DIY Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket Tutorial

This tutorial is for how to make a Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket and I’ve been wanting to make one for YEARS! Now, don’t worry, if making a quilt top isn’t your thing, you will be able to modify this Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket to be a whole cloth too, with just one piece of fabric for the top and one for the bottom, no piecing needed.

Making the Case for Needing a Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket

I like to hang out in my backyard with a book on hot summer days, and I like the flexibility of moving between sun and shade as my mood changes. My church has also been doing outdoor services this summer. Add in picnics, t-ball games, outdoor movies, etc. as well as the need to work on quilt patterns and this blog even on summer days and picnic blankets are a must! Sometimes it’s too sunny to stay inside, even when there is a deadline to get something published. Work must get done, but here in the Pacific Northwest, where summer lasts for all of 5 minutes, the outside must be enjoyed too!

Now, I live near Seattle, which OFTEN means rain even in the summer (although not this summer!). There are times I want or need to be outside when the ground is still wet, and I hate when the damp seeps through the picnic blanket.

Thus, the need for a waterproof blanket. I couldn’t bring myself to just buy a waterproof blanket, I had to engineer a way to make it myself, so that it could have a pretty quilt on top.

Using a Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket

The first time I used this Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket with friends recently, I was told, “That’s too pretty to be on the ground!” No, no. It’s designed for use on the ground!

Can you see the foot on the rocks below the quilt? After taking some photos of the quilt at Flathead Lake in Montana, we folded the quilt in half, set it on the lowest dry rock and sat on it with our feet in the water. That’s the perfect use of a Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket.

How to Make a Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket

Supplies Needed:

Quilt Top

Muslin for Batting

Waterproof Layer

Backing

Now, I’m going to give you specifics of what I used for each of these four layers, but there is a lot of flexibility here, so you can use what you want in place of many of these items.

Quilt Top

Any quilt you want; in any size you want. My quilt measures 54” by 62”, which might be a little small if you are planning to have multiple family members use it at the same time, but is just the right size for Scout, a book or laptop and me. You can also use a single piece of fabric in this step in place of a quilt.

I bought these New Dawn fabrics by Citrus and Mint from Quilting Mayhem last year during a Black Friday sale. Before buying, I knew that I was planning to write and publish the Garden Beds Quilt Pattern this year, and these bright florals, strawberries and little bitty bees (which are totally not my normal style) were just perfect for a quilt pattern that was still germinating in my head.

I had finished the top for this cover version of Garden Beds, but I had not yet bought backing, nor basted it to the batting. In love with this quilt, but not in need another quilt in my living room, I decided it was a perfect picnic quilt.

Batting

I used muslin for my batting layer, for several reasons.

Regular batting provides both warmth and weight that I didn’t want.
I quilted my quilt top to my batting before adding the waterproof layer or the backing and I didn’t want the mess that comes with quilting onto bathing without backing. It’s not a HUGE mess. But it does create a lot of lint and the machine needs to be cleaned more frequently.
I wanted to quilt the top thoroughly, so that it is durable, but I didn’t want to quilt into the plastic waterproof layer all that often, each little hole for quilting is a hole that moisture can come through.

All three reasons together, and muslin (or another very thin fabric) was all I needed for batting. You may want the thickness of regular batting, if your quilt is going to be on a harder surface than my grassy backyard, or in an area with more rocks or gravel. Or, if your Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket will be more of a Waterproof Quilt to have on your lap or around your shoulders at cold and rainy events.

The dimensions should be an inch or two larger than the quilt top.

Waterproof Layer

I used a tissue-paper thin plastic paint drop cloth. I don’t have a specific link for you, but I bought it in the paint department of my local home/hardware/everything store. It’s very thin, for each of a sewing machine needle, and was much larger than what I needed for this project. I could probably make four waterproof blankets with just one drop cloth.

The dimensions should be more or less the same as the batting.

Backing

Polka Dots! I used flannel, for two reasons.

It was on sale and cotton was not.
My quilted waterproof picnic blanket can now double as a waterproof quilt too, with a warm layer to have around my shoulders. Ever watched fireworks in the pouring rain? No? Maybe that’s just a Washington thing!

Dimensions should be 2-4 inches larger than the quilt top.

Putting the Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket Together

Start by basting the quilt top to the muslin batting. Here is a basting tutorial that I wrote several years ago. I still use most of these same steps, but have also started ironing the section after each spray and smooth down.

This quilt provided an opportunity to do something new and fun to quilt these layers together!

I received these heat-soluble pens for my birthday and they are FANTASTIC!

Because the sashing is offset in every other row, I wanted to find a way to quilt that enhanced the pattern of the quilt top, without having quilting lines go right through the middle of the big blocks.

I used the heat-soluble pens to draw a dot in the middle of the sashing intersections, and then used an acrylic ruler to draw a line from dot to dot.

After I quilted ¼” on each side of the line, I ironed again, and the pen lines disappeared! In this next photo, I’ve only ironed the top part of the block, not the frame or the sashing where the pen still shows.

And here, it’s gone entirely!

Remember, this step can be skipped entirely if using whole cloth instead of a quilt top.

Then, baste the quilted top/muslin layers and the backing to the waterproof layer.

This quilt has just a little bit of quilting with all layers together. I wanted to hold it all firmly together, but have the least number of needle holes in the waterproofing. I did a very basic stitch in the ditch line (pink line in photo) in four places along the edge of the horizontal sashing.

A regular needle would work *probably* for this, but I chose to pick up a sewing machine needle for working with vinyl, just to be on the safe side, and it worked like a charm.

Lastly, bind your quilt as your normally would, continuing to use the vinyl needle, because you are still sewing through plastic.

Care instructions

It should be fine to wash your Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket in the washing machine, and it probably will get dirtier than regular quilts. But DO NOT put it in the dryer. There’s plastic in the middle of these layers. No dryer. No microwave. (I don’t know why you would put a quilt of this size in the microwave anyway, but it seems like it needs to said – don’t.) Hang to dry.

Remember, you can use ANY quilt pattern for the quilt top – but I HIGHLY recommend Garden Beds!

If you are looking for other quilt ideas, I’ve got a long list of recent patterns and free tutorials if you scroll to the bottom of this tutorial, one of them might be just what you are looking for!

Now, get to using your Quilted Waterproof Picnic Blanket!

Backyard work