Sunday, February 9, 2014

A Small Hello for the Baby Girl to Be

I boasted a bit that I did not wait until the last minute before my daughter-in-law's baby shower to finish the baby quilt Paisley Pearl, topic of my last post. Well, I guess I am not content unless under pressure, so I started and finished another quilt in my time window before the shower. This one was just a quick inspiration based on a charm pack of forty 5" squares I had from a Me and My Sister fabric collection called Good Morning. I had three reasons for making this small quilt.

First, I was just itching to use this charm pack of bright cheerful colors.


Second, I had made a simple checkered quilt for my daughter out of a charm pack of pinks when her daughter was born mid-October of 2012. It turned out to be the one she used the most because of its small size and the knowledge that I had not slaved over it for hours. It was one of my first FMQ practice quilts and became essentially a portable changing pad. It was called Strawberries and Chocolate and was discussed in my 2012 posts for Oct 24Sept 5Aug 15, and Aug 8


Third, I had this awesome striped fabric in my stash with vibrant colors that not only matched the charm pack but were amazingly like a garter stitch knit small throw I had purchased at Babies 'R Us quite a while ago. Just look how the striped border and binding goes with those knit stripes. Kismet!


I pulled out the three black squares and one purple square (top row of the charm pack photo) because I thought they were too dark. I eliminated the pale yellow at the lower left corner because it seemed weak to me. This left 35 squares so I snuck in a square from my stash to make a six by six array. Then I added borders of that awesome stripe fabric on just two ends because I wanted a rectangular shape to this rather small quilt. My proposed use for this quilt is a portable changing pad. I simple quilted along the seam lines using a decorative stitch on my Pfaff. I could have practiced meandering and stippling in each of the 4.5" squares but elected not to, so as not to put myself in a last minute rush. Also, the patterns were so lively I did not want to detract from them. This center fabric with the daisies was so cheery that I felt I needed to include it; but then it became the only black in the quilt. 


So it was this black daisy square that drove the choice of the fabric for the 36th square. I went for whimsy. I don't think it will take you too many guesses to figure out which square it is. I later just camouflaged my initials and the year in this block with a black pigment pen. I hope my little granddaughter will one day be looking for and poking at those cute kitties with her tiny little forefinger.


Since I like to add polka dots to every one of my quilts I backed this with a simple dot print. The dots are not precise and so are in keeping with the fun spirit of the front fabrics. Also the backing is a bit tame so the checkered side can take center stage or the back can be used as the primary if a calmer mood is desired. The squiggle quilting along the seams shows up better in this photo.



Here is the completed quilt which measures 27" wide x 35" tall. I try to name my quilts even though I rarely put this info on the quilt itself. I considered Hello Kitty but rejected it as misleading and too commercial. A little baby girl is coming into this world to use this quilt, but who knows exactly what time of day that little baby girl will arrive? I rejected the name Good Morning even though it is the name of the fabric line. This is a small quilt befitting a small name. I decided to name this quilt simply Hello.


In the gift box, along with the small knit throw and this quilt, I tucked a couple of burp cloths I'd made. Again, I thought the stripes and colors of all three items were just meant for one another.


The box I used was from the Fat Quarter Shop as a quilter's way of paying homage to recycling. Fabric in. Quilt out. I wrapped the box in polka dot paper with a decorative band of that striped fabric and a bow of the remaining binding. It is on the right and piqued my daughter-in-law's curiosity at the baby shower yesterday. She was not anticipating a second quilt. I am curious to see if Hello will be pressed into service in the same way and as much as Strawberries and Chocolate was for my daughter. Only time will tell.

6 comments:

  1. I definitely think that this smaller quilt will get a lot of use! I, again, love the colors! And all the love and effort that was put into making it. It, too, is already draped across her crib, ready to use when she arrives!

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    1. I can hardly wait for her arrival and to know what you name her. I name my quilts and realize that naming a baby is so much harder!

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  2. Beautiful and very useful quilt! I love the fabrics from me and my sister designs. They make great quilts for baby girls!

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    1. Thanks for the compliments. Sometimes it is fun to let go and not over think a quilt.

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  3. Wow - that Babies R Us blanket and those fabrics are a match made in heaven! And, my love for Me & My Sister fabrics is at this point well documented so I don't think I can comment objectively on the quilt (except to say I think it's adorable and I love the colors).

    But I will say, "hours spent slaving" was not a factor in our usage calculation - we just liked it and used it because it fit in the space!

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    1. The greatest compliment for a quilt is to know it is being used. Yay!

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