this pattern! I’ve just made a version for my niece using bright patchwork for the land masses. Great fun!
Thank you so much for the free pattern! I got mine at Craftsy and I’ve added to it, making it a twin size in red, white & blue Americana fabrics. I’ve used various labels that I’ve saved out of clothing, an adorable embroidered jean pocket and embroidered waistbands from jeans. Using ‘glow-in-the-dark’ thread I stitched, “For God so loved…” in a band above the map section and all around the countries. I am applying Mariner’s Compasses on each of the corners and I’m almost finished with those. Then comes the quilting! I have used country blue flannel for the water and I’ll use the McTavishing stitch to quilt to give the water movement, using silk thread. I’m making for my son who is a United States Marine. Thanks again so much for designing this pattern.
Will make one of these for each of my grandchildren! Thank’s!
New Zealand too close to Australia, boohoo but at least we are on your map, thank you from the bottom of my heart, we are usually forgotten!
You left out New Zealand?? Why would you do that? That’s the best 3 islands on the planet! 😛
Hi there! I’m a travel writer and I’m currently working on a travel themed nursery for our soon-to-be-here baby girl. It has been a challenge finding bedding with a travel theme that isn’t horribly boyish or outright extremely expensive! I am so thankful you took the time to do this AND make the pattern free! Seriously, thank you so much! This is going to me from scraping the whole theme! Once I get her room complete, I’ll send you a shot of what your work helped me accomplish! So much love for you right now!!!
Amber
Beautiful pattern, but disappointed to see that New Zealand was missing.?
I’m going to make two of these; one for my son who just circumnavigated the Earth in a single-engine airplane, and one for my nephew who is a world traveler and has visited every continent except Antarctica! I know both will love them!
Hi,
I have just found this free quilt pattern and just wanted to let you know how beautiful I think it is. Such a wonderful idea and I would love to have a go at making it for my world-traveling daughter. Thank you so much for your generosity.