And what better reason for cute quilts is there than a new baby? Two of my Workplace Proximity Associates* are due with baby boys this spring and I thought that these patterns were just the right mix of fresh, modern, and cute to get the job done! I ended up going with Hazel the Hedgehog first and pulled an array of light and bright fabrics straight from my stash to get a full rainbow (shocking, I know) of hedgies. Trying to reign in my scrap bags, I used a variety of tone-on-tone white scraps for my block backgrounds. Now looking at the finished photos, I'm not so sure that I should have done that since some read more cream than white, but oh well.
The baby sized pattern calls for 9 Hazels, so I kept one in the grey tones and let her have the killer magenta Echino specs. Hip and cute? Definitely a winner!
Hazel blocks definitely take a decent amount of time to piece together, but it really helps to get all your pieces cut out (and labelled!) at once so you can be a chain piecing machine.
But my biggest accomplishment on this quilt is definitely the quilting. I am still trying to conquer the fear of FMQing and this quilt was the first that I've felt comfortable doing from start to finish. I have a hard time with the "basic" meander pattern, but this curly loopy meander felt much more fluid for me.
I actually remembered to breathe, kept my gloves on the whole time (despite the fact that my husband refers to them as my "serial killer gloves"), and was rewarded with no snags, crazy bits or folds on the front OR BACK!! I was so excited - it totally felt like victory. Plus you just can't beat that crinkly texture...
The quilt is backed in a super snuggly blue plaid flannel and I brought the backing around to the front and machine bound it. I wouldn't do this again with a flannel - it stretched out in a few places and looked a little messier than I prefer to finish things. But hey, baby quilts are meant to get messy, so I just gave this one a little head start.
The second baby quilt will be Preppy the Whale and I'm aiming for a similar color theme on the front and the same blue flannel on the backing. Since the BMQG weekend retreat is just around the corners, I've got all my pieces cut and ready to go!
*Side note: Can I just say how upset I am that I no longer have Parks & Recreation to look forward to each week? One of my most favorite shows EVER....so excuse me while I go relive the glory days via Netflix and Hulu. End of speech.
Linking up:
How cute can you get? The cat-eye glasses are outrageous fun on an already terrific quilt. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, this is a super cute baby blanket - I am not usually a fan of stuff like this but I admit, I'm loving EH's hedgehogs and foxes, too. You did great! And I must also say I loved Parks and Rec as well and I shall miss it dearly! I only watched three shows, and that was one of them so I'm down to two, which is fine but that Leslie Knope...too funny.
ReplyDeleteVery, very cute. I think the glasses were a great idea. I like the quilting, too.
ReplyDeleteI love this! And the loop-d-loop is fast becoming my go-to in FMQ. I'm good at meander (unbeknownst to me as a teenager, I would doodle meanders all over anything that I could...and a few things that I shouldn't have..oops), but there's something awesome about the loops that I can't get past right yet. Lovely quilt and congrats on the awesome FMQ! ~Brandy
ReplyDeleteThey're darling! And I'm really enjoying the subtle scrappy background.
ReplyDeleteOh no! Now I have to make one of these! Can you convince my hubby that I need to buy fabric for it?? I LOVE LOVE this!! That little nerdy hedgie in the center is the killer! :)
ReplyDeleteOh shoot...these are just adorable!!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous work! I look forward to seeing the Preppy (that is definitely a quilt on my to-do list!) Am adding these Hazels as wells!
ReplyDeleteSuper cute baby quilt! Love the little heggie with the specks, so sweet. I just bought the pattern and this weekends plan is for me to cut out the fabric for a pillow.
ReplyDeleteI'm late to the Elizabeth Hartman party, I guess...but it's my latest quilting obsession. I can't stand how adorable the glasses make the blocks look. Your baby quilt is simply adorable!
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