My sewing New Year's resolution was to finish my WIPs and make blocks that I had received in Sewing Bees into quilts.
About this time last year I made a cot quilt top, using some pretty Owl fabric I had bought some months previously. As I am always trying to use scraps and stash fabrics, I rooted around and found some Kona Cotton lime green, an orange fabric spotted with white dots and a yellow dot Michael Miller fabric. Some pieces were already cut into squares and oblongs so I went with those dimensions and made a simple top based on squares and oblongs. As I didn't have anyone in mind for this, it was put away in my sewing cupboard and forgotten until my recent 'Sort Out' of that cupboard.
I now know of three babies expected on the other side of the world in New Zealand so I decided to finish it.
Again, following my desire to use scraps and stash I found (in my now neatly organised and labelled chest of drawers where I store my quilting fabrics) 6 squares of a paler yellow fabric which were originally cut for my first ever quilt back in1997. I sewed those together in two lots of three squares and with a strip of the orange fabric down the middle there was the exact size for the backing.
A few years ago I won a Giveaway of a cot quilt-sized piece of batting which was made from recycled plastic bottles. A rather weird pale green colour but I decided to use it up. In fact it hand quilted beautifully and my needle went through like a knife through butter. I even had enough left over to sandwich two premature baby quilt tops I had as WIPs too. Those are now waiting to be hand quilted so technically still WIPs!
I hand quilted using three different colours of Perle cottons: turquoise, lime green and a varigated yellow and orange one which worked very well and made a pleasing pattern on the back of the quilt.
For sashing I again found a large enough piece of aqua Kona Cotton so I feel that this quilt has cost me nothing to make! It is now sitting in my cupboard waiting for the birth of one of the babies in New Zealand.
Here's a photo of the finished quilt:
And a photo of my pieced backing where I hope my hand quilting shows up:
I am so pleased with this quilt which measures 40" x 42", a good sized playmat for a new baby which can then be used in a cot and also as a snuggle quilt. Nice bright colours to catch a baby's attention and super little owls with enormous eyes!
Now onto another cot quilt, this time based on a scrap of fabric I received in a Swap.
Stay tuned!
when i make baby quilts, they measure about 40x40". i think that is a great size. i've been using bigger pieces of stash for backings lately--even if they don't match perfectly. it feels so good to use up some fabric rather than letting it sit around.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with both of your points. Around 40" is a useful sized quilt and the baby can use it for a long time. Using up pieces of fabric from stash is great too on two counts: it makes sense to use what you have, even if you have to piece the backing as I did for this quilt. I really don't think it matters if the backing exactly reflects the front of the quilt ( although this one, by chance, did!) as it's another interest for the baby. The more colours and patterns the better I think, as they all stimulate baby's senses.
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