Pirate Quilts & Fitted Nap Mat Sheets

How much did the pirate pay for his peg and hook? 🏴‍☠️

An arm and a leg! 😂

When I realized my two young children were in desperate need of new napping accessories for their daily after-lunch nap at daycare, I knew just the project to solve my problem--and it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg, either!

Each boy previously had a handmade slip cover for their nap mats, but they were pretty raggedy since they get washed every week. So, I had a little time being quarantined and decided to step up my daycare mat game.

Their old nap mat covers slipped on the whole mat and had a small opening at the back. I decided this time to make fitted sheets to fit their mats.

I know that making a fitted sheet sounds intimidating, but let me assure you, it was so easy! I followed this wonderful tutorial from Romy Stan Zak. She describes the process of measuring and planning for your fitted sheet, and then shows you how to sew it all together. This step didn't take long at all!

For the fitted sheet, I used "Jet" from the Moonscape collection by the Dear Stella. I love the Moonscape collection because it's a modern blender that goes well with all projects. You can find this collection in our shop--it's perfect for decor, apparel, and all sleeping accessories, naps included!

Next, I went to work on making new nap blankets. 🚨This is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP! 🚨 If you have two children close in age, you know this is critical--they have to be the same! 😂

For their nap blankets, I used a cute pirate-themed fat quarter bundle left over from another project. The collection is called Pirate Tales by Echo Park Paper. I cut 2 1/2 strips and sewed them together randomly into groups of four. Then I cut each 4 strip piece into two 8 inch squares and one 4 1/2 inch piece.

After I had my blocks of 8 inch stripes sewn up, it was time to put them together. I sewed the 8 inch blocks together in rows of four across and four down, alternating the direction of the strips for each quilt. I used the leftover 4 1/2 inch pieces and sewed them together to make a piano key border for the top of the quilt. I added 3 1/2 inch black border pieces between the main blocks and the piano key strips. I finished it with a 2 1/2 inch black border around the entire quilt.

At this point, I realized these quilts would look even more adorable if I appliquéd my boys names. I used a very piratey red 1/8 stripe fabric and Heat N Bond Lite to appliqué their names onto each quilt. I finished by zig zag stitching around each letter.

I used the same red 1/8 stripe fabric to bind the quilt. They came out really well and I'm so happy my boys have cute quilted blankets to snuggle under at nap time. If "ARGGG" means "I love you" in pirate, then that's all the buried treasure I need! ❤️