With guest Belle of Seams Sew Me
Free Mobile Templates Download and Video Tutorial for Making a Quilty Mobile.
Hello quilty friends, I’m Belle of Seam Sew Me. I am a Quilt Pattern Designer, Quilt Guild Consultant/Educator and provide classes, support and encouragement to newer quilters. Making ‘lovely things’ and sharing them with others is something that I love.
I was recently looking at a photo of one of my pattern tester’s newborns on a quilt. Babies spend a lot of time on their backs and rarely see the quilts they are laying on until they are older so it struck me, they need something quilty ABOVE them! That’s when I decided that I would create a tutorial so you could make your own Quilty Baby Mobile. I think they would also make great baby shower gifts.
In this blog tutorial, I have chosen to use EPP (English Paper Piecing) shapes for mine. However, I have also created a free template download and video tutorial of other shapes that you may enjoy using if you don’t have EPP templates or products. You can order EPP products here if you’d like. Otherwise, you can download my FREE template shapes here.
How to Make a Quilty Baby Mobile
Supplies Needed
You will first want to decide the theme of your mobile. I used EPP shapes of kites and hexies for a minimalistic look but I also created a free download of Clouds/Rain Drops/Rainbows and Stars/Hearts/Moons that you can download here.
You need:
- Mobile Frame Kit from Amazon ( or you can use an embroidery hoop)
- Twine, thin rope, ribbon or yarn
- Quilting cotton or felt
- Rotary cutter and cutting mat ( I like Sue Daley Designs 10” Rotating Circle Cutting Mat)
- Scissors
- EPP acrylic templates & EPP papers or you can use my FREE template of other shapes
- Fabric glue pen
- Sewing machine
- Fabric-Tac permanent glue
Getting Started- Making a Quilty Baby Mobile
Make your mobile shapes by following the steps below (if you are using the free template download, you can follow that video tutorial for your shapes).
1. Pick out your fabrics ( or felt). I used scraps from the Tails and Treads collection from Art Art Gallery Fabrics.
2. Cut out your EPP shapes using an acrylic template, rotary mat and rotary cutter. These are super funny to fussy cut! You will need a front and a back piece for each shape.
Glue Basting and assembly
3. Glue baste your EPP shapes. Here is a YouTube tutorial on how I glue baste mine. For hexies, I use the Tack It Easy Press to avoid sticky fingers. I make my own leave in EPP hexie templates. Here’s a tutorial on how to Make Easy EPP Hexie’s Using Stabilizer and Accuquilt.
4. If you use a kite shaped EPP, you will need to cut off the ends of the tails.
5. Place Fabric-Tac glue on the inside of the hexies/kite shapes (leaving the EPP papers inside- you will sew right over them).
6. Place a piece of ribbon (at the length of your choice) inside the two EPP shapes, wrong sides together and sew a scant ¼” all the way around the shape.
7. You will now have a collection of shapes, depending on your design.
8. Take a piece of ribbon, approx 3” long and make a loop. Sew it to one side of the EPP shape ( you have the option of sewing it inside of the EPP when you sew both pieces together if you don’t want the ribbon loop tails showing).
- Assemble your mobile kit per manufacture directions. I added four more ropes to mine using tomato garden twine so that I would have 8 strings hanging down rather than just the four that came with the kit. Here is where you have the option to just use an embroidery hoop, twine, ribbon or yarn if you don’t want to purchase a kit.
12. Attach your EPP shapes to the end of the strings by threading the twine/string through the loops on the top of the kites/hexies.
You now have a lovely Quilty Baby Mobile and your little one will enjoy looking at all your quilty goodness each day. I think it could be fun to add twinkle lights to the mobile too!
