Baby quilts …… production line quilting

I have always said that production line sewing is tedious, and I never enjoy it.  Yet every year, I subject myself to it, usually convincing myself that sewing the same thing as xmas gifts for my work friends, would be efficient.  Of course, it makes deciding easy, but its boring.   But I can’t really say this about these quilts.  Each is different enough that they challenged me in different ways, and I don’t think I could name a favourite. These quilts are all gifts for 4 ladies I work with. All teachers at the school, one is having her third child, two are having their second, and one is just starting her exciting parenting journey.

What started my decision to make baby quilts as gifts, was the purchase of a flannel charm pack, in the simple adorable range call “Duck Duck Goose”.  This fabric was deliciously lush and soft.  I decided to stretch my beginner quilters wings, and tried out a disappearing 9 patch pattern.  Ok, but the randomness of it, did mess with my mind quite a bit.  I backed with a co-ordinating piece of flannel, and bound with white homespun, reasoning that these will get a lot of wear, and homespun would be more durable than flannel. Quilting was wavy lines.

This quilt is for the adorable J, who is having her third child. The quilt turned out super soft and snuggly, and I think, lovely and old-fashioned with its pastel colours.

So, pleased with the result, I went back to the shop, looking for more charm packs. I found two in the range called “Beddy Bye”, again lovely soft pastels. The first pack I did the same pattern, a disappearing 9 patch, which I backed in flannel too. There weren’t as many squares in this pack, so I added a few of plain lemon, and placed them so I created the little feature squares in the plain fabric. Quilting was in wavy lines.

This one is for R, who is having her first child.

Back again to the charm pack, “Beddy Bye”, but I was getting bored with the 9 patch. Stretching my quilter wings again, I decided to try out HSQ (half square triangles). An interesting exercise, especially trying to avoid stretching the fabric on the bias which may have caused rippling and puckering. Puckering is your worst enemy when you are quilting. This time I quilted with straight lines, stitching in the ditch to create diagonal lines. This one was bordered with the plain lemon, and backed with the coordinating fabric.

This one is for K, who is due her second baby. She hasn’t seen this yet, as she’s not due til next term. I hope she likes it.

And to my last one. Try as I might, I could not track down another flannel charm pack. I wasn’t willing to buy the yardage, so I looked around for some cotton charm packs instead. I found this one online, its a lovely boy themed pack, that isn’t too baby. For this one I went back to the disappearing 9 patch pattern, bordered with pale blue, backed with a busy flower pattern, and white homespun binding. Quilting is wavy lines ….. I really like wavy lines.

I just love the blue stars and moon fabric. This one is for S, who is having her second child.

I apologise for the huge post, but these quilts have been under wraps for quite some time, so its great to finish them, send them off to the recipients, and get onto the next project. Of course, I have at least 4 more quilts to make, and lots more designed in my head. These things are addictive.