Not Ready for a Quilt Coat?
Have you been eyeing the quilt coat trend? If you’re like me, you kind of want to join in but you’re not sure you have the interest or capacity to tackle a full-blown coat. Or maybe you’d like warm-up round before diving into a full coat? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Quilt mittens are the perfect gateway project to quilted garments.
Perfect Handmade Gift for Friends and Family
These mittens are a cozy and quick make. They are the perfect gift as winter rolls in; great for your parents’ aging hands, your teenager headed back to college, your trendy friend living in snowy New York City, or your friend tending chickens in freezing rural Saskatchewan. Maybe you just want a pair of quilt mittens for yourself. Well, be prepared to make yourself a second pair when someone purloins the first pair!
Modern Quilts Interpreted as Mittens
I have been making mittens based on modern quilt patterns I have been crushing on but don’t have time to make in full. This way I get to have fun making a single block without adding another big project to my never-to-be-finished project pile. My first pair of quilt mittens was patterned after the Christmas Joy Quilt by Brittany of Lo & Behold Stitchery. The Christmas Joy Quilt caught my eye a few years ago for its simple beauty and classic, minimalist Christmas charm, so when I started looking for a quilt to make into mittens, I knew this would be my first.
After that first pair, I couldn’t wait to make more. I started mocking up possible quilt mittens in Adobe Illustrator. Some would be beautiful but much too complicated, like the Interwoven quilt by Lo & Behold Stitchery (middle bottom). Others are 100% on the docket. I just haven’t found time yet! Make sure to stop back by, as I will keep adding inspiration pictures to this post as I stitch up more quilt mittens.
Quilt mitten mockups:
Reflections Quilt by Suzy Quilts
Prince Quilt by Riane Elise
Maypole Quilt by Suzy Quilts
Guest Pillow by Riane Elise
Gathering Quilt by Riane Elise
Sola Quilt by Riane Elise
Stone + Bloom by me
Interwoven Quilt by Lo & Behold Stitchery
Grid Quilt by Riane Elise
Can you tell I crush on Riane Elise quilt patterns a lot?
Composing Your Quilt Mitten
If choosing a more traditional quilt block, you’ll want to ask yourself two questions:
What size mitten am I making?
Do I want the quilt block to go off the edges of the mitten?
Typically in graphic design, I am a big fan of full-bleed: images that go right to the edge of a page and designs that completely fill a shape with no border. However, when it comes to quilt mittens, it can be nice to have some breathing room in your composition that allows the quilt block to shine without its points being lost off the mitten edges.
Full-bleed Quilt Mittens
This first pair of Christmas Joy Quilt mittens that I made (below) the quilt block filled the whole mitten back and spilled over the edges.
Quilt Mittens with More Negative Space
This second pair (below), I shrunk the block a bit, inversed the colors, and added a border so that the foreground of the block would float on the mittens with the background of the block seamlessly blending to the color of the palms of the mittens. Both are nice, just different!
Sizing Your Quilt Block
For a large mitten, you will need a 12” x 12” quilt block. Medium: 11” x 11”. Small: 10” x 10”. However, if you want the whole quilt block to be visible on your mittens, consider sewing a quilt block that finishes at 9” x 9” or less. Then add a border to each side of the block to achieve the size block you need for your chosen size of mitten.
More Quilt Mitten Inspiration
After finishing my Christmas Joy Quilt mittens, I knew my next pair would be with my extra Shine Quilt block. I am still not finished with that whole quilt, but since I am using a combo of wool fabric and peppered cotton, I wanted to make sure the finished quilt would wash well. I took one of my blocks, sandwiched and quilted it, then threw it in the washer and dryer. What resulted was crinkly goodness! No issues with odd shrinking or felting. It also left me with a single crinkly Shine Quilt block: perfect for a quilt mitten!
Quilt Mitten Tutorial
If you’re ready to make your quilt mittens, pop over to my Quilt Mitten Tutorial on the Lo & Behold Stitchery blog. In that post, I detail how to incorporate your chosen quilt block into your mittens. Note that you will need to purchase my Adult Mitten Pattern to download the mitten pattern pieces and the instructions for constructing the non-quilt part of your mittens.
To check out other people’s quilt mittens, you can peruse #QuiltMittens and #LovelyEnoughMittens on Instagram.
