My oldest is a voracious reader. It has reached a point where we ask her NOT to read after she’s logged a certain amount of HOURS in a day. While her legal name is Brooklyn, we often call her “Booklyn” because it just seems more appropriate!
When our family drew names this past Christmas on who to make handmade gifts for, I got Brooklyn (side note for concerned parties: we get all our children gifts, but the kids like being able to draw a parent’s name, so everyone goes in the drawing pool) and knew right away I needed to sew something book themed.
I’d wanted to make Angela Pingel’s Book Nerd quilt (linked here) for a while, but this was the excuse I needed to actually put it on my projects list. I managed to finish it just a few days before Christmas without her even catching a peek. It was hard to work on it in secret- my kids come into my sewing room ALL the time, so this was a late, LATE night project most of the time. The actual piecing of this quilt is extremely straight forward- yes, it’s Foundation Paper Pieced, but with very few pieces. I was able to churn out about one book cover per sewing session.
I think the most fun part was picking what fabrics I wanted to use for the book covers… I know there are a lot of great novelty prints that would work, so I just grabbed interesting prints from all over! There isn’t a color scheme, there isn’t a specific book theme, but each print is so fun to look at.
Some prints are from real stories or books, like the Mother Goose and Peter Pan prints (both by Jill Howarth– alllll her fabric lines would be perfect for a book quilt!), or Lola Dutch whom all my children just LOVE. Otherwise, I chose prints because they were simply FUN!
For the quilt back, I really wanted to run with that book theme even more. I drew up a book shelf, complete with book titles and a decorative bowl to hold those snacks that often accompany an afternoon of reading! The layout ended up being pretty big, almost 20″ tall and about 36″ wide. I just pieced it into the rest of the backing and it is a really nice surprise when you flip over the quilt! I also wanted this quilt to be well-loved and used, so I quilted it in an all-over stipple- I’ve found this to be the most “soft” of the quilting designs I do here at home.
Thankfully, Jill also designed a delightful Book print in her Once Upon a Rhyme line so I definitely used that for binding!
I have seen SO MANY amazing variations on this quilt (check out the tag on Instagram), the possibilities are endless.
If you want to be further inspired, I have a Pinterest board for Book Quilts!
Once again you knocked it out of the park! I have one yard of all the Peter Pan line and have been hoarding them – this is a great way to use it. Love the way each block tells its story (and how great you fussy cut it). and the BACK. Such a great idea. I did go to the pinterest board (had to close it for now or I’d never get anything done!) The colors play well together too.
Thanks for sharing this fabulous gift.
Thank you!!
Absolutely beautiful, a work of art to be sure, and a treasure for your daughter. I love the all over stipple quilting, perfect choice, and the bookshelf on the back is just plain whimsical. Great job 🙂
Thank you, Cathy!
Can you tell me how fabric is needed for each book. This would be a great quilt for my daughter who is an English major and works at a Christian publishing house. Love this idea and would like to start collecting fabrics from different shops as I travel.
It depends on the direction of the fabric and if you need a design centered or not, but I could usually squeeze a book out of 1/4 yard (or Fat Quarter). It is fun to collect as you go- it makes the quilt that much more meaningful!
My eldest is a bookworm, too. LOVE your version of this wonderful design. I like the idea of just starting and keeping an eye out for fabric that would make a great “cover.” Thanks for the inspiration!
My youngest had more books then our small town library. One day I hope to do a quilt like this. She would love it!
Where did you get your word print fabric?
Absolutely love this pattern.
Have a sister who is a librarian and a avid reader too. Her 70th birthday is coming up! Would love to make her a lap quilt. Have quilted for years.
Your work is beautiful.
Unfortunately, I do no know how to quilt but I love them and collect them at yard sales etc. I am in love with this quilt, that is the most awesome quilt I’ve ever seen. You do fabulous work. Keep it up! Joan
Beautiful quilt!! I am a librarian and you have inspired me to find book fabric for my library.
Beautiful quilt! I am a librarian and I think that we need this in our room. You have prompted me to go out and find fabric like this. Amazing
What a wonderful gift for your daughter. Her love of reading will serve her well now and in the future! My sister was the book nerd growing up-Started with “Little House on the Prairie” series. We grew up in Missouri, our Grandmother, when she was a little girl, used to wave to Cole Younger when she walked passed his house. Now that would make an interesting quilt!! Laura Ingalls Wilder inspired!! Or maybe a little Cowboy style from Arizona’s history!!
Definitely! Wow, thank you for sharing about your grandmother, that is incredible. What a history! As I was collecting fabric and researching fabrics online, there were so many options for really fun themes. Now I want to make all the quilts, in all sorts of themes! I think making one with a desert theme would be a good idea, and then I’d donate it to my local library for display. Hopefully in the near future I can do that!
Thank you Joan! I’m so happy to hear you love to collect quilts, what a wonderful thing to do!
Thank you! The wonderful thing about this quilt is that with some thoughtful fabric selections, it can be made for so many different readers! The quilt is a good lap size too, not too bulky to have to lug around or fold up when done.
I found it on Etsy, I just did a search for “text fabric” and picked this one- I think it is several years old now (I started this quilt long before I finished ;)) but there seem to be a good number of text prints out there still. I even found some math text that would be fun for a science teacher I know, so I grabbed some of that for a book block pillow!
Ha ha! I love that she has so many books. This is a fun quilt, and doesn’t take too long- the blocks are a good size, and they are so fun that motivation to make another block is definitely high! 😉
Is there a pattern for this quilt? If so, where can it be found. Thank you
The pattern is by Angela Pingel, and is linked in the post! 🙂
Love this quilt! Can you share all the fabrics that you used on this quilt, please?
Can you pretty please list out the fabrics you used for this??? Would love to re-create for my daughter.
I love this quilt! I’m a life-long reader who has two bookworm daughters and two nieces that would rather read than almost anything else. I may have to try making this as a gift for someone.
Several of these prints are by Jill Howarth (she does great illustrations of well-known stories!) and by Sarah Jane Studios, she has such whimsical illustrations too! Other prints are by Rile Paper and Co. I don’t have names of all the prints, and some are out of print now too since I collected for a while- my best suggestion is to consider themes that best relate to your daughter, and do fabric searches online for those themes. You’d be surprised what kinds of fabrics are out there!
Hello Melanie, one more question about the fabrics. Any information you can get me about the bottom left corner fabric as well the fabric that is the third one in the bottom row? Thanks!
ooops, I forgot to also ask you about the 1st fabric in the second row. Any details on that one? Thank you!
Wonderull. Patern please.
The quilt pattern is linked in the post- it is from Angela Pingel 🙂
I have never done paper piecing before. Is there a reason it has to be done for this pattern?
Ohmygosh! This quilt is just gorgeous! I’m an editor with an English Lit degree, so this speaks to my heart! My daughter is graduating from high school in 8 months and is our bookworm. I’m attempting this quilt using fabrics that represent the books she loves and special things about her life (found a fab fabric with orange tabbies on it — her Oliver has been her cat since she started kindergarten). Could you tell me one thing: did you use plain white fabric for the background/sashing? I’ve seen many others that use all sorts of colors, but I like this look the best. Just wondering what I should use to mimic your look. Thanks!
This speaks to my little book nerd heart!