Sew a Fun Play Mat Quilt With Fun Embellishments

Hello friends! This is Jennifer Long from Sew A Story, a fabric designer with Riley Blake Designs and a doll and quilt pattern designer. And I’m so excited to share a free pattern using my It Takes a Village fabric collection.

I hope you enjoy this FREE pattern! Keep reading for all the details.

Get the Free Quilt Pattern

To download the free quilt pattern, do the following steps:

That’s it! So easy! Remember to save your download to a safe place on your computer if you don’t plan to make it right away!

I can’t wait to follow along with everyone’s quilts! Follow me on social media @sewastory_jenniferlong on Instagram and Facebook, so we can connect more.

Tag your pictures on Instagram #ittakesavillagefabric and #sewastory!

Let’s Sew Together!

Quilters of all skill levels will love making this quilt! It’s even a fun project to sew along with the children in your life. It teaches basic cutting and sewing skills. And it’s a blast to embellish with embroidery stitches or Sparkle Paste!

See my video below as I walk you through the steps of using panels, strip piecing the road border, and embellishing your quilt!

Fabric and Supplies

This quilt uses my It Takes a Village fabric for Riley Blake Designs, which is hitting stores in October 2024. The center of the play mat is a cotton panel that features a bustling town! Children will love identifying buildings, vehicles, animals, and more! (Can you spot the Fabric Shop?)

The collection is designed to uplift some of the amazing people that make up the wonderful communities we share, including medical professionals, firefighters, and police officers. It truly does take a village!

Pair this project with Thermoweb Fusible Fleece for an easy finish! And add some fun embellishments featuring my Sparkle Paste — see more below!

Embellishing Fun!

My It Takes a Village collection has some fun notions that are color coordinated, so you can embellish your projects with ease! My new product, HeatnBond Sparkle Paste with Therm O Web just hits stores! It has 14 beautiful colors! Sparkle Paste is a heat-activated adhesive that adds a layer of glitter and shine to fabrics. Simply apply the paste to your fabric, let it set, and activate it with heat—it’s that easy!

I have so many other fun patterns and quilt-alongs planned for this fabric collection, so make sure you pop on over to my website for more!

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And follow me on YouTube for weekly videos!

Happy sewing!

–Jennifer

Hi Friends! I am so happy you are here. My name is Jennifer Long, and I am a Riley Blake Designs Fabric Designer, Quilt & Doll Pattern Writer, Machine Embroidery Digitizer, and online educator. I am also the founder of the Sew A Story Pattern Club and the Modern Rag Doll Membership. I am married and a mom to (4) pre-teens / teens and live on a little hobby farm in rural Prairie Canada. I grew up training to be a professional ballet dancer, and later studied Early Childhood Education. I taught ballet and ran my own dance studio all the while sewing and designing costumes for myself and many of my colleagues and students. I am passionate about all things FABRIC, imagination and design and am so blessed I can share this passion with others. This journey has inspired me to make a positive difference by designing dolls and quilt patterns and fabric for others to be EMPOWERED to sew themselves! I have designed dolls and quilts for individuals, organizations, companies, designers, authors of children’s books, and international companies for mass production. What I LOVE the most about creativity is finding INSPIRATION everywhere and, in turn, INSPIRING others to do the same! Thank you for joining me on this creative journey.