Learn how to make a simple modern baby quilt. This Herringbone baby quilt pattern features a quick to piece 8 at a time half square triangle method.
Last year we added a new baby to our extended family! My brother and his wife had a baby girl. As soon as I found out my sister in law was expecting I started bugging them about quilt designs. I mean, of course, I’m making a quilt for that new baby!
While I was talking to my brother about what he liked when it came to quilt designs and colors, we kept coming back to a simple herringbone pattern. I was up for making something more intricate but my brother and his wife have a simple modern style and the herringbone pattern seemed like it would blend into their nursery design perfectly.
We settled on using solid fabrics for the front of the quilt then he asked me if I had any elephant fabric for the back. I had to laugh because YES I have elephant fabric. My Safari Party fabric line had a print with rows of mama and baby elephants. I was so excited that I could use the print in the quilt.
Simple Herringbone Quilt Pattern:
At first, I wasn’t going to write a tutorial for this quilt, just show photos and give some general dimensions. Then I remembered what happened last time I did that and didn’t want a million emails again asking for specific directions LOL!
Before I share the tutorial, just know, I did not “invent” a herringbone quilt pattern. It’s been around for AGES. I’m not claiming that I invented. I’m just sharing with you how I made this quilt, in case you want to make one yourself.
For this quilt, you need 54 Half Square Triangles (HST). I’m going to show you how to make 8 Half Square Triangles at a time which will save you LOADS of time while making this baby quilt.
Baby Quilt Dimensions: 36″ x 54″
The Half Square Triangles in this quilt are 6″ x 6″ finished (which means they are 6 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ before they are sewn into the quilt). You can make the quilt bigger by making more blocks, you’ll just have to do a bit of math.
Herringbone Baby Quilt Supplies:
Assuming 40″ of useable fabric width- click for sources, contains affiliate links
For Baby Quilt Top:
1 3/4 Yards of Fabric A (I used Riley Blake solid in Riley Navy)
1 3/4 Yards of Fabric B (I used Riley Blake solid in Riley White)
For Quilt Back: 1 3/4 Yards of Fabric (Pink Elephant from Safari Party Fabrics line – out of print)
Binding: 3/8 Yard of Fabric
Quilt batting at least 40″ x 60″
Basic Quilt Supplies
Recommended: 6 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ Bloc-Loc Ruler
Cutting Directions:
7 pieces from Fabric A 13.75×13.75
7 pieces from Fabric B 13.75×13.75
How to Make 8 Half Square Triangles at Once:
Step One Mark the Fabric:
On all of the lightest pieces of fabric, draw an X diagonally on the wrong side of the fabric.
Step Two Pin:
Pin one marked fabric square with one fabric square from a 2nd fabric, right sides facing.
Step Three Sew:
Make sure you know where the 1/4″ seam mark is on your sewing machine foot. For these steps, it’s important to stitch exactly 1/4″ on each side of the line.
Stitch 1/4″ on each side of the line you drew in both directions.
Step Four Cut:
You are now ready to cut your square into 8 smaller pieces. To do this you will make 4 cuts using your rotary cutter and quilt ruler.
First cut a line horizontally across your block exactly in the center. Next, make a vertical cut also in the center.
The last cuts are made diagonally along the line that you drew in step one.
Step Five Press & Trim:
You should now have 8 pieces of fabric. Open up the HST’s and press the seam towards the darker fabric.
Trim up each sewn HST to 6 1/2″ x 6 1/2″. I like to use a Bloc-Loc ruler to trim and square up my HST’s.
Assemble the Quilt Top:
There are dozens of ways to stitch half square triangles together to create patterns in quilts. You can create chevrons, triangles, stars, pinwheels, and so many other patterns. The herringbone pattern created in this quilt is made by arranging the triangles in such a way to create a herringbone pattern.
Normally I like to stitch my quilts together by rows, for this quilt I think it’s easier to stitch it together by column.
Follow the diagram below for the arrangement of the HST’s in the quilt. There are 9 HST’s in each column of the quilt.
After you’ve sewn 6 columns of HST’s together, you will stitch the columns to each other. Again following the diagram directions.
Quilt and bind as desired. To quilt my quilt, I just quilted straight lines 1″ apart using my BERNINA and walking foot.
More Free Baby Quilt Patterns:
So simple and yet oh so pretty! Thanks for the tutorial! Does this way of making HSTs produce all on the bias, like when you sew around the edges of the squares to make 4 at a time?
The diagonal edge is on the bias… but not the sides.
Thanks for this post! I’ve always wanted to make this, and you’ve given me just the nudge I needed!
Will this be horribly off if I measure and hand cut these out without the rulers/cutting mats? I’m a perfectionist and while I’d love to have all that, it’ll be awhile before I’m able to get those so I’m trying to get over the “it has to be perfectly square” unless it actually needs to be perfectly square lol