A book quilt is the best gift for a bookish loved one.
My favorite go-to gift is a book and something handmade to go with it. And because quilting is my favorite hobby, that handmade something is usually something quilted! There are a surprisingly large number of ways to make a book quilt or a book-ish quilt or something quilty related to books, enough that I think you can find something from my list, below, to match your skill level and inspire you to make your next favorite handmade gift.
The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt
My favorite book quilts are inspired by actual books. This quilt is made to resemble the cute quilted ghost in The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt. It’s the perfect picture book and quilt handmade gift!
Bookshelf Quilt
This bookshelf quilt is a real labor of love, but it’s such a sweet gift for a loved one who loves books as much as you do! It’s surprisingly scrappy, too, since you can piece individual books from even the smallest bits of fabric.
Jelly Roll Bookshelf Quilt
A jelly roll saves SO much time when you’re making a bookshelf quilt! The jelly roll fabrics work almost like pre-cuts, since all you have to do is cut them down for length, not width.
Fandom Bookshelf Quilt
Whether you love Disney, Marvel, Harry Potter, or another hot fandom, you’ll likely find some inspiration on the Fandom in Stitches site for making your very own fandom-themed bookshelf quilt. The blocks tend to be Foundation Paper Pieced, which is why they have so many amazing details, but they’re also graded by difficulty so it’s easy for newbies to see where to begin.
Favorite Books Quilt
I love this idea to document one’s favorite books over time via quilt! The tutorial includes instructions to add additional book blocks to the quilt a row at a time, so none of your favorites have to be left out.
Giant Quilted Book Cushion
These book cushions are now an official part of my fantasy library setup, along with a giant bookshelf quilt, a comfy chair, a squashy stool to put my feet up on, and approximately 100,000 books. My favorite part is the library call numbers!
Patchwork Baby Book
It cracks me up that this baby book has no plot and no words–just patchwork! This is a fun gift for a small baby who loves to snuggle something soft. Use up all your scrappiest pieces to make the pages, and as long as it’s colorful, you can just make up the story that goes with it.
Needle Book
Here’s another cute little quilted book, but this one isn’t for babies–it’s for needles! I love the visible hand-quilting on the cover, and all the sweet embellishments. Even utilitarian objects can be pretty!
Quilt-As-You-Go Scrappy Bookmark
These quilt-as-you-go scrappy bookmarks are so quick and easy to make that there’s no reason not to tuck them into any book you give, whether or not you want to emphasize something handmade, as well. They’re so quick and easy that I even offer them in my Little Free Library!
Quilted Book Bag
If you don’t want the world to know what you’re reading, hide it with a quilt! This quilted book bag is pretty enough for everyone to look at from the outside, while on the other side, you’re happily reading away at your latest volume of fairy smut in peace.
Padded Book Sleeve
Your favorite books deserve to lounge in comfy style! Or your biggest, fattest books deserve to get dropped without breaking your foot! Either way, add quilting to embellish this padded book sleeve, or go for an even fancier option by creating your own patchwork with the proper dimensions.
Travel Book Pillow
Okay, this technically isn’t a quilted project–but it could be! Instead of using single prints for each component of this pillow, sew a patchwork quilt block in the correct size. I think it strip pieced rainbow would be especially cute!
Do you have a bookish quilty project that you love? Tell us about it in the Comments!
