Tag: baby quilt

baby quilt, My Life, Quilt-as-you-go

Another Baby, Another Quilt

suznquilts

For those of you that don’t know this about me…

I have a somewhat large family with lots of nieces & nephews.

When my niece was pregnant with the first great niece or nephew

I decided I would make baby quilts for that generation.

It can be a frequent occurrence in a larger family!

While deciding what type of quilt to make for the first baby,

knowing it would set a precedent for all the other babies to follow,

I decided it would be one of my quilt-as-you-go designs.

Quick & easy & washable = usable!

By the time we were planning the baby shower

the mom-to-be had the nursery colors & name picked out already.

So, I took the nursery photos,

the name “Benjamin” & made his quilt:

Soon to follow was this very appropriate book for me

(& anyone else who makes baby quilts!).

Benjamin is the baby in the photos.

He’s now 7 & I’ve made lots of quilts using this book!

Delaney is a family friend.

She is modeling the larger, lap quilt version of the quilt

that is also included in the book.

The entire alphabet is included (& reversed for you & me…)

Yay!

Well, last week while teaching out of town,

I became a great aunt again.

Regardless of how busy I am,

I’m taking the baby quilt to the new baby the first time I see them!

So, since I had a big quilt finish Sunday night, (reveal later…)

Monday I chose my 3 fabrics & at 6 pm started cutting…

I made the fused letters at the beginning of the project & got the

applique out of the way before I started sewing any of the strips onto the foundation.

Once the applique was complete,

I started sewing the strips.

Since there are only 2 types of strips,

& it’s a baby quilt, it goes together very quickly!

Soon all of the strips were sewn onto the foundation

& I was ready to quilt the border strip

since that’s too large of an area to leave unquilted.

I typically free-motion quilt around the letters.

Soon after, it was ready for the binding.

By 11:09 pm I put the very last stitch into the binding!

I never, ever, start a quilt and not stop until it’s complete

so it was fun to do that this time & know that it took me

exactly 5 hours & 9 minutes to make this quilt

& I took some photos along the way to show you.

I have to say having the fabric decisions out of the way was helpful!

I met baby Keaton last night & he’s a sweetie (of course!).

His big sister is in love with him too.

Here is her quilt when I finished it 3 years ago.

So nice to know exactly what I’m going to make when

another baby or baby shower comes along.

It takes a lot of anguish out of my day!

For those of you that sew for a baby that hasn’t had a reveal before the gift is needed,

just applique “BABY” in place of the name!

Pretty sure I’ve thought of everything with this one, Lol.

You can find the book on my website

& one happy great aunt right here!

Off to get more sewing done.

Fall Market will be here soon!

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

 

 

 

 

Family Time, My Life, quilt as you go lap quilt

Anabelle’s Baby Quilt

suznquilts

Another new baby is on the way

& you know what that means, right?

Time to pull this out again:

SuznQuilts+NameThatQuilt+Book

Usually I beat myself up because I think of things after the fact… a bit too late… hindsight is 20/20…

but not this time!

I’m so proud of myself for having the insight to predict this next generation of babies coming close together & me not having the time & energy to decide on a quilt much less make it.

Remember Lucy’s quilt & Hadleigh’s quilt?

I’m sure you’ve heard the story time & again too of that baby quilt someone is still trying to finish by the child’s 3rd birthday!

Well, not me, at least not yet.

Anabelle’s mom (my niece) gave me fabric colors way back in January at my birthday party

& sent me this image of the nursery items they had decided on.

Jojo-Designs-Princess-11-Piece-Baby--pTRU1-17780660dtSweet, huh?

Their furniture is dark not like all the white shown in this Babies r Us image.

I chose these fabrics:

Suzn+Quilts+Anabelle+quilt+fabrics

I thought they were extra girly & had the same feel as the nursery set.

The hardest part of this quilt (& nothing is hard about it)

is centering the letters in a fun way.

AND double, triple, quadruple checking the spelling!

  Suzn+Quilts+Anabelle+quilt+letters

By the way,

I discovered the “Big Board” & I love it.

If you remember, here for instance I show you how I use layers of towels to press the whole width of quilt at once?

Well, the big board is big enough to press the whole width of quilt at once too & since I had it out anyway…

While on our retreat at Rosemary’s this year we used one. More than one of us could press at once.

Suzn+Quilts+Rosemarys+big+board

I love the height & the way she incorporated storage into her base.

I need to buy some of the silicone coated fabric for mine.

It will be more durable than the muslin it came wrapped in.

It has gotten really scorched with the heavy usage the last couple of months.

Anyway,

We had the baby shower Saturday & I’m happy to say, Heather LOVED the quilt!

Suzn+Quilts+Anabelle+quilt+n+Heather

 She was too funny.

When she read the card from me she knew what was inside the package.

She had been anticipating the quilt & was very curious what I’d done with her suggested colors.

I’m was touched that it meant so much to her.

She is going to use the quilt so I gave her washing instructions.

It’s all cotton & very durable so machine washing & drying will be just fine.

I made Clare nervous Wednesday when I asked her to help me spray baste the foundation.

She couldn’t believe I hadn’t made the quilt yet!

Ha! It only takes a few hours.

Any babies in your future?

You can buy your own book here.

It comes with instructions for both the baby & lap size quilts

along with the whole alphabet which is reversed & ready to trace.

Now, we get to wait for Anabelle.

Just keep sewing!

Susan