juliasb

Disappearing Nine Patch is the greatest for showing off your sports for a little guy. (at least IMHO)

Polliwog

Cut squares of the sports fabrics large enough to show each category. Separate with sashings and cornerstones to complement the colors. In other words -- an I Spy design. I like to keep the feature fabric squares small enough that I don't have to quilt within them and disturbing their designs. Just quilt the straight lines of the sashings/cornerstones.

pennyhal2

I made a quilt with a four inch square with the sport centered. I made a pinwheel from the scraps and added a lighter fabric to the pinwheel to make it stand out more. So, basically a four patch quilt when done. This size is probably too large for a baby, but can be made any size you need.

ibex94

Yellow brick road quilt pattern may be good if you want a more topsy turvy quilt pattern. Add enough solids in between your sports fabrics and it will allow the sports to pop out of the blocks.

wesing

I second the Warm Wishes pattern. We did a Backyard Bandits quilt using this pattern and it showed off the focus squares very well. Our quilt is here: https://www.quiltingboard.com/vbulle...t-t313377.html

copycat

Thanks to everyone for their advice and photos. A friend suggested a Shadow Box or Floating Squares quilt pattern.
If anyone has made these patterns, please share photos. I looked them up and found one with sports fabric. I love having everyone's tips and tricks from past experience...many thanks!

Freddie's girl

I suggest "All About Me" by Atkinson Designs (https://atkinsondesigns.com/search?q=all+about+me ). It uses fat quarters of the focal prints and the other fabrics gives your eye a place to rest. The pattern is very well written and can be made in several sizes.

WesternWilson

I like the I Spy approach....you have to decide if you want to make the fabric themes the focus or not and I would probably come down on the side of focus as the prints have a kind of story to them that they deserve to tell!

The other approach that would be fun and interesting is a Polaroid quilt approach:

copycat

Thank you for the link to the pattern. I contacted the pattern writer with a ? on fabric requirements for the baby quilt size.
I can only find 1/4 yard cuts on Etsy and would like to sub them out for fat quarters. I wanted to know if that would work for this pattern in the baby size. I haven't received an answer yet. I would buy 5 quarter yards of each sport vs fat quarters. If you know the answer, please let me know. Thank you again.

Freddie's girl

You can use regular 1/4 yd cuts as long as you have 9 usable inches. Also, a good source for novelty fat quarters (including sports) is www.uquilt.com ...in case you need more fabric options. Enjoy the pattern!