I'd go with something very simple....a 9-patch, Shoofly, etc.

How about a nine-patch, alternating with hourglass blocks?

Pinwheel is nice...do quick bias-squares and sash in something playful.

If you keep a bunch of fussy-cut 'conversation' prints you can turn out a real fast one-patch, alternating the conversation prints with a textured print to make a 'see and say' quilt that will grow with a child as he/she learns to talk!

How about a snowball alternating with a nine-patch. That one works up pretty quickly!

Irish chain works great. Not the double, if you are in a real time crunch, just the one where you have 9-patches alternating with solid squares. I did a baby quilt in a day with this one and if you find you got it done faster than expected, you can get a little snazzier with the quilting.

I use Ohio Stars and "fussy cut" the center from a children's print. Only takes 12 blocks and always loved. I also have other star blocks I use - nearly always do something special in the center, though.

All my "quickies" have been Eleanor Burns' Quilt in a Day quilts... They are truly FAST. Trust me here, they are so fast that if you'd rather put on a binding, instead of "turning & tying" as instructed in her book -- you'll have the time!!!

I've seen some pin wheels in baby colors that look really neat. Not too hard either.

A fence rail or nine patch with solid block in between.

My favorite quickie is a nine patch with an alternate block of just a square. The square is usually a fun print, or a beautiful floral, and the nine patches coordinate with it. It's very, very quick and always a success. Everyone in my quilting group wanted to do one!

I just finished piecing a top from fabric that I bought Saturday at a Quilt Show. I was inspired to make 4 patches with a light and several different mediums and darks. They finished to 4 1/2 inches. I also cut several 4 1/2 inch squares of the different fabrics. I didn't measure my strips to make the 4 patches, so I ended up not only with random numbers of identical patches but with several extra "2 patches", so I put those together as odd 4 patches. Anyway, I laid it all out and just arranged it until I was happy. It's not a regular pattern, just something I like and it works!! I added a thin 1 " border and then an hourglass border with all the scrap fabrics. I used up several fat 8ths of fabric and most of a couple of FQs. Used none of my 'real' stash!! Fun. I might just try it again!

A simple nine-patch Irish Chain chain with way out kid fabrics could be cute. Even a snowball with nine patch.

I did one rail fence, which had an airplane print, and coordinating fabrics. The other was a solid triangle paired with another triangle which was made from strips of fabric. Don't know what this pattern is called--I made it in rainbow hues. (Niki's Note: I think this is a sunshine and shadow isn't it?)

Can't resist answering this post! I'd make a Bottle Quilt!! LOL Bottle quilts are addictive. I have made them in as little as 2 days - with the help of local hamburger joints for meals - and the quilt has had the full 20 bottles with a border!

I think I would use a simple FFP pattern. You can run the blocks off with the printer and just sew away. No cutting templates no cutting exact pieces of fabric!

I've done that a couple times (needed a quick quilt). One quilt was done with alternating 6" 4 patches and fussy-cut blocks with a border. Very easy. The fabric I used was actually bumper pad fabric and I used the design strips for the fussy cuts and the strip made great borders. The 4 patches were of contrasting fabric (pink and green) with spacers between. I actually started this quilt on Friday night and had it completed by Sunday (machine quilted of course). The other one I did using a large center panel of bugs (45x60) and put contrasting 9 patches in the corners of the border with a long strip between the 9 patches. I made this one reversible by doing the same thing for the other side using fish fabric for the center panel. The front and back seams actually match up except for one corner where it is very slightly off. But this baby will probably just throw up on it anyway!! :-) .

Nine-patch, no question. Easy, fast, can be mixed with plain blocks if necessary.

I'd go for a pineapple alternating with snowball blocks. Easy and quick.

I think the nine patch is the quick and easiest patch to make. 2.5" squares finish to a six inch block.

Have you thought about a cheater quilt? I made a quickie one for my niece and she loved it. You couldn't tell it wasn't pieced.

Have you ever done a quick strip-pieced Trip Around The World? I think it's almost as quick as a Rail Fence, which is what I usually do for a hurry-up-and-finish quilt. I think both are fun to make and, with the right fabrics, very pretty.

I'd do a shoo-fly or maybe an Ohio Star.

Do a Double Irish Chain. With strip piecing is goes very fast. I've even pinned, quilted and bound in one day.

I've done several Hourglass baby quilts from Fons & Porter book Quick Quilts From the Heart. In fact I'm in the process of making 4 for my daughter's sister-in-law who just had quads.

My 'emergency' quilt is one from the book P.S. I Love You. It has six inch squares of one fabric, 2 inch wide sashing of another and 2 inch squares where the corners meet. I have been able to machine piece and hand quilt this one in about a week. Because of the large squares, it works real well with big prints.

You can do an Around the Twist within that time frame. Or just about any Mary Ellen Hopkins quilt. Stars would be nice.

I am using the Bright Hopes block (finished size 10" x 10"). It's turning out really cute.

If you can find a print use a large block 6 " for the center of a 9 patch.

My favorite fast quilts:

ABC Quilt: Use 6" blocks sewn together representing ABC's (A=apple or ant fabric- and if it is for a nephew or niece one of the ants is given my name), B=blue birds bees or bugs, C=cows, D= dogs,dandelions or dinosaurs, E=eggs or Egyptian, F=frogs or fish, G=green grass, H=hop written in between frogs (I have lots of frog fabric) horse or happy birthday with child's b-day written in pen, I=ice cream, J=jalapeno peppers (and I've done "jumping frogs"), K=king, kangaroo or kite, L=lemons or lions, M=monkey or N=numbers, O=ostrich (Noah's ark fabric comes in handy with all the animals), P=pizza eating pigs, Q=queen (look at Halloween fabric for dressed up trick-or-treaters), R=red roses,S=stars or snowmen or sharks, T=trucks, U=under (the square is a bug block and I make a Velcro flap in the shape of a rock, write "under" on top of rock),V=valentine (heart fabric with "I love you" written in), W=watermelon, X=x-ray or dinosaur skeletons, Y=yellow cat chasing yellow yarn, Z=zebras. This doesn't sound like a fast quilt, but if you have collected all the fabric and cut 6" squares all at once, you always have an alphabet on hand when needed. I keep my list of needed letters with me when I shop, in case I find something new that fits better. I have oriented the quilt horizontally and vertically, and prefer it horizontally, simple borders to contrast with all the activity in the middle. It always turns out well.

Pieced Hearts: (not Debbie Mum's Broken Heart, but similar) Big square on point sewn to two rectangles with 2 top corners snowballed off. Fast and good visual impact with recognizable icon. I over size them, sew 4 together. Makes good wedding gift or baby shower gift.

"Exquisite" pattern: A square with opposite corners snowballed off. Pattern changes depending on ratio of base square to smaller square you use (using Mary Ellen Hopkins method - layer it, then sew diagonally corner to corner, cut of excess, fold back in place) but it ends up looking like a stretched out star. I have made lots of squares and set them with the snowball corners forming a new square with its neighbors, so a square within a square, can be really scrappy and fun.

Tesselating Flowers/Stars: again, depends on ratio of squares to each other I can't remember my original source, (maybe a newsletter pattern, I'll look it up) but tons of fun.

One that I love to do for a baby quilt is Trip Around the World...I usually start with 5 fabrics: white, red, blue, green and either orange or purple kids prints...cut 4-1/2" squares... no border...11 x 11 rows. Gives me a 44"x44" quilt. I have the layout on paper so all I do is pull it out and follow it when needed. Quilting is just diagonal through the same color squares. This one design can be adjusted easily for whatever size you want to do...and how ever many colors. You can also do it with strips. I don't like doing it that way so I do it the hard way. This is a lovely quilt pattern if you have never tried it.

For speed you couldn't beat the triple rail pattern. Sew together two different sets of 3 strip units. Cut each strip about 2" - 2.5" wide, sew 3 together, measure across the sewn 3-strip unit and sub cut it into a square. Make as many of these 3-strip units as you need or wish and you'll have ALL the blocks made in less than 2 hours, I'll bet! Add a border of a totally different print than used in the rails and you've got a great quilt in a jif.

I did a quicky baby quilt out of bright primary colors with Pin wheels. The baby loves it. (Half square triangles method is quicker)

(Also recommended Trip Around the World) For more quilts using strip-piecing and rotary cutting techniques get Quilts by the Slice by Beckie Olson.

I would do the 3-D Pin Wheel or a bear paw in plaids.

For a quickie quilt, I would strip piece a nine patch and put a snow ball next to it.
For a small quilt 3-9 patches with 2 snow balls between for 1st row.
2nd row 3 snow balls, 2 nine patches. Borders if needed.
You can use your stash instead of buying fabrics. It looks like single irish chain when put together. Looks good either in 2 colors or scrap.

Check out Quilt In A Day. Can't get any quicker than that!!!

A simple nine-patch Irish Chain with way out kid fabrics could be cute. Even a snowball with nine patch.

Had a similar situation myself a few months back, I asked my quilting work mates and ended up doing a single Irish chain block. I have used solid or novelty prints for the second block. The one next to the nine patch. I have made three. I tied two and am currently hand and machine quilting the third. It goes fast. You can use any fabric and get a great original quilt from very simple ideas.

One of my favorite 'quick quilts' is Puss in the Corner done with two or three fabrics. It is easy to strip piece (basically it's a nine-patch) and can be sized 'as you like it', can allow for some nice quilting in the center patch, etc.

I use flannel - log cabin pattern you only need 24 blocks (half the block is solid white the other half strips of the same color fabric) I back it with flannel and tie with yarn or ribbon instead of quilting - much faster.

Try a quick-pieced log cabin. You could either quilt it in the ditch or do a hanging diamond or even a simple grid quilting job.

There are a LOT of really quick and interesting quilts to make in the book Quick Quilts to make in a Weekend. Can't remember the author but I have this book and the directions are very clear. I pieced a Roman Stripe quilt for my daughter and machine quilted it in two days at a craft fair last summer - this using a 1910 hand crank sewing machine. This quilt had a neat way of quick piecing that I would never have thought of. I also used the "scrap" to make a border that looks like it should have taken hours to piece.

I can make a 9-patch pretty quickly, so a single Irish Chain quilt is what I do when really rushed.

There is one really quick small quilt idea that I've done a few times: Whenever I find pillow-size prints (VIP makes a lot of them) on sale or in a remnant rack or sometimes at a garage sale, I pick them up, whatever the theme. The top can be completed in one evening, along with a coordinating wall-hanging; there are usually 2 different pillow prints in one panel. I just used color-coordinated strips from my stash to make borders, but somebody with a little extra time could make a pieced border, maybe a sawtooth or a 4-patch checkerboard in black and white (which newborns see best) or some other high-contrast combination.

If you have Trudie Hughes' first book, Template Free Quiltmaking the Bow Knot quilt in it is great for fast and fun to make. Needs 4 coordinated fabrics, one of them being what Trudie calls a "Queen". Anyway, that would be my choice if pressed for time.

For me, it would be something I had done before and had no problems with. Log Cabins, QIAD style, are my default quick quilt. Actually any square or half square triangle where you work mainly with straight grain edges and no set in seams. I've been wanting to try that 3D Bow Tie. I have the pattern and also a pattern for 3D pin wheels that I think would look good alternating.

There is a great pattern for a quick quilt that I use: Marsha McCloskey's Chintz Squared.

This is not really a quilt, but my daughters and DILs love them. I buy bright flannels (usually on sale) and pick a coordinating cotton material or for those in colder climates, Polar Fleece. I stitch 44 X 44 inch squares of each material together (right sides inward) leaving a small opening to turn the unit - like a pillow cover. Then I pin or baste the opening shut and use one of the embroidery stitches on my machine to stitch all around the outside edge in a contrasting or decorative thread.

I did a pinwheel quilt in about 2 1/2 days--large pieces and minimal machine quilting. I choose pin wheels for the very reason you mentioned, I wanted something different than rail fence, log cabins, etc.

The last baby quilt I made went together surprisingly fast. I made attic window blocks, using juvenile prints in the windows. Few pieces, large pieces, and fast sewing.

How about a log cabin using really fun child/novelty print as the center. This is quick to cut/piece/quilt, yet effective.

If I were in such a hurry, I'd do a nine-patch with alternate solid blocks, and a large border or two around. That's what I did in only 20 hours, machine pieced and quilted.

What about the pinwheel quilt in P.S. I Love You #2 Book. It is basic block with Prairie Points instead of all the piecing and could be done in the length of time you have.

The children and I bought the material and I pieced (& tied) a baby quilt in two days! The top was nine patches and the bottom was a beautiful print. It turned out not too bad if we do say so ourselves!

I have a quick 8-hour crib size quilt that I use for such occasions. Works slick as can be. I modified a standard pattern with quicker techniques, like machine applied binding, and machine quilting.

I have had good luck with scrap half-square triangles. All my lights were WOW or shirting fabrics (tiny figures on cream or white background), and almost all the medium triangles were stripes or plaids in med values of rose or blue. Worked out rather nicely with 4" blocks set all the same orientation and in diagonal rows of same-fabric blocks.

My favorite quick quilt is one I discovered in American Quilter last spring or summer. Of course I've forgotten the name, but I _can_ describe it:

(The "Formula" Quilt):
Working with a yard each of 2 theme or large scale prints, cut (6) 8" squares of both fabrics. (You can fussy-cut if desired.)

Cut the remaining fabric into 2" strips.

Sew the strips to the opposite print's squares a la log cabin.

Alternate squares in a 3 x 4 grid.

Border with a complimentary fabric or two.
(Can reuse one of the original fabrics if desired.)

I've made this 3 times and it never looks the same.

I would do a Quillow. You piece or applique the pillow top, then buy something suitable/pretty/colorful for the quilt and machine quilt it (meander is my usual choice, but have gone around flowers or what have you that was in the print). Can easily be done in that time frame and satisfies my need to piece and quilt and be creative.

I have a quick Lone Star quilt where instead of piecing the 8 points of the star using diamonds or strip piecing, you just use one piece of a really exciting fabric for each point. All you have to do is cut 8 big star points, add the outside squares and triangles, a border or two or three and you are done. Quick and yet very pretty. You can choose kids prints, large florals, or theme prints such as fish, frogs, parrots...okay... or flowers, paisley, etc.

If someone was asking for ideas for quilts that have to be made in a hurry I found a great book at the library called Quilting for People Who Don´t Have Time to Quilt by Marti Michell.

I made a double 4 Patch out of little frogs sitting amongst lily pads, a yellow splotchy material with tiny flies, and a tiny black and dark green check material. The quilt went together in just a couple of hours and probably was the most unusual quilt I have ever made (not the traditional).

I would either do a strip pieced 9 patch alternating with a plain block with a simple design like a star quilted into it and a simple border with stars scattered in clusters in a variety of sizes...or a machine appliqued heart quilt with a plain border with hearts free-motioned in a chain around the border...or a paper pieced quilt like a log cabin or something. What I decided to do for the 'due any minute', is to paper piece a 4 block farm scene row for the top and the bottom, and paper pieced log cabins (with only 3 strips on each side) for the in-between rows... only borders be the sides in the sky fabric, and extending the farm scene with the same.

If I had to make a baby quilt that quickly I would choose Trip Around The World. I use six one quarter yards, cut strips three and a half, sew into panels, cut across, sew these into four quarters with a strip for the middle. Then sew the four quarters together. Put on borders etc. Hope this helps.

How about a 9-patch starting with 3" strips in a childrens print fabric. If you know the gender of the baby, girls in pinks or other florals and boys in truck, dinosaur or blues. These go together fast especially, when alternated with a plain fabric block. You only need 13 blocks pieced. With 3-4" borders this makes a nice sized baby quilt. I've made several using pink teddy bears, doll fabric in pink, bright dinosaur, race cars and one with dump trucks and other heavy equipment. Got all these fabrics at JoAnn's/Cloth World or Wal-Mart.

I made a quilt called Blooming 9 patch from a book, Traditions with a Twist. I want to try it for a baby quilt. It is set on point, You alternate a solid square with a nine patch. The trick is the nine patch is made up of the two colors on either side. Fabric A - 9 patch A+B - Fabric B - 9 Patch B+C - Fabric C - and so on. If you use slightly different colors, They melt into each other. Every few combinations, throw in a different color for a frame effect. It's fast, the quilting can be in the ditch. You'll love it. I want to make one now with a rainbow sequence. Someday!

My favorite quick quilt is a two colored checkerboard and placed on point. All you need to do then, is cut corner triangles and you can be done. You can add borders but they really aren't needed. Easy to machine quilt and can either be turned QIAD style or put a binding on if you have the time!

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Whew! Thanks to everyone who contributed to this compilation! It's great to see so many alternatives to the 'usual' emergency quilt pattern.

If you would like to add a suggestion, feel free to send an E-mail. I hope you've found some helpful suggestions for the next time you need to start-to-finish a quick quilt!


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