Quilted Napsack

Whew! I have been able to get so much accomplished this past week and it feels great! Maybe it's the late hours or the constant intake of chocolate and Dr. Peppers, but between working on getting everything ready for Quilt Market with presentations and new postings to our Moda websites and the home life, I have actually been able to squeeze in a little bit of sewing. Paige has a friend that lives across the street from us and her 4th birthday is coming up. I asked Paige what she wanted to get Abbie for her birthday and she told me "Abbie Pillow" and pointed to her napsack with pillow attached. I made Paige and Matthew a napsack a while back that they could take naps in and for sleepovers and Paige decided that is what Abbie needed for her birthday.

I used a Moda charm pack (I believe it was Sanctuary by 3 Sisters) along with some yellow snuggles fabric and ribbon detail for Paige's napsack.

For Matthew's napsack I cut larger blocks left over from the fabric I used in his bedroom quilt all done in plaids and stripes.


Abbie's favorite color is blue, so I looked in my fabric closet to see what I had in blue that we could make a napsack with. Luckily, I had the Sunshine fabric collection from April Cornell for Moda that would work perfectly for this.


So, I cut up some 4.5" squares and Paige helped me lay them out as a patchwork.

The top of the napsack I like to make a little bit shorter so there is room for an attached pillow. In this napsack I stitched 7 blocks across and 14 blocks down on the back side of the quilt and then the top I did 7 blocks across and 10 blocks down. The pillow I did 4 blocks across and 3 blocks down and then will add a flange out of the same fabric I use for the inside of the napsack. Once you have all your blocks sewn together then you just line up the top and the back at one side lined up at the bottom and stitch together as shown below.

Then, just add your coordinating inside fabric and batting as if you would on a normal quilt. I like to sew an X across each block to quilt it. I even quilted the pillow top so it had the same look.

Once it has been quilted just bind it and then sew the bottoms together and only come up the side about 4 blocks up so there is a nice opening for the child to get their body into it.

The pillow I like to use is a travel size pillow. It is perfect for a child's napsack.

I also like to stitch in some ribbon at the foot of the napsack when sewing up the bottom so when it is rolled up you can tie it up like a sleeping bag... just prettier.

I just love the way this one turned out! Paige was so excited that it was all done... we can't wait to give it to Abbie this weekend and see how she likes her new napsack.