Bubble Quilt

http://www.awaitingada.com/2012/06/bubble-quilt.html

Bubble Quilt - Puff Blanket - Biscuit Quilt
I've been working for a long time on this puff quilt, I started it around Christmas time and it just kept getting pushed to the side. When we were little we had this great bubble quilt that our grandma made us, and I wanted to make one for Ada. I only vaguely remembered what it looked like, so my puffs are much bigger, but it turned out great and Ada loves squishing the colorful puffs! I made a practice puff a while ago for my Puff Pin Cushion and kept the same dimensions.

The size I made is a little strange, it's quite long and narrow, so for now we just play with it on the floor, but I'm thinking it would look amazing at the foot of her bed when we eventually turn it to a toddler bed.

Materials (for the size I made which was about 24x44 without the ruffle):
16 different colors of scrap fabric (if you want to do the rainbow)
1 yard cheap crappy fabric for the base of the puffs (you won't be able to see them)
1 yard minky
1 1/2 yard silky fabric for the ruffle
Some poly-fil

Step 1: Pick out a bunch of scrap fabrics that you like.
Step 2: So for my blanket, I cut 7"x7" squares for my bubbles, but they ended up being quite difficult to work with at the end since they were so big. I'd recommend making them 6"x6" instead. So out of your fabrics cut out your squares and arrange them to your liking with 11 on the long side and 6 on the short side, so you end up with 66 total squares.

Now out of your ugly fabric (yes, mine is sweet quail fabric I got for free) cut out 66 4.5"x4.5" squares.

Step 3: Now we're going to make the puffs, all 66 of them. Place your two squares together so that the large square has it's right side out and the small square doesn't matter if it's right side out or it. Pin the corner of one square to the corresponding corner of the other square. Repeat with all four corners.
Make two pleats on each side of the square and pin in place. On each side the folds should go in towards each other and make it so that the larger square sides match up with the smaller square's sides.
Repeat on all four sides. Sorry about the blurry picture.
Here's a quick video of how to make the pleats as well as an alternative single pleat method. I made this in about 5 minutes, so it's not perfect, but it does the job!

Sew around your square using a 1/4" seam to secure your pleats. Leave one of the corners open, but make sure your seam goes past the pleats on each side.
Now you can stuff your puff. I know it's tempting to stuff them really full, but don't because we're going to have to sew the puffs together on the machine, and if they're too big, they won't fit. Repeat with all 66 bubbles.
Step 4: Lay out your puffs in the arrangement you want and then take to, pin one of the edges together and sew. I used a zipper foot because it enabled me to get the seam closer.
I sewed mine together in rows of 6.
Once you have all 11 of your rows of 6, you'll need to sew them together. It's crucial to pin them before you get going. I pinned at the seam and then again in the middle to help everything stick together.
Sew all of your rows together until your entire top is completed!
Step 5: Make a ruffle to go around your blanket. I didn't show the steps to making a ruffle, but you can look here to learn how to make one. I cut six strips out of my silky fabric that were each 8" wide. Then I followed the same steps. Cut our your minky to the size of your bubble top. Pin your ruffle on to the correct side of the minky with the ruffle going in toward the center and then sew it in place.
Lay your puffs right side up and your minky and ruffle piece right side down on top. Make sure all of the ruffle is going in toward the center (so you can't see any).
Pin in place and then sew around. Be very careful not to snag the ruffle in the seam during this process. Just go slow and stick you hand in between the pins to straighten the ruffle as you go. Leave a large-ish opening, mine was about 7" wide.
Turn you blanket right side out and hand stitch up the opening.
You're all finished!
It's beautiful and squishy too!