DIY Baby Play Mat from an Alphabet Panel

Learn the Alphabet with Alphabits! An Alphabet and Animal Play Mat!

Hello, fellow quilters! I'm thrilled to introduce you to a delightful DIY project: the Alphabet Panel Baby Playmat, featuring the whimsical Alphabits panel from Michael Miller Fabrics.   

Designed with both fun and learning in mind, this child’s play mat is perfect for little ones, offering years of enjoyment starting with tummy time to cuddle time; and then proceeding to an educational exploration of finding the animals and alphabet letters on the mat.

With its charming alphabet and adorable animal designs, this playmat sparks curiosity and fosters early learning. Its simple yet versatile design can be easily adapted to various baby panels, making it a delightful project for quilters of all skill levels.

This multifaceted playmat isn't just for home use - it's also conveniently portable making it perfect for trips away from home.

For a closer look at this project, check out our YouTube video or keep reading below for a detailed guide on how to create your very own Alphabet Panel Baby Playmat!

WHAT IS A FABRIC PANEL?

A fabric panel is a design printed on fabric and sold by the panel.  Quilt panels for babies and toddlers come in a variety of themes and sizes. These panels can be incorporated into a quilt in many ways.  Fabric panels make creating quilts and accessories fun, quick and easy. 

INSTRUCTIONS for making the DIY Child's play mat:

STEP 1: Gather Supplies

Begin by gathering all the supplies and tools needed for this project. You'll need the Alphabits panel by Michael Miller Fabrics (or a similar panel), as well as border fabrics, batting and backing material, rotary cutter, mat, ruler and basic sewing tools.

When selecting fabric for the border, binding and backing of the playmat, bring the panel to the store.  Pull colors from the panel to complement your fabric choices.

STEP 2: cut the panel apart

The Alphabit panel is 24 1/2" x 44" and consists of a main section featuring alphabet letters, animals and words along with six animal blocks. 

To ensure the playmat is adequately sized for play and growth, carefully examine this panel or your chosen panel.  For the Alphabit panel,  I decided the front of the playmat would feature the main panel section with two accent fabric borders, while the animal blocks would be used on the back.

Cut the Alphabit panel into the following sizes:
* Main Middle Section - 24 1/2" x 28 1/2"
* Animal Blocks - 5" x 5 1/2"

Set the animal blocks aside to use on the back of the quilt.

Step 3: Cut and Sew Fabric for the Inside Border

After cutting the panel to the appropriate sizes, the next step is to add borders to the panel.  Borders are strips of fabric sewn around the outside edge of a quilt. 

To make the inside border for this quilt, cut:
* 2  - 3" x 28 1/2" strip
* 2  - 3" x 29 1/2" strip

Pin and sew one  3" x 28 1/2" strip to each side of the panel.  Press the seam toward the border. Then pin and sew the other two strips (3" x 29 1/2"), one to the top and one to the bottom of the panel. Press again toward the border.

Step 4:  Cut and Sew the Outer Border to the PlayMat

Prepare the second border to add to the playmat.  

From the outer border fabric, cut:
* 2  - 3" x 33 1/2" strips
* 2  - 3" x 34 1/2" strips

Pin and sew one 3" x 33 1/2" strip to each side of the playmat. Pin and sew one of the 3" x 34 1/2" strips to the top and one to the bottom of the playmat.

The quilt playmat top is finished.

Step 5: Preparing the playmat backing

Incorporate the six adorable animal blocks into the back of the quilt.  Use them wherever and however you wish.

Some guidelines when piecing the backing together, don't use a 1/4" seam allowance.  Use a 1/2" seam allowance and press the seams on the back open.

Picture of backing

Step 6: Quilt Sandwich

Before quilting, layer the quilt in a "quilt sandwich" with the backing, quilt batting and quilt top. To make the quilt sandwich, place the backing wrong side up on a table, lay the batting on top and finally place the quilt top right side up on the batting. 

Smooth out any wrinkles and pin-baste the layers together. If you want to learn how to Layer and Pin Baste a Quilt, follow the link to our tutorial on this process.

Once the layers are pin-basted together, it's ready to be quilted.

Step 7: Machine quilt the layers together

How do you quilt a panel quilt?

A fabric panel can be quilted the same way as you would for any project with one consideration.  You want the panel to stand out and not be hidden by the machine quilting.

One of the easiest ways to quilt the panel and border spaces on the playmat quilt is to fill the area with evenly spaced straight lines.

To sew the lines, a walking foot is recommended.  The walking foot helps to make sure the top and backing of the quilt move through the machine at the same rate. 

For this quilt, I decided to straight line quilt through the main panel section of the quilt using two close-together straight lines spaced 1/2" at  6" intervals.  If you look closely at the picture below you can see these quilting lines.

For the borders, I continued with simple straight-line machine quilting.  You can use the edge of the walking foot as a guide to evenly space the lines 1/2-inch apart in the inner border. 

For the outer border, two straight lines were machine stitched in the space by doing a little measuring to center them.

Step 8: Binding and labeling the Quilt

To finish the playmat quilt, you need to follow a few important final steps. 

First, square up the quilt to remove the extra batting and backing around the edges and to make sure the corners are as square as possible.  

Once the quilt is squared up, you can move on to binding it. There are many binding techniques to choose from, including flanged binding, quick quilt binding, and traditional quilt binding.  

If you want the quilt binding to blend in, use the same fabric for the binding and outer quilt borders, as I did. If you want the binding to stand out, use a different fabric than the one used in the outer borders.

To make the binding, use our binding calculator to determine how many strips of fabric you'll need.  Join the binding strips together and then bind the quilt using your preferred technique.

Lastly, It's important to label the quilt. Visit our page Modern Quilt Labels and Tags for ideas on how to label your quilt.

The charming baby playmat quilt is now complete and ready to be cherished for years to come! 

Happy Quilting!

Here are Some Additional Ideas for Panel Quilts

• Collection of Panel Quilt Ideas that we have rounded up for you from around the internet.
• I Spy Quilt Playmat is made with a panel by Robert Kaufmann fabrics.
• American Pride Quilt is made with a patriotic panel but the layout would work with many different panels.
• Simple and Easy Baby Quilt Pattern that cuts apart a panel and uses them in the center of the blocks.
• Baby Safari Panel Quilt features a panel with one single border added to it.