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Snuggle bunny: Free bunny quilt pattern
Sew the sweetest new baby quilt pattern, complete with soft, floppy ears and a striking patchwork panel, with this beautiful bunny quilt pattern by Kate Webber
Hop to it! Spring is here and we are bursting to whip up some fun sewing projects to celebrate. This bunny quilt pattern is top of our list – it's a super cute baby or child's quilt project and you can make it in a weekend. While most of this quilt pattern is made using traditional patchwork piecing methods, it's also a lovely skills-builder to try out new techniques too, as you'll get to play around with Foundation paper piecing and even appliqué alongside sewing half square triangles and quilt-block-building.
We've had our eye on this colourful quilt tutorial ever since we first spied it in Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine. It's designed by Kate Webber – Kate is a colourful quilter with an eye for fussy cutting and a passion for prints, especially when it comes to English Paper Piecing! See more of her work at katewebberdesigns.uk or follow her on instagram @katewebberdesigns.
Love a spot of bunny-themed sewing? Why not sew a softie toy while you're at it with our rabbit sewing pattern?
How to sew a bunny quilt – pattern and instructions
Download and print out a copy of our Free bunny quilt pattern templates (PDF) and print or trace one each of the Nose, Eye, Right Ear and Left Ear templates on to paper.
Finished size
32in x 44in (excluding ears)
Fabrics used
All fabrics are Kona Cotton Solids in White, Steel, Candy Green, Buttercup, Mango, Candy Pink and Charcoal from Robert Kaufman.
The feature panel on this cute bunny quilt pattern is ideal for perfecting your piecing skills to help push your piecing!
You will need:
Fabric (For the quilt top, backing and binding (See supplies list))
Batting
Sewing machine
Basic quilting kit
Iron
Paper
Cutting out
Step 1
From Fabric A cut:
One (1) 14½in x 32½in strip.
Eight (8) 2½in x 4½in strips.
Save the remainder for the ears.
Step 2
From Fabric B cut:
Four (4) 5in squares.
One (1) 4½in x WOF strip. Subcut into nine (9) 2½in x 4½in strips.
Two (2) 1in x 30in strips.
One (1) 4in x WOF strip. Subcut into nine (9) 4in squares, and cut each one in half on the diagonal to make eighteen (18) HSTs.
One (1) 3in x 10in strip. Subcut into eight (8) 3in x 1¼in pieces.
Step 3
From Fabric C cut:
Two (2) 2½in x 32½in strips.
Two (2) 3¼in x WOF strips. Subcut into sixteen (16) 3¼in squares. Subcut each one in half on the diagonal to make thirty two (32) HSTs.
Two (2) 1¾in x 30in strips.
Eight (8) 3¼in squares.
Step 4
From Fabric D cut:
Three (3) 2½in x 32½in strips.
Step 5
From Fabric E cut:
Four (4) 5in squares.
One (1) 1¼in x WOF strip. Subcut into seven (7) 1¼in x 1¾in pieces and two (2) 1¼in x 2¼in pieces.
Two (2) 2¼in x 32¾in strips.
Step 6
From Fabric F cut:
Two (2) 16½in x 8½in pieces for the ears.
Two (2) 2½in squares for the nose.
Step 7
From Fabric G cut:
Four (4) 3in x 3½in pieces for the eyes.
Piecing the diamond row
Step 1
Take one Fabric C 3¼in square and two Fabric B HSTs. Join the HSTs to opposite sides of the square to make a diagonal strip, referring to Fig 1 for placement. Press seams toward the HST units and trim the dog ears.
Step 2
Repeat the above step to make eight units. Join into a row, carefully nesting the seams (Fig 2). Join the remaining two Fabric B HSTs to the ends of the strip (Fig 3), then trim to 32½in x 4½in, centring the strip.
Piecing the dashing row
Step 1
Sew together eight Fabric B 3in x 1¼in pieces and seven Fabric E 1¼in x 1¾in pieces along the short edges, alternating the Fabric B and E pieces. Then sew one Fabric E 1¼in x 2¼in piece to each end (Fig 4).
Step 2
Sew a Fabric E 2¼in x 32¾in strip to the top and bottom of the pieced strip from step 10. Trim the row to 32½in x 4½in, carefully centring the strip.
Piecing the striped row
Step 1
Piece the eight Fabric A 2½in x 4½in strips and nine Fabric B 2½in x 4½in strips into a row, joining along the long edges and alternating the fabrics. Press seams towards Fabric B and trim to 32½in x 4½in, ensuring you trim evenly on either side.
Piecing the cross row
Step 1
Sew the Fabric C 1¾in x 30in strips to either side of a Fabric B 1in x 30in strip, along the long edge. Press seams towards Fabric B. Subcut the strip into sixteen 1¾in x 3½in pieces (Fig 5).
Step 2
Sew eight of the subcut units along one side of the remaining Fabric B strip. Press seams towards the Fabric B strip (Fig 6). Join the remaining eight subcut units to the other side of the strip (Fig 7). Ensure the cross in the centre is lined up. Trim each cross unit to 3¼in square, carefully centring the crosses.
Close up detail of the finished quilt
Step 3
Add a Fabric C HST to opposite sides of each cross unit. Trim the excess and add two more HSTs to the remaining sides to make a square (Fig 8). Trim each cross unit to 4½in square, then join to make a 32½in x 4½in strip, pressing seams open.
Piecing the Half Square Triangles row
Step 1
Take the four Fabric E and four Fabric B 5in squares. Mark a diagonal line on the reverse of the Fabric E squares, from corner to corner. Place the squares together, RST, and sew ¼in from either side of the marked line. Trim down the line and press seams towards Fabric B.
Step 2
Repeat the previous step to make eight HST units. Trim each to 4½in square and join together to make a 32½in x 4½in strip.
Assembling the quilt top
Step 1
Join your pieced rows together along the long edges, inserting Fabric C and D strips in between pieced rows as shown in this layout diagram.
Bunny quilt pattern layout diagram
Step 2
To shape the head, take the Fabric A 14½in x 32½in strip and mark 8in from the ends along the top edge, and 4in down from the top down along each side. Draw a line between these marks and cut along the line (Fig 9). Join the head piece to the top of the pieced quilt.
Making the ears
Step 1
Foundation Paper Piece (FPP) each Ear template, using the Fabric F pieces for Section 1 and the Fabric A pieces for Sections 2–4. Trim along the outer dashed line of each template, and remove the paper template. If you haven't tried FPP before, check out our guide to Foundation Paper Piecing for beginners.
This is what your finished ears will look like
Step 2
Using the FPP ears as a guide, cut one piece of batting to the same size and shape for each ear. Also cut two pieces of backing fabric in the same way. Be sure to cut one each of each ear, so you have two mirror image pieces of both batting and backing fabric.
Step 3
Lay one pieced ear front on top of the batting piece, right side up, and lay the backing fabric on top, right side down. Stitch around the edges with a ¼in seam, leaving the bottom edge unstitched. Trim the corners and turn the ear right side out. Repeat with the second ear.
Step 4
Topstitch around the edges of the ear, leaving the bottom edge unstitched. Quilt around the inner ear.
Making the eyes and nose
Step 1
Place two Fabric F 2½in squares RST. Lay the Nose template on top and draw around the edges. Stitch along the drawn line and trim 1/8in outside the stitched circle. Make a small cut in the centre of one layer, and carefully turn right side out. Press.
Step 2
Repeat the previous step with the Eye template and Fabric G pieces to make two eyes.
Quilting and finishing
Step 1
Lay the quilt top on top of the backing fabric and trim the backing fabric to size. Put the backing to one side.
Step 2
Repeat the previous step with the batting, but keep the quilt top in place. Position the ears right side down against the quilt top, aligning the raw edges with the angled edges at the top. Baste the ears to the top of the quilt top, through both the fabric and the batting.
Step 3
Place the backing fabric over the quilt top, right side down, and stitch around all sides with a ¼in seam allowance, leaving a turning gap at the bottom edge. Trim the corners and turn the quilt right side out.
Step 4
Slip stitch the turning gap closed and top stitch around the edge. Quilt as desired, carefully burying your thread ends. Kate stitched in the ditch with simple horizontal lines. Position the eyes and nose in place and stitch in place to finish.
Neatly appliqué a face using the circular templates in our bunny quilt pattern template.
We hope you enjoyed making your own version of this Bunny quilt – leave a comment or tips below to share with others who are making to tell us how you got on!
Kate is a colourful quilter with an eye for fussy cutting and a passion for prints! Her patterns are regularly featured in Love Patchwork & Quilting magazine. You can see more of her work on her website katewebberdesigns.uk or on Instagram @katewebberdesigns.
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