June's Garden Quilt Pattern

A Fidget Quilt for Alzheimer’s Relaxation

My mother-in-law, June, recently passed away after a 10-year struggle with Alzheimer’s. Her journey was long. She went through a stage of anxiety where she became very fidgety. The idea for fidget quilts came along after she needed it, but this would have been a wonderful thing for her at that time. June was a marvelous gardener. This quilt is dedicated to her and all of those who deal with Alzheimer’s as she did.  

“June’s Garden” consists of many different parts which includes textures, colors, and shapes that are meant to be interactive. This pattern will give you the basics for the quilt, but there is room for a lot of variation in color and texture depending on what you use to embellish it with.  

The “Forget-Me-Not” flower is the symbol for the Alzheimer’s Society.  It is represented on the applique of “June’s Garden”. 

This quilt measures 38 ½” x 48”.

Please note that these materials came from my stash. There is room for a lot of variety in this quilt. 

- 1 yard (in total) of a variety of dark neutral colored fabrics for the garden
- 1 yard of a light neutral colored fabric for the background
- 1 yard (in total) of a variety of colored fabrics for garden and flowers
- 3 yards (in total) of colored ribbons in a variety of widths
- 1 ½ yards of thin ribbon to string buttons onto
- 20 brightly colored buttons with large holes to string over thin ribbon and to use for embellishing
- ½ yard of chenille fabric (Chenille is the best as it does not stretch, although other fuzzy fabrics will work)

Cut 9 width-of-fabric (WOF) 2 ½” strips of dark neutral colored fabric.

Cut 20 – 3 ½” green squares.

Cut 20 (in total) – 3” red, yellow, and orange squares.

Iron all the squares into prairie-points by folding twice on the diagonal.

Trim 5 – 2 ½” dark neutral colored strips to 38 ½” long.

Place and pin raw edges of prairie-points and raw edges of ribbon loops of varying lengths onto long edges of the strips using the photo as a guide.  Please note that I have looped the ribbons in two different ways as you will see on the photos. 

Sew long seams using ¼” seam allowance. 

Set this section aside.

Trim 5 – 2 ½” dark neutral colored strips to 19 ½” long.

Place and pin raw edges of prairie-points and raw edges of ribbon loops onto long edges of these strips.

Sew long seams using ¼” seam allowance. Trim to 19 ½” x 10”. 

Set this section aside.

Trim 5 – 2 ½” dark neutral colored strips to 10” long.

Place and pin raw edges of prairie-points and raw edges of ribbon loops onto long edges of these strips.

Sew long seams using ¼” seam allowance. Trim to 10” x 10”.

Set this section aside.

Cut 10 – 10” squares of light neutral colored fabric.

Cut 6 – 5 ¼” squares of light neutral colored fabric.

Cut 6 – 5 ¼” squares of chenille fabric.

Using 2 Chenille 5 ¼” squares and 2 Neutral 5 ¼” squares, make a 4-patch block using ¼” seam allowances.

Trim to 10” square.

Repeat two more time to make 3 blocks in total.

Set these blocks aside.

Cut 4 pieces of thin ribbon 12” each.

Using the photo as a guide, string buttons onto 2 of the ribbons, then pin all the ribbons in place onto the block.

The ribbons with the buttons will be sewn onto the edges of the block only.

The intersecting ribbons will be zig-zagged onto the block for the full length of the ribbon.

Set this block aside.

Sew a pair of neutral 10” blocks together using a ¼” seam allowance, inserting 2 tab loops at the bottom edge to represent leaves. See photo for details.

Depending on the size of ribbon you have, you can play with the loop size to get your desired leaf shape.

Repeat twice more to have 3 of these rectangle blocks in total.

Cut 15 petals in a variety of blue shades of fabric.

Cut 15 linings -  3” wide x 5” long out of a neutral fabric. I used scraps of cotton.  See photos for details.

Sew right sides together, petal to lining, ALL the way around.

Use pinking shears to trim edges. This will nicely grade the seam allowances.

Pull petal and lining apart slightly. Cut a small slit in the lining.

Turn flower petal right side out and press.

No need to sew the slit together as it will be hidden.

Place, pin, and sew flower petals to rectangle blocks above the ribbon leaves. You can use a straight stitch or another that you prefer for applique.

Using photo as a guide, layout the sections and blocks of your quilt on a design wall or the floor.

Sew your quilt together using a ¼” seam allowance.

After this is quilted, more of the bright colored buttons will be added to embellish the flower and neutral blocks.

Wavy Lines with multiple lines side by side.  
or
Stitch BY the Ditch.

Find more of Melanie's quilt projects and patterns on her blog, Quilters...Enjoy Color!