Tripp's Baby Quilt

I had pulled out several quilt pictures when looking for a submission for the Blogger's Quilt Festival last month.  It was tough to pick one!  I ended up submitting Summer Day, even though Pinwheels had been my initial choice.  I figure since I had already written the post, I might as well publish it!  So here it is:

Pinwheels is a baby quilt, and it consists of the most simple four-patch block I have ever stitched together.  I made it for my cousin's first child who came into this world after a worrisome pregnancy.  I was thrilled when Tripp was born and that everyone was healthy and sound.  It made working on this quilt such a happy project.

I normally plan out a quilt in it's entirety before I start sewing, but for some reason I started this project with no more than a clear idea of the center of the quilt.  Even the colors surprised me.  I had expected to pick darker colors, but when I went to purchase the material, I walked out with a set of pastels.  My only requirement for the quilt was to somehow incorporate the bluish-green leafy material I had fallen in love with.  I had been waiting for some excuse to buy more of the stuff.  At some point I realized I had enough leftover scrap to piece together a border.  I was struggling over which fabric to put in the corners when I was inspired to inset mini versions of each pinwheel.  They were a pain to put together, but they looked great on the quilt.

I like to back my baby quilts with something bright and colorful.  I try to make my baby quilts large enough that the kid can use them for a long time (I've been told they're great for building indoor forts), so I try to pick something that would appeal to a 4-8 year old child, rather than typical infant prints. I searched several shops before I found this bright blue fabric with baby animals all over it.

The finished size of this baby quilt was 37x46 inches.  It was sewn and quilted on my old student model Singer. I did stitch-in-the-ditch on the borders, and traced each pinwheel about an 1/8th of an inch in from the edge.  (If I do this quilt again, I'll use contrasting thread on the back so the design pops out.  It was pretty cool.)  The label was printed on my printer and hand-embroidered to the quilt.

Baby quilts are always fun to make.  The size is easy to lay out and handle, and they don't take a ton of time to do.  My baby quilts tend to be festive colors, which I enjoy working with.  And they're fun to give away.